The scorecard

[scheming daemons]

All data for this post gathered from this web site:

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



Promises kept:

1. Create a foreclosure prevention fund for homeowners. Check
2. Establish a credit card "bill of rights". Check
3. Expand loan programs for small businesses. Check
4. Extend and index the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch. Check
5. Expand eligibility for State Children's Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP). Check
6. Expand funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners. Check
7. Direct military leaders to end war in Iraq. Check
8. Send two additional brigades to Afghanistan. Check
9. Give a speech at a major Islamic forum in the first 100 days of his administration. Check
10. Grant Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba. Check
11. Restore funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program. Check
12. Release presidential records. Check
13. Require new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliation or contributions. Check
14. Remove more brush, small trees and vegetation that fuel wildfires. Check
15. Push for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors. Check
16. Create a White House Office on Urban Policy. Check
17. Support increased funding for the NEA. Check
18. Appoint an assistant to the president for science and technology policy. Check
19. Fund a major expansion of AmeriCorps. Check
20. Work to overturn Ledbetter vs. Goodyear. Check
21. Ban lobbyist gifts to executive employees. Check
22. Weatherize 1 million homes per year. Check
23. Invest in all types of alternative energy. Check
24. Enact tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars. Check
25. Support high-speed rail. Check
26. Provide grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes. Check
27. Get his daughters a puppy. Check
28. Appoint at least one Republican to the cabinet. Check
29. Extend unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspend taxes on these benefits. Check
30. Reverse restrictions on stem cell research. Check

Now... some of those are big, some are little, and some are meaningless. Some you may disagree with. But the point is, just 4 months into his Presidency, Obama generally keeps his promises.

To be fair, he has broken a handful... here they are:

1. End income tax for seniors making less than $50,000. Fail
2. Allow five days of public comment before signing bills. Fail
3. Tougher rules against revolving door for lobbyists and former officials. Fail
4. Create a $3,000 tax credit for companies that add jobs. Fail
5. Allow penalty-free hardship withdrawals from retirement accounts in 2008 and 2009. Fail
6. Recognize the Armenian genocide. Fail


In addition, there have been compromises on 8 promises, such as creating only a $400 tax credit for workers instead of the $500 he promised, and setting a 3-month moratorium on foreclosures.

Also... there are 62 promises "in the works".

So... about 8% into his first term, he has kept or is working on 92 of his 505 promises (a hefty 18%) and has only actually broken 6 promises (about 1%).


You can now commence with your "but he's not doing what I want him to do!" outrage.

For me, the bottom line is this: We can only reasonably expect a public official to do what he said he is going to do. Obama is passing that test in a way we haven't seen a President do in a few generations.


In addition to the actual spoken promises, are the unspoken ones that have been great for this country.

Specifically, we are respected around the world again. Other nations are slowly starting to trust us again.

If Obama accomplished nothing else, this alone would make his presidency worthwhile. You can't put a price on this one.



I have free koolaid packets and kneepads available for those that agree with me. For those that don't, I have some lemons you can suck on.
;-)

[JimGinPA]

1. Thank You.

K&R

[Number23]

32. Folks, let's all please rec this. I would like for there to be ONE pro-Obama thread

on the front page of this web site. I honestly don't even remember the last time there was an "Obama did something good/right/decent today" thread on the front page of Democratic Underground.

He has certainly not made me happy with every decision (the lack of government oversight assigned to companies who received TARP funds still infuriates me) but the fact that it has easily been weeks if not a few MONTHS since there was a pro-Obama thread on the front page of DU says much too much, and more about DU than it does about Obama.

[DarthDem]

2. Great Job

By you *and* the president. :-)

One promise kept that did not receive enough attention, I don't think, was the passage of the Ledbetter Act. It was substantively very important because it makes it much harder for companies to discriminate against women via unequal pay, but it was also symbolically important because it was a total repudiation of the daffy conservatives on the Supreme Court.

Again, great list. Thanks.

[Still Sensible]

3. Excellent work. n/t

[ClarkUSA]

4. Thanks for the reality check. Too bad the 24/7 whiners could care less about the facts.

Please keep this kicked for the reality-impaired among us.

[solstice]

5. Many of these are half-assed and don't address the real problems.

[scheming daemons]

7. "real problems" as defined by you... that's my point.

He's doing what he said he would do.... which is not necessarily what you wanted him to do.


But he is being consistent with what he campaigned on.

[mkultra]

11. many of "these"?

what? these promises? the accomplishments? What.

Is the problem really that he never made the promises you wanted and you just want to dog him because he is not a hard lefty?

[Baby Snooks]

6. Get his daughters a puppy?

That sort of sums up the priorities I guess. As for some of these "succcesses" they really are "successes" of Congress.

Including screwing everyone with this supposed "credit card bill of rights" and the supposed "bailout" of homeowners. Which isn't happening by the way. Foreclosure rates are increasing. Not decreasing.

