Obama And Dems Positive Accomplishments Appreciation Thread

In this thread I am asking that people please check in with the accomplishments they have appreciated the most from Obama and Dems, and there have been tons of progressive accomplishments (especially if you believe that the root of "progressive" is in fact "progress" and not purity).

There have been MANY posts (too many in my view) on this site bashing Obama and Dems for not being progressive enough. I hope that anyone who uses DEMOCRATIC Underground (a site that is supposed to about SUPPORTING Democrats), whether or not they bash Obama and Dems a lot, would also have a positive word or two to say. In that vein, I would appreciate positive comments only. We have all heard the criticisms over and over and over again. (Yes, I occasionally have my own too, such as Obama and Dems needing to get much louder about their accomplishments and a very strong and cohesive theme of policies about Main St. vs. Wall St. going into this election cycle. We are seeing the beginnings of it, but more needs to take shape. Also getting much more vocal in attacking the RePUKES and their TeaNut supporters. Also modifying Race To The Top so it doesn't focus too heavily on standardized testing. So yes, I have my criticisms too. But we certainly need to spend much more time touting Dems and bashing the R's.)

So if we can keep it to positives, even if you have criticisms, that would be good. (We can always do more threads on CONSTRUCTIVE criticisms about what Obama and Dems should do better to rally the base for the upcoming election, to better attack the RePUKES, etc.)

My top three thank-yous to Obama and Dems are: winding down the Iraq war on schedule, the stimulus and stimulus extension that have saved or created millions of jobs thus helping to save us from a full blown depression while investing more than ever in green energy, and FINALLY doing something on healthcare after 100 years of talk (it is at least a start, and there is also a great student loans piece as well). My #4 is the two very good SCOTUS appointments. Thank god we elected Obama and don't now have a 7-2 right wing court !

cached at: http://journals.democraticunderground.com/mikekohr

“THE PARTY WITH THE BEST RECORD OF SERVING REPUBLICAN ECONOMIC VALUES IS THE DEMOCRATS, AND IT ISN’T EVEN CLOSE!” -Michael Kingsley-


1). FEDERAL SPENDING: since 1960 Republicans increased Federal Spending by 71% more than have Democrats

2). FEDERAL DEBT: since 1960 Republicans have increased the National debt by 100% more per year than have Democrats.
http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/national-debt.html

3). GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT: since 1921, adjusted for inflation, Democrats out-produce Republicans by 43% . Starting in 1940 the Democratic advantage is 23% better.

4). REAL PER CAPITA INCOME: since 1960 Democrats have outperformed Republicans by 30%. (This is perhaps the most important economic statistic of all) http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/economic-record.html

5). INFLATION: since 1960, Democrats outperform Republicans 3.13% to 3.89%

6). UNEMPLOYMENT: since 1960 it decreases in an average Democratic year by 0.3% to 5.33%, and increases in average Republican year by 1.1% to 6.38%.

7). JOB CREATION: from 1945 to 2003, Democrats produced 174,200 jobs per month, Republicans have only produced 60,600 per month. Every time a Democrat succeeds a Republican, job creation soars. Every time a Republican succeeds a Democrat job creation plummets. NO EXCEPTIONS! http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/job-growth.html

8). DOW JONES AVERAGE: since 1921 the DOW has increased by 52% more under Democratic administrations

9). THE BOND MARKET: since 1940 the value of 10 year Treasury bonds rose 1.2% under Democrats and fell 0.5% under Republicans


SOURCES-Bureau of Labor Statistics, Economic Policy Institute, Christian Science Monitor, “The Los Angles Times -Michael Kingsley-

by mike kohr 3/7/2006
Bureau County/Depue Democrats

RESULTS MATTER, VOTE DEMOCRATIC!

Thanks to $12+ trillion of our tax dollars used to guarantee junk assets.

Unlimited bailouts guaranteed to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Perpetual bail out of private health insurers.

Continuation of warrantless wiretapping.

Continuation of secret prisons.

Continuation of "extraordinary rendition".

Protection of war criminals.

Re-instatement of the Clinton crowd that gave us unregulated banking, NAFTA and almost-free trade with China.

Massive troop escalation to fight an estimated 50-100 a Qaeda in Afghanistan, with no real definition of what winning means.

Attacks on teachers unions.

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It's pretty weird that you want me to go to to a far-right site when all I want is for Democrats to act like Democrats.

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This administration has done little to help working Americans, and now they're looking to slash Social Security. I don't think this calls for a celebration.

accentuate the positive and not the imperfect. Sorry if that bothers you. Perhaps you should start a "What You Don't Like About Obama And Dems" site of your own.

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These are major, major accomplishments.

Was that your goal?

:shrug:

It's good to have an understanding of the things YOU appreciate about the President.

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These are Bush' accompishments, so your facts are lies.

