Obama's Successes...

A good friend of mine insists that President Obama has done a lot of good for our country. I would disagree and here is my answer to his post:

Jeffrey wrote: "People can and should argue about whether Obama's successes have been worthwhile, whether they were ambitious enough, and whether they were effective, but whether one approves of the president or not, the fact remains the successes are real.”

Let me break these down for you as to whether they are as successful as you say:

“This is a president who passed a health-care reform breakthrough 100 years in the making. “

547% of Americans favor repealing Obamacare, while 57% polled have felt no effects of the two year old law. They are in for a surprise next year. Healthcare providers have already said they will look for other pursuits because the govt will dictate what they can do for their patients. Universal Healthcare was a Kennedy dream and should have gone to rest with him. It may work in other countries but it is no success here.

“He also imposed the most sweeping Wall Street reforms since the Great Depression.”

And what was that? Mega$$$$ to the banks with little to no return: http://money.cnn.com/news/storysupplement/economy/bailouttracker/

Oh, and he created the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau. O_o

So what is the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau? - http://www.consumerfinance.gov/regulations/ isn’t it the same thing as the FTC’s Comsumer Protection Agency? Why do we need a brand new govt money pit to do the sam thing the FTC does? I will thank Obama for making my 11.5% credit card rate tied to the prime rate so it would go up 5% the first cycle. I will thank Obama for doing nothing for the housing market that kept housing prices from bottoming out. This all so I could file for bankruptcy to save my house. Yeah, his reforms were a big success.

“Obama also rescued the economy from collapse” – What little he did (in a calculated fashion I suspect) slowed the collapse at best and supposedly brought us out of recession I June 2009, yet unemployment hit 1% in November of that year. Unempolyment didn’t fall to under 9% until March of last year and it’s still above 8%. In August of last year our country lost our AAA credit rating. There is now talk that the US Dollar, long the currency for world trade may lose that status as well. Not much success there.

“rescued the American auto industry” Yeah? See the bailout tracker. GM is hurting in the overseas market now as well.

“ended the war in Iraq” Yeah, at the end of last year. Why are we still in Afghanistan? O_o

“decimated al Qaeda and killed bin Laden” I don’t think he damaged AlQaeda that much. Sure he got Bin Laden which was inevitable. I’ll give him that one.

“reformed the student loan system” What he did is called ::gasp:: tax relief in a sense. How’s he going to pay for it?

 “ended "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," Oh, right! That’s got to be good for the military. Didn’t you serve? Would that work for you?

“ vastly improved fuel efficiency standards” For when? 2025 is a long ways away...,

“helped topple the Gaddafi regime” Really, how so?

“ negotiated the New START treaty” Sure it’s a requirement.

“improved food safety protections” Sounds good, but at what cost? There is also too much room for thuggery and corruption when certain industries are singled out for more than normal attention. We are far above the rest of the world already...

“cracked down on credit card company abuses” Sure they did, at the cost to consumers that were getting better treatment with lower interest rates (see CPFB section above)

“expanded stem-cell research” Oh yeah, exploiting dead baby tissue is the way to go! This is only a success if you favor old life over new life. Of course this was done without the people’s vote.

“Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act." – So basically, lawyers can sue for discrimination a little bit sooner than before? Sure I’ll give him that one too.

So how does this all make our country stronger, more secure, and economically stable? He had four years, two with full control of the Legislative and Executive branches of govt. He gave trillions of dollars to big banks, green companies that were about to fold, and the auto industry with little return on our investments. I’m sorry, he’s got to go.