As we continue having this "healthy" discussion about whether Obama has kept his campaign promises to progressives, I thought it would be a novel idea to re-read those 500 promises and do my very own report card. Yes, GITMO is still open and no, there is no public option (which he never promised). But Obama has had a greater impact on the progressive agenda than any Democratic president since LBJ.
So, I went over to Politifact to review his performance and learned that President Obama is “quietly” doing an incredible job advancing the progressive agenda while we are lamenting those policies not yet complete.
He has already passed in pure form, compromised or has “in the works” 78.6% of his progressive agenda while only failing to complete 8% of his promises.
That’s incredible in two-plus years. Here are his “progressive” achievements I pulled from their master list:
1. Extend child tax credits and marriage-penalty fixes
2. Create an Advanced Manufacturing Fund to invest in peer-reviewed manufac.
3. Increase minority access to capital
4. Require economic justification for tax changes
5. Implement "Women Owned Business" contracting program
6. Change standards for determining broadband access
7. Establish a credit card bill of rights
8. Expand loan programs for small businesses
9. Extend the Bush tax cuts for lower incomes
10. Extend and index the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch
11. Close the "doughnut hole" in Medicare prescription drug plan
12. Expand the Senior Corps volunteer program
13. Require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions
14. Give tax credits to those who need help to pay health premiums
15. Require large employers to contribute to a national health plan
16. Require children to have health insurance coverage
17. Expand eligibility for Medicaid
18. Expand eligibility for State Children's Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP)
19. Require health plans to disclose how much of the premium goes to patient care
20. Establish an independent health institute to provide accurate and objective
21. In non-competitive markets, force insurers to pay out a reasonable share of
their premiums for patient care
22. Eliminate the higher subsidies to Medicare Advantage plans
23. Expand funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners
24. Increase funding to expand community based prevention programs
25. Reinstate executive order to hire an additional 100,000 federal employees
with disabilities within five years.
26. Increase the Veterans Administration budget to recruit and retain more
mental health professionals
27. Fully fund the Veterans Administration
28. Assure that the Veterans Administration budget is prepared as 'must-pass'
legislation
29. Expand the Veterans Administration's number of "centers of excellence" in
specialty care
30. Appoint a special adviser to the president on violence against women
31. Fully fund the Violence Against Women Act
32. Direct military leaders to end war in Iraq
33. Begin removing combat brigades from Iraq
34. No permanent bases in Iraq
35. Create a military families advisory board
36. Strengthen and expand military exchange programs with other countries
37. End the abuse of supplemental budgets for war
38. Make U.S. military aid to Pakistan conditional on anti-terror efforts
39. Open "America Houses" in Islamic cities around the globe
40. Give a speech at a major Islamic forum in the first 100 days of his admin
41. Increase funding for local emergency planning
42. Seek verifiable reductions in nuclear stockpiles
43. Extend monitoring and verification provisions of the START I Treaty
44. Stand down nuclear forces to be reduced under the Moscow Treaty
45. Appoint a White House Coordinator for Nuclear Security
46. Initiate a grant and training program for law enforcement to deter cyber crime
47. Launch an international Add Value to Agriculture Initiative (AVTA)
48. Create a rapid response fund for emerging democracies
49. Grant Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba
50. Restore funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program
51. Establish an Energy Partnership for the Americas
52. Expand the Nurse-Family Partnership to all low-income, first-time mothers
53. Release presidential records
54. Require new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political
affiliation or contributions.
55. Provide affordable, high-quality child care
56. Recruit math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession
57. Reduce subsidies to private student lenders and protect student borrowers
58. Encourage water-conservation efforts in the West
59. Increase funding for national parks and forests
60. Increase funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund
61. Encourage farmers to use more renewable energy and be more energy efficient
62. Expand Pell grants for low-income students
63. Pursue a wildfire management plan
64. Remove more brush, small trees and vegetation that fuel wildfires
65. More controlled burns to reduce wildfires
66. Expand access to places to hunt and fish
67. Push for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to
include sexual orientation and other factors
68. Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy
69. Restore funding to the EEOC and the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of
Federal Contract Compliance Programs
70. Reform mandatory minimum sentences
71. Create a White House Office on Urban Policy
72. Fully fund the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
73. Establish program to convert manufacturing centers into clean technology
leaders
74. Establish 'Promise Neighborhoods' for areas of concentrated poverty
75. Create an artist corps for schools
76. Support increased funding for the NEA
77. Promote cultural diplomacy
78. Add another Space Shuttle flight
79. Use the private sector to improve spaceflight
80. Work with international allies on space station
81. Partner to enhance the potential of the International Space Station
82. Use the International Space Station for fundamental biological and physical
research
83. Conduct robust research and development on future space missions
84. Increase spending to prepare for longer space missions
85. Work toward deploying a global climate change research and monitoring syst.
86. Enhance earth mapping
87. Appoint an assistant to the president for science and technology policy
88. Support commercial access to space
89. Establish school programs to highlight space and science achievements
90. Establish special crime programs for the New Orleans area
91. Rebuild schools in New Orleans
92. Fund a major expansion of AmeriCorps
93. Create a Social Investment Fund Network
94. Bolster the military's ability to speak different languages
95. Appoint the nation's first Chief Technology Officer
96. Provide grants to early-career researchers
97. Work to overturn Ledbetter vs. Goodyear
98. Create a national declassification center
99. Appoint an American Indian policy adviser
100. Create new financial regulations
101. Increase funding for land-grant colleges
102. Ban lobbyist gifts to executive employees
103. Sign a "universal" health care bill
104. Create new criminal penalties for mortgage fraud
105. Raise fuel economy standards
106. Invest in all types of alternative energy
107. Enact tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars
108. Ask people and businesses to conserve electricity
109. Create a 'Green Vet Initiative' to promote environmental jobs for veterans
110. Create job training programs for clean technologies
111. Require states to provide incentives for utilities to reduce energy consumption
112. Support high-speed rail
113. Support airline service in small towns
114. Invest in public transportation
115. Equalize tax breaks for driving and public transit
116. Consider "smart growth" in transportation funding
117. Will seek more accommodations of bicycles and pedestrians
118. Help states and localities address sprawl
119. Share enviromental technology with other countries
120. Double federal spending for research on clean fuels
121. Provide grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes
122. Increase funding for the Environmental Protection Agency
123. Raise the small business investment expensing limit to $250,000…2009
124. Extend unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspend taxes
125. Reverse restrictions on stem cell research
http://politifact.com/...
Wow!!!! These are absolutely amazing progressive achievements in this economy with two wars and a dysfunctional congress. Folks, this president has kept his promises and is doing an incredible job with the issues that are most important to us.
Am I ecstatic over the details of every single policy? Of course not. Do I understand that he is just one man with the weight of the entire world on his shoulders? Of course I do. Will I play the role of the hater Tavis Smiley-- or will I pressure my elected representatives to help Obama pass what’s important to us early and often? I choose the latter.
Most of all, will I always remember that the true enemies of the progressive agenda are republicans, corporations, the tea party and Fox news and not president Obama?
Yes, I can stay focused.
Yes I can battle hard and fair.
Yes I can do more than I’m doing today.
Yes I can help elect Obama in 2012.
Yes I understand that if republicans win in 2012, it’s totally my fault.
Yes I can.
Let's give him 5.5 more years to complete our work.