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More than 200 reasons to re-elect President Obama
What Do Americans Think Of Obama's Performance As A President?
Chris Weigl, Screenwriter and Political Consultant
A friend of mine put together an awesome handwritten sign outlining why she’s voting for President Obama this year, I think it says almost everything you need to know:
<...>
In case you needed a few other examples of what President Obama has accomplished I put together a list below:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2012/02/24/what-do-americans-think-of-obamas-performance-as-a-president/
Chris Weigl, Screenwriter and Political Consultant
A friend of mine put together an awesome handwritten sign outlining why she’s voting for President Obama this year, I think it says almost everything you need to know:
<...>
In case you needed a few other examples of what President Obama has accomplished I put together a list below:
- Extended child tax credits and marriage-penalty fixes
- Created an Advanced Manufacturing Fund to invest in peer-reviewed manufacturing processes
- Required economic justification for tax changes
- Implemented “Women Owned Business” contracting program
- Changed standards for determining broadband access
- Established a credit card bill of rights
- Expanded loan programs for small businesses
- Extended the Bush tax cuts for lower incomes
- Extended the 2007 Alternative MinimumTax patch
- Closed the “doughnut hole” in Medicare prescription drug plan
- Expanded the Senior Corps volunteer program
- Required insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions
- Gave tax credits to those who need help to pay health premiums
- Required large employers to contribute to a national health plan
- Required children to have health insurance coverage
- Expanded eligibility for Medicaid
- Expanded eligibility for State Children’s Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP)
- Required health plans to disclose how much of the premium goes to patient care
- Established an independent health institute to provide accurate and objective information
- In non-competitive markets, forced insurers to pay out a reasonable share of their premiums for patient care
- Eliminated the higher subsidies to Medicare Advantage plans
- Expanded funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners
- Increased funding to expand community based prevention programs
- Reinstated executive order to hire an additional 100,000 federal employees with disabilities within five years.
- Increased the Veterans Administration budget to recruit and retain more mental health professionals
- Expanded the Veterans Administration’s number of “centers of excellence” in specialty care
- Appointed a special adviser to the president on violence against women
- Fully funded the Violence Against Women Act
- Directed military leaders to end war in Iraq
- Began removing combat brigades from Iraq
- Created a military families advisory board
- Ended the abuse of supplemental budgets for war
- Made U.S. military aid to Pakistan conditional on anti-terror efforts
- Opened “America Houses” in Islamic cities around the globe
- Allocated Homeland Security funding according to risk
- Created a real National Infrastructure Protection Plan
- Increased funding for local emergency planning
- Extended monitoring and verification provisions of the START I Treaty
- Appointed a White House Coordinator for Nuclear Security
- Initiated a grant and training program for law enforcement to deter cyber crime
- Improved relations with Turkey, and its relations with Iraqi Kurds
- Launched an international Add Value to Agriculture Initiative (AVTA)
- Created a rapid response fund for emerging democracies
- Granted Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba
- Restored funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program
- Established an Energy Partnership for the Americas
- Expanded the Nurse-Family Partnership to all low-income, first-time mothers
- Required new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliation or contributions.
- Provided affordable, high-quality child care
- Recruited math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession
- Reduced subsidies to private student lenders and protect student borrowers
- Encouraged water-conservation efforts in the West
- Increased funding for national parks and forests
- Increased funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund
- Encouraged farmers to use more renewable energy and be more energy efficient
- Expanded Pell grants for low-income students
- Pursued a wildfire management plan
- Removed more brush, small trees and vegetation that fuel wildfires
- Expanded access to places to hunt and fish
- Pushed for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors
- Repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy
- Restored funding to the EEOC and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
- Reformed mandatory minimum sentences
- Created a White House Office on Urban Policy
- Fully funded the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
- Established program to convert manufacturing centers into clean technology leaders
- Established ‘Promise Neighborhoods’ for areas of concentrated poverty
- Worked toward deploying a global climate change research and monitoring system
- Funded a major expansion of AmeriCorps
- Created a Social Investment Fund Network
- Bolstered the military’s ability to speak differentlanguages
- Appointed the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer
- Provided grants to early-career researchers
- Worked to overturn Ledbetter vs. Goodyear
- Created a national declassification center
- Appointed an American Indian policy adviser
- Created new financial regulations
- Increased funding for land-grant colleges
- Banned lobbyist gifts to executive employees
- Signed a “universal” health care bill
- Created new criminal penalties for mortgage fraud
- Required 10 percent renewable energy by 2012
- Released oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve
- Raised fuel economy standards
- Invested in all types of alternative energy
- Enacted tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars
- Asked people and businesses to conserve electricity
- Required more energy-efficient appliances
- Created a ‘Green Vet Initiative’ to promote environmental jobs for veterans
- Created job training programs for clean technologies
- Required states to provide incentives for utilities to reduce energy consumption
- Supported high-speed rail
- Supported airline service in small towns
- Invested in public transportation
- Equalized tax breaks for driving and public transit
- Considered “smart growth” in transportation funding
- Shared environmental technology with other countries
- Doubled federal spending for research on clean fuels
- Provided grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes
- Increased funding for the Environmental Protection Agency
- Raised the small business investment expensing limit to $250,000 through the end of 2009
- Extended unemployment insurance benefits and
- temporarily suspend taxes on these benefits
- Supported network neutrality on the Internet
- .Reversed restrictions on stem cell research
- Killed Osama bin Laden
- Doubled funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a program that encourages manufacturing efficiency
- Included environmental and labor standards in trade agreements
- Created an international tax haven watch list
- Made permanent the Research & Development tax credit
- Required automatic enrollment in 401(k) plans