Interesting, I always thought you opposed things like these. It gives me a good deal of insight into what your agenda on DU is.

And off topic.

in flames. What a catastrophe that would have been! Gobama!

Scary does not even begin to address it if he had let them fall apart like the republicans wanted to do..

That does not even address security issues. GOBAMA is right!

:toast:

This administration decided to go after China for dumping wire products. There is now a tariff in place. All of our jobs came back and we are working 6 days a week, 3 shifts and hiring more people all the time. There needs to be more of this.

We need more tarriffs!

to what we have today...Positivity....

ya wouldn't know it here in Du unless looking for it....the trolls often post neg shit to sully the site,,,

KnR

The timing was excellent for me since I was already planning to have geothermal HVAC installed. I saved a large chunk of change on that, and hopefully the incentive helped other people go geo as well.

along with all the other stuff you mentioned. :)

The stimulus
Financial reform

He has done so much in a short time, I look forward to the next 6 years with him in office.

get.

Saskatchewan proved that single payer could be successful and the other provinces followed suit.

I expect that to happen here now that states have the right to set up their own system.

It took many years to get what we (Canadians) have now and we still have to fight tooth and nail to stop the erosion the rabid right here are working so hard to accomplish!

for the controls and subsidies and getting 40 million plus Americans onto health care. Onward and upward, it's certainly a start.

did not go near as far as I wanted but it did help me save a small health care plan for 3 employees. The new tax breaks in the bill for small businesses with health care plans helped me offset huge premium increases. For this I am very grateful.

Many other accomplishments follow. And somewhere in there is my gratitude at having a president with a grasp on the English language who does not embarass us when he visits other nations.

1.Healthcare (although imperfect,needs public option but,hey maybe that can be added later ;))
2.The largest stimulus in US history including the largest investments in green energy to help create the jobs of the future
3.Wall-Street Reform (C'mon Obama appoint Elizabeth Warren)
4.Fair Pay Act
5.SCHIP
6.Saving the Auto Industry
7.Helping out our veterans
8.A child nutrition bill
9.Being on schedule to bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end

and many many more.

President Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act


Increasing Opportunities for Americans of All Ages to Serve

* Puts young people onto a path of national service by establishing a Summer of Service program to provide $500 education awards for rising 6th-12th graders, a Semester of Service program for high school students to engage in service-learning, and Youth Empowerment Zones for secondary students and out-of-school youth.

* Dramatically increases intensive service opportunities by setting AmeriCorps on a path from 75,000 positions annually to 250,000 by 2017, and focusing that service on education, health, clean energy, veterans, economic opportunity and other national priorities. Ties the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award to the maximum Pell Grant level (now $5,350, but set to increase over time).

* Improves service options for experienced Americans by expanding age and income eligibility for Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions, authorizing a Silver Scholars program, under which individuals 55 and older who perform 350 hours of service receive a $1,000 education award, and establishing Serve America Fellowships and Encore Fellowships allowing individuals to choose from among registered service sponsors where to perform service. Also permits individuals age 55 and older to transfer their education award to a child or grandchild.

* Enables millions of working Americans to serve by establishing a nationwide Call to Service Campaign and a September 11 national day of service, and investing in the nonprofit sector’s capacity to recruit and manage volunteers.

Supporting Innovation and Strengthening the Nonprofit Sector

* Creates a Social Innovation Fund to expand proven initiatives and provide seed funding for experimental initiatives, leveraging Federal dollars to identify and grow ideas that are addressing our most intractable community problems.

* Establishes a Volunteer Generation Fund to award grants to states and nonprofits to recruit, manage, and support volunteers and strengthen the nation’s volunteer infrastructure.

* Authorizes Nonprofit Capacity Building grants to provide organizational development assistance to small and mid-size nonprofit organizations.

* Creates a National Service Reserve Corps of former national service participants and veterans who will be trained to deploy, in coordination with FEMA, in the event of disasters.

Strengthening Management, Cost-Effectiveness, and Accountability

* Merges funding streams, expands the use of simplified, fixed amount grants, and gives the Corporation flexibility to consolidate application and reporting requirements. Increases support for State Commissions on national and community service. Bolsters the capacity and duties of the Corporation’s Board of Directors.

* Ensures that programs receiving assistance under national service laws are continuously evaluated for effectiveness in achieving performance and cost goals.

* Introduces responsible and balanced competition to the RSVP program.

* Authorizes a Civic Health Assessment comprised of indicators relating to volunteering, voting, charitable giving, and interest in public service in order to evaluate and compare the civic health of communities.

http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/newsroom/releases_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1283
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/04/21/A-Call-to-Service/

Thank you, President Obama and Senator Kennedy! :patriot:

http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1922

Thank you, President Obama and Secretary Shinseki!

