Posts
…and this is not all of them. I am splitting this list into 3 posts because it is a long read. Pass this around to your conservative friends. From PCTC:
He Returned The Executive Branch To Fiscal Responsibility After the Bush Debacle
1. Within his first week, he signed an Executive Order ordering an audit of government contracts, and combating waste and abuse. http://1.usa.gov/...
2. Created the post of Chief Performance Officer, whose job it is to make operations more efficient to save the federal government money. http://n.pr/...
3. On his first full day, he froze White House salaries. http://on.msnbc.com/...
4. He appointed the first Federal Chief Information Officer to oversee federal IT spending. http://www.cio.gov
5. He committed to phasing out unnecessary and outdated weapons systems. To that end, he also signed the Democratic-sponsored Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act, which attempted to put a stop to waste, fraud and abuse in the defense procurement and contracting system. http://bit.ly/... http://bit.ly/...
6. Through an executive order, he created the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. http://bit.ly/...
He Improved the Economy, Preventing a Bush Depression
7. Pushed through and signed the Democratic-sponsored American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, otherwise known as “the stimulus package.” The bill passed, even though only three Republicans voted for it. In a major departure from the previous administration, he launched recovery.gov, a website that allows taxpayers to track spending from the Act. http://1.usa.gov/... http://1.usa.gov/...
8. The Bush-led Great Recession was costing the economy nearly 800,000 jobs per month by the time President Obama took office. But by the end of his first year, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act created and sustained 2.1 million jobs and stimulated the economyby 3.5%. http://reut.rs/...
9. Not only did he completed the massive TARP financial and banking rescue plan, he also leaned on the banks and others, and recovered virtually all of the bail-out money. http://1.usa.gov/... http://bit.ly/...
10. He created the Making Home Affordable home refinancing plan. http://1.usa.gov/...
11. Oversaw the creation of more jobs in 2010 alone than Bush did in eight years. http://bit.ly/...
12. Along with Democrats, and almost no Republicans, implemented an auto industry rescue plan, and saved as many as 1 million jobs. http://bit.ly/... Many are of the opinion that he saved the entire auto industry, and even the economy of the entire Midwest. http://bit.ly/... This resulted in GM returning to its place as the top car company in the world. http://lat.ms/... Willard Romney, on the other hand, advocated for the entire industry to go belly-up. http://nyti.ms/...
13. Doubled funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which is designed to improve manufacturing efficiency. http://bit.ly/...
14. Signed the Democratic-sponsored Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act giving the federal government more tools to investigate and prosecute fraud in every corner of the financial system, and create a bipartisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to investigate the financial fraud that led to the economic meltdown. http://abcn.ws/...
15. Signed the Democratic-sponsored Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act, which was designed to to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive credit card practices. http://1.usa.gov/...
16. Increased infrastructure spending after years of neglect. http://bit.ly/...
17. Signed the Democratic-sponsored and passed Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, expanding on the Making Home Affordable Program to help millions of Americans avoid preventable foreclosures. The bill also provided $2.2 billion to help combat homelessness, and to stabilize the housing market. http://bit.ly/...
18. Through the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, he and Congressional Democrats provided tax credits to first-time home buyers, which helped the U.S. housing market recovery. http://bit.ly/... http://bit.ly/...
19. Initiated a $15 billion plan designed to encourage increased lending to small businesses. http://1.usa.gov/...
20. Created business.gov, which allows for online collaboration between small businesses and experts re managing a business. (The program has since merged with SBA.gov.) http://www.business.gov
21. Played a lead role in getting the G-20 Summit to commit to a $1.1 trillion deal to combat the global financial crisis. http://nyti.ms/...
22. Took steps to improve minority access to capital. http://bit.ly/...
23. Signed an Executive Order instructing federal agencies to review all federal regulations and remove any unnecessary and/or burdensome regulations from the books. http://1.usa.gov/...
24. Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, saved at least 300,000 education jobs, such as teachers, principals, librarians, and counselors that would have otherwise been lost. http://1.usa.gov/...
25. Dismantled the Minerals Management Service, thereby cutting ties between energy companies and the government. http://nyti.ms/...
26. Along with Congressional Democrats, provided funding to states and the Department of Homeland Security to save thousands of police and firefighter jobs from being cut during the recession. http://bit.ly/...
27. Used recovered TARP money to fund programs at local housing finance agencies in California, Florida, Nevada, Arizona and Michigan. http://on.msnbc.com/...
28. Crafted an Executive order establishing the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability to assist in financial education for all Americans. http://bit.ly/...
He Fostered Greater Transparency and Better Government, After the Excesses of the Bush Years
29. Signed an order banning gifts from lobbyists to anyone in the Executive Branch. http://bit.ly/...
30. Signed an order banning anyone from working in an agency they had lobbied in previous years, and put strict limits on lobbyists’ access to the White House. http://nyti.ms/...
