A Short List of Barack Obama’s Major Progressive Achievements Thus Far
Our main achievements list is being updated, and will be released in the springl of 2012. You can read about the effort here. In the meantime, you may find the following useful as you try to educate people about the realities of the Obama administration, as opposed to the many myths, rumors, and allegations made about it.
The Broad Stokes in Just 2 Minutes[iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="215" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wCTPCWWvYDk" width="360" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 14px; vertical-align: baseline; "][/iframe]
HighlightsIn a very pointed essay about how wrong some libertarian-left bloggers can be, Booman Tribune (@booMan23) outlined a very good summary of just some of the major progressive achievements of the Obama administration.
Obama has overhauled the food safety systemAdvanced women's rights in the work placeEnded Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) in our militaryStopped defending DOMA in court.Passed the Hate Crimes bill.Appointed two pro-choice women to the Supreme Court.Expanded access to medical care and provided subsidies for people who can't afford it.Expanded the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)Fixed the preexisting conditions travesty [and rescissions] in health insurance.Invested in clean energy.Overhauled the credit card industry, making it much more consumer-friendly.While Dodd-Frank bill was weak in many respects, it was still an extremely worthwhile start at re-regulating the financial sector.He created a Elizabeth Warren's dream agency: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.He's done a lot for veteransHe got help for people whose health was injured during the clean-up after the 9/11 attacks.None of these things were priorities for Republicans. They actively opposed, directly or indirectly through obstruction, every single item on this list. In fact, they succeeded in killing a Cap & Trade bill in the Senate after it had passed through the House.
All of these things are improvements that would not have occurred under a McCain-Palin administration. Moreover, a McCain-Palin administration would have moved in the other direction on most of these issues, or come up with even worse compromises.
Booman then concludes with:
The president has achieved a tremendous amount under the circumstances. And it matters greatly that he not be replaced by Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, or Michele Bachmann. Or even Ron Paul.
Of course, since that time…He's killed Osama Bin LadenEliminated several other Al-Qaeda leadersEnded the War in IraqBegun the drawdown of forces from AfghanistanEnd-run Republican obstructionism by recess-appointing Richard Cordray to run the Consumer Financial Protection Board. |