:patriot:

For years its been a pre-existing hanging over my sister's head.

Brings tears to my eyes to think of all the women who will now get justice.

From website "International Brotherhood Days." http://www.brotherhooddays.com/interestingfacts.html

82% of all rapes and sexual assaults against Native women are committed by whites, 6% of sexual assaults against Native women are committed by blacks. Indian Nations have no legal jurisdiction over White people or other non-Native People. Even if a crime against a Native Person is committed on reservation land, and if the perpetrator of that crime is a non-native person, justice must be sought in the white dominated justice system.

see also:
http://criminaljustice.change.org/blog/view/tackling_crime_on_native_american_reservations
http://www.truth-out.org/article/gavin-clarkson-reservations-beyond-law


mike kohr

Massive overhaul.

http://obama-mamas.com/blog/?p=1766

Evidence sharing and declination data: Requires federal prosecutors to maintain data on criminal declinations in Indian country, and to share evidence to support prosecutions in tribal court

Tribal Court sentencing: Increases tribal court authority from 1 to 3 years imprisonment where certain constitutional protections are met

Federal Testimony: Requires Federal officials who work in Indian country to testify about information gained in the scope of their duties to support a prosecution in tribal court

Improves transparency in Public Safety spending by the BIA, and requires greater consultation on the part of the BIA to tribal communities on matters affecting public safety and justice

Increased sexual assault training and standardized protocols for handling sex crimes, interviewing witnesses, and handling evidence of domestic and sexual violence crimes in Indian country

Authorizes Deputization of Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys to prosecute reservation crimes in Federal courts, and encourages Federal Courts to hold cases in Indian country

Increases Deputizations of Tribal and State Police to Enforce Federal Law: Enhances Special Law Enforcement Commission program to deputize officers to enforce federal laws on Indian lands

I'm proud of our President and our Democratic leaders in Congress.

mike kohr

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President Obama helped to pass legislation protecting the civil rights of our LGBT brethren sooner in his term than any previous President has ever done.

Not its introduction nor passage, except for Eric Holder speaking in favor of the bill, years after the hard work has been done.

John Conyers, Teddy Kennedy, and Gordon Smith did alot of the initial Federal-level groundwork. Enough GOP Reps voted so it passed the House, and five GOP Senators caucused with the Dems to guarantee passage (Susan Collins), Dick Lugar, Lisa Murkowski, Olympia Snowe, and George Voinovich.

Grassroots started this, including incredible work by Matthew's mother, Judy.

to repeal DADT or DOMA or to pass ENDA.

Assuming I take your word that it's all grassroots that is responsible for passing legislation, then it must be grassroots fault that they have failed to do any of these other things.

Thank you for clearing that up for me.

We know everything is Obama's fault until something gets passed. Only then, Obama played no role in it. Let's forget that the Mathew Shepard Act has been failing to get through Congress since 2001. Simply because we haven't actually seen Obama do anything, he's had nothing to do with it's passage, damnit!

It's Obama's fault until something get's passed.
When it doesn't go far enough or it's bad, it's all Obama's fault.
When it's good, Obama had nothing to do with it.

:crazy:

:patriot:

Barack Obama Campaign Promise No. 290:

Push for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors
"Will place the weight of (his) administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes."



Obama signs hate crimes bill
Updated: Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

President Barack Obama has signed a bill to expand the federal hate crimes law.

The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, named after two men who were killed more than 10 years ago because of their sexual orientation, was included in a defense bill that Obama signed on Oct. 28, 2009.

"After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we've passed hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray, or who they are," Obama said.

The law essentially expands the current statute to include any crime instigated by a person's gender, sexual orientation or disability.

The signing was hailed by gay rights groups.

"Today's signing of the first major piece of civil rights legislation to protect LGBT Americans represents a historic milestone in the inevitable march towards equality," said Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese.

We rate this a Promise Kept.


--------------

Obama supports hate crimes bill
Updated: Friday, May 1st, 2009

Congress is considering legislation that would send more resources to local efforts against hate crimes, including those involving sexual orientation and gender identity.

President Barack Obama issued a statement in support on April 28, 2009:

"This week, the House of Representatives is expected to consider H.R. 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. I urge members on both sides of the aisle to act on this important civil rights issue by passing this legislation to protect all of our citizens from violent acts of intolerance — legislation that will enhance civil rights protections, while also protecting our freedom of speech and association. I also urge the Senate to work with my Administration to finalize this bill and to take swift action."

The bill passed the House on a vote of 249-175 the day after Obama's statement. As of this writing, the bill is awaiting consideration in the Senate.

The House bill was not named the Matthew Shepard Act, but it is identical to a Senate bill that uses the name, said Rachel Balick, a spokeswoman for the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights advocacy group that supports the bill.