31. Held the first-ever first online town hall from the White House, and took questions from the public. http://bit.ly/...
32. Became the first to stream every White House event, live. http://1.usa.gov/...
33. Established a central portal for Americans to find service opportunities. http://www.serve.gov
34. Provided the first voluntary disclosure of the White House Visitors Log in history. http://1.usa.gov/...
35. Issued an Executive Order on Presidential Records, which restored the 30-day time frame for former presidents to review records, and eliminated the right for the vice president or family members of former presidents to do the reviews. Provides the public with greater access to historic White House documents, and severely curtails the ability to use executive privilege to shield them. http://1.usa.gov/...
36. Improved aspects of the Freedom of Information Act, and issued new guidelines to make FOIA more open and transparent when processing FOIA requests. http://1.usa.gov/...
Wall Street Reforms and Consumer Protection
37. Ordered 65 executives who took bailout money to cut their own pay until they paid back all bailout money. http://huff.to/...
38. Along with Congressional Democrats, pushed through and got passed Dodd-Frank, one of the largest and most comprehensive Wall Street reforms since the Great Depression. http://bit.ly/... http://bit.ly/...
39. Through Dodd-Frank legislation, created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau http://1.usa.gov/...
40. Through Dodd-Frank, the Executive Branch fashioned rules that reduce the influence of speculators in the oil market. http://bit.ly/...
41. Fashioned rules so that banks can no longer use YOUR money to invest in high-risk financial instruments that work against their own customers' interests. http://bit.ly/...
42. Supported the concept of allowing stockholders to vote on executive compensation. http://bit.ly/...
43. Endorsed and supported the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of 2009 that would close offshore tax avoidance loopholes. http://bit.ly/... http://bit.ly/...
44. Negotiated a deal with Swiss banks that now permits the US government to gain access to the records of criminals and tax evaders. http://bit.ly/...
45. Signed the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act, which closed many of the loopholes that allowed companies to send jobs overseas, and avoid paying US taxes by moving money offshore. http://1.usa.gov/...
46. Established a Consumer Protection Financial Bureau designed to protect consumers from financial sector excesses. http://bit.ly/...
47. Oversaw and then signed a Democratic bill constituting the most sweeping food safety legislation since the Great Depression. http://thedc.com/...
48. Through the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act, extended the False Claims Act to combat fraud by companies and individuals usingmoney from the TARP and Stimulus programs. http://bit.ly/...
He Ushered Through Many Changes That Enhanced Civil Rights and Anti-Discrimination
49. Along with Congressional Democrats, advocated for and signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which made it a federal crime to assault anyone based on his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. http://bit.ly/...
50. Pushed through, signed and demanded the Pentagon enact a repeal of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy that forced soldiers to lie in order to be eligible to fight for their country, and put our troops at risk by disqualifying many qualified soldiers from helping. http://bit.ly/... http://bit.ly/...
51. Extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. http://1.usa.gov/...
52. Appointed more openly gay officials than anyone in history. http://bit.ly/...
53. Appointed first openly transgender Cabinet Official in History. http://bit.ly/...
54. Changed HUD rules to prohibit gender and sexual orientation-based discrimination in housing bit.ly/9RxEnP
55. Changed his mind and publicly expressed support for the right to enter into a same-sex marriage. http://bit.ly/...
56. Issued a Presidential Memorandum reaffirming the rights of gay couples to make medical decisions for each other. http://1.usa.gov/...
57. Wrote and signed an Executive Order establishing a White House Council on Women and Girls to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies evaluate the effect of their policies and programs on women and families. http://bit.ly/... http://1.usa.gov/...
58. Signed the Democratic-sponsored Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which restored basic protections against pay discrimination for women and other workers. This was after the GOP blocked the bill in 2007. Only 5 Republican Senators voted for the bill. http://bit.ly/...
59. Expanded funding for the Violence Against Women Act. http://1.usa.gov/...
60. Under his guidance, National Labor Relations Board issued final rules that require all employers to prominently post employees' rights where all employees or prospective employees can see it, including websites and intranets, beginning November 2011. http://1.usa.gov/...
61. Advocated that United Nations adopt a policy supporting gay rights worldwide. http://lat.ms/...
62. Issued an order requiring hospitals to allow visitation by same-sex couples. reut.rs/llNJek
63. Appointed Kareem Dale as the first ever Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy. http://1.usa.gov/...
64. Helped Democrats in Congress pass and signed the Civil Rights History Act. http://bit.ly/...
He Made Major Improvements in Foreign Relations and American Status Around the World
65. Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any previous president during his first six months in office. http://bit.ly/...
