What Has Obama done?

[Themightytom]

I wanted to create a thread to quantitatively lsit Obama's accomplishments. i hear this ALL the time now "What has Obama done? He hasn't done anything since taken office! My first instinct is to defend with his most obvious contribution, leadership. it is impressive if Obama does lots of things himself, it is EFFECTIVE if obama mobilizes our government from the top down to effectively address issues that need attention.

Obama sparked the healthcare reform debate. Obama has supported significant improvenet in our foreign relations policies, Obama has has supported immediate economic redirection away from a recession. I would prefer concrete initiatives sponsored directly by Obama, but he seems to be a pretty subtle guy so I would happy to see anything he can verifiably take credit for.

I'm not looking for any reframing or arguments about why this is a stupid question. it is a stupid question but a lot of us are forced to answer it to avoid looking like we can't, so what has Obama done since taking office.

[Vehrec]

I seem to recall a checklist of 'things Obama has done' that some newspaper or agency was running that was all of his campaign promises being checked off one at a time. Last time I saw it, I recalled about 11% being implimented or in progress. Saddly, I have no idea where it is now.

[ArmorPierce]

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/

[JLTucker]

I seem to recall a checklist of 'things Obama has done' that some newspaper or agency was running that was all of his campaign promises being checked off one at a time. Last time I saw it, I recalled about 11% being implimented or in progress. Saddly, I have no idea where it is now.

I believe this is what you are talking about. According to the website, Obama has kept 49 promises, compromised on 14, broken seven, stalled on 14, is currently working on 147, and 304 promises have not yet been rated.

Edit: Shit. ArmorPierce beat me to it.

[Scottish Ninja]

I'm pretty sure you're talking about PolitiFact.com's Obameter.

It lists:

* Promise Kept 49

* Compromise 14

* Promise Broken 7

* Stalled 14

* In the Works 127

* Not yet rated 304

out of a total of 518 campaign promises.

EDIT:

Edit: Shit. ArmorPierce beat me to it.

Double shit!

[Duckie]

The Credit Card Reform is actually pretty significant for consumer protection. It was billed as a "Bill of Rights", which I think is silly, because it implied to me it was a declaration with no legal power like the UN Human Rights Charter.

Instead, it's a reform that does numerous things.

It prevents creditors from imposing arbitrary rate increases on customers, it prohibits most rate increases meant to penalize consumers for late payments on unrelated accounts, and it requires companies to post credit agreements on the Internet, among other things.

The bill falls short when it comes to a prohibition of interest on the fees card companies charge consumers if they go over their credit limit or fail to pay their bills on time. But this omission is not considered significant by consumer advocates. They say the measure goes a long way in reforming the credit industry. For example, most people pay more than their minimum payment every month. That extra cash will now go toward paying down card balances associated with the line of credit, said Lauren Saunders who works for the National Consumer Law Center.

Another example: The new law prevents companies from raising interest rates on existing balances unless the bill goes unpaid for more than 60 days.

"That's a big win," said Ed Mierzwinski of U.S. Public Interest Research Groups. "It gets rid of any 'gotcha' tricks."

Obama promised voters a credit card bill of rights that prevents arbitrary rate hikes and makes contracts clear, and nearly every line of the new law matches Obama's pledge. Even though the law does not prohibit interest on fees, consumer advocates who have spent years lobbying on the issue say the bill represents a major step forward for consumers. As a result, we give Obama a Promise Kept.

Other notable provisions I remember: It requires notification about bills far earlier- 30 days, I think, rather than 14 days before they're due (which basically credit card companies designed to give you only like a single day to mail it before late fees will be assessed), requires notification about rate increases far in advance, makes it so that if you have two credit cards from the same company and one has a higher interest rate and you pay money over the minimums, the over-minimum money automatically goes towards paying the higher interest rate one rather than the lower like companies used to do. It also requires that credit card statements, IIRC, include how long it'd take to pay off the bill at the minimum payment on them, to give people an accurate picture of how much debt they actually have.

Some of these provisions won't go into activation until 2011, but some already as of a few months ago activated.

[Grif]

Does improving the image of US abroad count?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091005/lf_ ... usa_status

I dare-say many of my fellow countrymen rate him far better than Bush.

[Eleas]

Over here? You'll have people defending Obama, and with actual passion, as soon as the subject of the US is broached. In comparison, the kindest opinion I've heard on Bush is that he might not be deliberately malicious or corrupt.

[aerius]

The Credit Card Reform is actually pretty significant for consumer protection. It was billed as a "Bill of Rights", which I think is silly, because it implied to me it was a declaration with no legal power like the UN Human Rights Charter.

<snip>

Some of these provisions won't go into activation until 2011, but some already as of a few months ago activated.

Yeah, works like a charm that bill, Citibank just wiped its ass with the damn thing. It's not worth the paper it's printed on unless it's actually enforced, and it sure doesn't look like there's any enforcement going on.


"What the fuck has Obama done?" is a topic which comes up when I get together with my friends. We all agree that he's improved foreign relations & perceptions of Americans & America by other countries. Other than that we don't really think he's done much other than create a lot of hope & happy feelings. The 8% maximum unemployment rate which the US was supposed to get with the stimulus plan was a crock of shit, it's now sitting at 9.8% with the plan. The auto company bailout & buyout was completely fucked up in more ways than I can count (let's give the UAW everything they want, now GM & Chrysler can close down more US plants and move'em to Mexico. Go job creation!), the shit in the financial system is worse than before, the FDIC is flat broke, and the multi-billion dollar housing assistance plan kept all of 500 people in their homes. Everything he did with the economy was a fuck up.

Yeah he's got a bunch of laws & bills passed, but are they actually enforced and do they have any effect? In too many cases like the credit card one above, the answer is no. My opinion is the laws don't count for beans unless they actually have the desired effect, who cares if there's a 10 year sentence for DUI if no one ever gets convicted & goes to jail for it?

[Yona]

I think he's done more than most,... but that is just my opinion, and has already been mentioned here.

I'm more impressed with what he hasn't done.

He hasn't deliberately lied to me.

He hasn't started any wars.

He hasn't embarrassed the whole country with stupidity, arrogance or paranoia.

He doesn't have a psychotic, raging maniac for a VP.

He doesn't want to rule the World, or think he is better than anyone else. He wants to get along with, and actually contribute something to humanity.

I rather like the guy.