The administration appears to be strongly supporting the bill, Balick said.

"Definitely the statement was a huge show of support and we're glad to see it," she said.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/290/push-for-enactment-of-matthew-shepard-act-which-e/

Thanks for posting. :thumbsup:

?


mike kohr
Bureau County/Depue Democrats
http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com

Posted elsewhere on DU yesterday was this--

http://cohort11.americanobserver.net/latoyaegwuekwe/multimediafinal.html


Take a look. Has the depression deepened or improved?

Are we on a corrective path or not so much?

Are Geithner, Summers, and that crew taking the country in a positive direction or not?

Are economic conditions improving? What's your experience locally?

I am sure everyone on this board welcomes that irrefutable fact. This nation lost 8 million jobs http://finance.yahoo.com/news/79-million-jobs-lost-many-cnnm-1248019835.html?x=0 since the Great Recession began. I never expected President Obama to put all 8 million back to work in a week, a year or even two years, and anyone that expected that is not being realistic.

It took the most accomplished US President, FDR, 7 years to end the Great Depression and then the unemployment in 1940 was still 14.6%. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104719.html#axzz0wGQXIhXj

As to your question about our local economy? It's noticeably better. At my job in on-line hardware sales the recession started the 3rd week of September, 2007. Our decline in sales lasted until December of 2009. Our sales losses have rebounded to small gains. We are hiring again. I went 2.5 years on 30 hours or less. I'm working overtime on a daily basis now.

I sit on our County Board of Supervisors. Our tax revenues declined for all of 2008, and 2009. They are rebounding now into positive territory since about March of this year.

Does any of this help the person who is out of work now? No. But my company, my county, like the nation as a whole is moving in the right direction, up and out of the second deepest economic hole this Nation has ever fell into. And every American should welcome that. And every Democrat on this board and otherwise should be shouting this from every roof top in the land.


mike kohr

at the interactive unemployment maps, the depression seems to be deepening.

repeatedly using it to downplay the dramatic upturn in the job creation graph does not erase the fact that President Obama's economic policies have stopped a free fall that was killing over 750,000 jobs per month and is now creating a net gain in jobs per month. As I pointed out, even FDR needed more than 7 years to get the unemployment reduced to an acceptable level. President Obama has had 18.5 months.

The latest productivity numbers have dropped. Which means employers will have to hire more workers to get the work completed. Exactly the situation I see at my place of employment.

We have seen this scenario play out over and over again:

1) 9 of the last 10 recessions have occurred under Republican leadership http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/history-of-recessions.html

2) Job Creation plummets under Republican leadership http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/job-growth.html

3). National debt explodes under Republican leadership http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/national-debt.html

4). Democratic administrations outperform Republican's on every measurable economic statistic http://bureaucountydems.blogspot.com/p/economic-record.html

It is said that an optimist views things as the best they have ever been and a pessimist fears that the optimist may be right. I'm a pragmatic optimistic because we have a Democratic Congress and President and I have history on my side.

mike kohr
Bureau County/Depue Democrats

the brink of a depression, AND thanks to the American people for having the tenacity in voting for the very best presidential candidate.

I like the other things you mention quite well, also. :hi:

K AND R

Thanks for this.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/04/15/hospital.gay.visitation/index.html

Washington (CNN) -- President Obama has asked the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a rule that would prevent hospitals from denying visitation privileges to gay and lesbian partners.

The president's Thursday memo said, "There are few moments in our lives that call for greater compassion and companionship than when a loved one is admitted to the hospital. ... Yet every day, all across America, patients are denied the kindnesses and caring of a loved one at their sides."

Gay and lesbian Americans are "uniquely affected" by relatives-only policies at hospitals, Obama said, adding that they "are often barred from the bedsides of the partners with whom they may have spent decades of their lives -- unable to be there for the person they love, and unable to act as a legal surrogate if their partner is incapacitated."

When Lisa Pond collapsed during a family vacation in Florida three years ago, her partner of 17 years was kept away from her hospital room.

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a huge win for women in the workplace.
Increased infrastructure spending, that had long been ignored
Stem Cell Research, which will hopefully go along way towards fighting diseases.
Ted Kennedy Serve America Act, which expands Americorps for example.
Nominated Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor to Supreme Court, which were later confirmed
Increased funding for student loans and pell grants, which will allow more people to attend college.
White House Council on Women and Girls, that considers how policies affect women and their families.
SCHIP, which makes health insurance available to children, who previously had none.
Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, will help more paralyzed Americans to have a better quality of life.
Recovery.gov, which tracks spending from the American Recovery Reinvestment Act, bringing transparency.
Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act, ensuring access to needed care and treatment.

These are but a few accomplishments that I've been proud of.

And Michelle Obama's fight against childhood obesity.

Cheers to the Obamas for setting a great example with their organic WH garden!!