- Required automatic enrollment in IRA plans
- Created a consumer-friendly credit card rating system
- Created a $60 billion bank to fund roads and bridges
- Required full disclosure of company pension investments to employees
- Provided easy-to-understand comparisons of the Medicare prescription drug plans
- Invested in electronic health information systems
- Phased in requirements for health information technology
- Required that health plans utilize disease management programs
- Required providers to report measures of health care costs and quality
- Held hospitals and health plans accountable for disparities in care
- Implemented and funded proven health intervention programs
- Prevented drug companies from blocking generic drugs
- Allowed Medicare to negotiate for cheaper drug prices
- Worked with schools to create more healthful environments for children
- Improved recruitment of public health workers
- Mandated insurance coverage of autism treatment
- Fully funded the Combating Autism Act and Federal Autism Research Initiatives
- Doubled federal funding for cancer research
- Increased participation in cancer-related clinical trials
- Fully funded the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
- Set a national goal to provide re-screening for all 2-year-olds for developmental disorders
- Commissioned a study on students with disabilities and their transition to jobs or higher education
- Set goals and timetables for implementing Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act
- Created a best practices list for private businesses in accommodating workers with disabilities
- Launched educational initiative for employers on tax benefits of hiring employees with disabilities
- Reduced the threshhold for the Family and Medical Leave Act from companies with 50 employees to companies with 25 employees
- Provided a $1.5 billion fund to help states launch programs for paid family and medical leave
- Required employers to provide seven paid sick days per year
- Streamlined the Social Security disability approval process
- Expanded Veterans Centers in rural areas
- Established standards of care for traumatic brain injury treatment
- Made the Veterans Administration a national leader in health reform
- Reduced the Veterans Benefits Administration claims backlog
- Instituted electronic record-keeping for the Veterans Benefits Administration
- Expanded housing vouchers program for homeless veterans
- Launched a supportive services-housing program for veterans to prevent homelessness
- Expanded the Family Medical Leave Act to include leave for domestic violence or sexual assault
- Fully funded debt cancellation for heavily indebted poor countries
- Created a fund for international small and medium enterprises (SME)
- Launched robust diplomatic effort with Iraq and its neighbors
- Provided $30 billion over 10 years to Israel
- Limited Guard and Reserve deployments to one year for every six years
- Ended the “Stop-Loss” program of forcing troops to stay in service beyond their expected commitments
- Fully and properly equipped troops
- Created a Civilian Assistance Corps that would organize private sector professionals to help in times of need
- Included humanitarian international missions in long-term budgeting
- Reviewed weapons programs
- Modernized ships and invested more in small vessels
- Set standards for when the government should hire defense contractors
- Restored the government’s ability to manage contracts by rebuilding our contract officer corps
- Created a system of incentives and penalties for defense contracts
- Establish a Global Education Fund
- Strengthened the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) aimed at stopping spread of weapons of mass destruction
- Organized successful Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in 2010
- Expanded federal bioforensics program for tracking biological weapons
- Developed a comprehensive cyber security and response strategy
- Mandated standards for securing personal data
- Required companies to disclose personal information data breaches
- Worked to persuade the European Union to end credit guarantees to Iran
- Seek to negotiate a political agreement on Cyprus
- Restructured and streamlined USAID
- Increased the size of the foreign service
- Urged China to stop manipulation of its currency value
- Pressed China to end its support for regimes in Sudan, Burma, Iran and Zimbabwe
- Created a public “Contracts and Influence” database
- Required Cabinet officials to host Internet town hall meetings
- Conducted regulatory agency business in public
- Promoted more pre-school education
- Expanded Early Head Start and Head Start
- Reformed No Child Left Behind
- Doubled funding for Federal Charter School Program and require more accountability
- Addressed the dropout crisis by giving schools incentives for more dropout prevention
- Created Teacher Residency Programs that will send teachers to high-need schools
- Expanded teacher mentoring programs and provide incentives for more planning time
- Promoted innovative ways to reward good teachers
- Simplified the application process for financial aid
- Increased the number of high school students taking college-level courses
- Created incentives for tree planting and promote carbon sequestration
- Improved water quality
- Regulated pollution from major livestock operations
- Strengthened federal environmental justice programs
- Increased funding for organic and sustainable agriculture
- Partnered with landowners to conserve private lands
- Created a community college partnership program
- Increased funding for progams that conserve lands and habitat for select species such as the Osceola turkey
- Supported wetlands protection
- Promoted economic development in Mexico
- Supported repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
- Vigorously pursued hate crimes and civil rights abuses
- Signed the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act into law
- Supported regional innovation clusters
- Helped low-income areas get phone and Internet service
- Created a Homeowner Obligation Made Explicit (HOME) score for mortgage comparisons
- Increased the supply of affordable housing throughout metropolitan regions
- Invested in transitional jobs and career pathway programs
- Fully funded the COPS program
- Improved emergency response plans
- Capped interest rates on payday loans and improve disclosure
- Expanded public/private partnerships between schools and arts organizations
- Improved climate change data records
- Supported improved weather prediction program
- Offered prizes for advances in consumer technology
- Encouraged contests and programs to interest students in science
- Increased research opportunities for college students
- Strengthened the levees in New Orleans
- Directed revenues from offshore oil and gas drilling to increased coastal hurricane protection
- Shook loose federal money for rebuilding the Gulf Coast
http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2012/02/24/what-do-americans-think-of-obamas-performance-as-a-president/
In case you missed it: Good moves by the Obama administration
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002540300
16 million: number of Americans who become eligible for Medicaid under the health care law
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002531684
Why Progressives Should Support Obama (Review of "The Obama Question"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002546093
Barack Obama [Has] Had a Pretty Damn Good Presidency
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002546093
Obama 2012!
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