As for the $400 tax credit per taxayer, you forgot the mention the $1+ million in "retention bonuses" paid in cash to quite a few quite a few on Wall Street.

[scheming daemons]

8. I didn't forget to mention anything...

I putting up links to promises kept and promises broken.

You can define for yourself if you think they are the correct promises or not.

The point of the OP is to show that Obama does what he says he is going to do.


In my view, that is all we can ask of a public servant. When I go to vote, I am judging your promises. If you tend to keep them, then my vote is an informed one. If you lie, then my vote is not.


Obama has proven that he isn't a liar.

[FSogol]

9. I see someone got their pony already.

Kidding aside, nice list.

[Clio the Leo]

10. I'm not sure I agree with fail #3...

.... "tougher" is a relative word first of all, how do you gague something using a relative word. But either way, he definately strengthened the rules of what WH staffers can do once they leave office, and as far as hiring former lobbyists .... he's hired THOUSANDS of new staff, and how many of those were lobbyists? A handful. Pretty good numbers IMO.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=azQJo_wu7f64

[KittyWampus]

37. that was my quibble as well. I'd call that a semi-success.

[Bucky]

12. Obama renegged on his promise to get a rescue shelter dog. He is DEAD TO ME!

I stayed up all night working on my single issue outrage. How'd I do?

PS, K&R :dem:

[scheming daemons]

13. You need to move on to outrage over the kindergarteners that....

...showed up an hour late for their White House tour and got preempted by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

[Bucky]

15. Really!! So much for being the "Education" president! He hates school kids and dogs!

...and baseball, too, probably!!!1!!

[JuniperLea]

17. Obama hates baseball??!??!

Oh, that does it! Stick a fork in me, I'm done! Nobody likes Obama anymore because he's too popular!

[mopinko]

14. dude, nobody wants to hear this shit.

'cept me, and the sane people here. but really, mostly, nobody.






















nice work.

[FrenchieCat]

16. But, but, but......

remember we are dealing with two specific parties that this listing is required even at the 5 month mark; The Party of "NO", and the "Nothing is Good Enough for ME" Party. With them your list fails, now and forever!

[tridim]

18. Obama is being judged relative to perfection.

Something that nobody has ever achieved.

As of today, he's the best modern President we've ever had. No question about it.

[uponit7771]

19. THIS SHOULD BE KICKED DAILY! Is there a way to sticky this?!?!

[Political Tiger]

20. K & R! n/t

[PretzelWarrior]

21. this is great

[cliffordu]

22. I wore out my first set of kneepads a month ago and I have to

mainline the koolaid cause I have such a huge tolerance for it anymore.

I tried snorting it but it gummed up my sinuses.

[newview88]

23. K&R

[cliffordu]

24. Can this be pinned at the top for the next 8 years, please????

[Uzybone]

25. Sugar free kool aid for me please

I don't want to get too sweet on the President.

[Fire1]

26. From one of the sane, I say this is Outstanding. I know my 'pet'

issue is on the back burner, as are a few others, but I have no doubt the legislation for all of them will get passed.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

27. K&R

[Cha]

28. These should be emailed

to http://www.whitehouse.gov

1. End income tax for seniors making less than $50,000. Fail
2. Allow five days of public comment before signing bills. Fail
3. Tougher rules against revolving door for lobbyists and former officials. Fail
4. Create a $3,000 tax credit for companies that add jobs. Fail
5. Allow penalty-free hardship withdrawals from retirement accounts in 2008 and 2009. Fail
6. Recognize the Armenian genocide. Fail

Obama said he liked that concept.."Keep your promises"

[jenmito]

29. K&R!

[Honeycombe8]

30. He set aside 2 million acres as protected area. I'm outraged it took him 2 months!

How's that for turning a positive into a negative?

:evilgrin:

[autorank]

31. Geithner and Summers - Check | Holbrooke and Petraeus - Check

The bailout has been doubled and the Fed has extended another $8 trillion for Wall Street Welfare. Link

We're in Iraq at current levels and headed for Afghanistan. Link

Those have to be taken care of. They're huge.

[Political Heretic]

35. War Criminals and Felony Lawbreakers in government go uninvestigated and unpunished -

- check.

[martymar64]

33. I appreciate the scorecard, thanks for bringing it to our attention

I've disagreed with you on some things, but I do greatly appreciate the scorecard being brought to our attention.
I'm not basing my assessment of Obama's administration solely on just statements or beginning initiations of policies. He has been terrific on some issues, not so good on others. I'd like to see how some of the policies enacted under the success column are enforced or utilized. Something marked as success could easily become failure if it is watered down or excessively compromised or not sufficiently enforced.

This administration is a work in progress and I wish them success in the things that will benefit the American people and people around the world. That being said, I reserve the right to be critical in the strongest possible terms on things that I disagree with. On the superficial issue like the puppy or Michelle's fashion choices, I could not care less. They have nothing to do with how this country is run. We must also not lose sight of the fact that President Obama is not the source of all policy in this country. I think Congress would agree with me on this. Also, changes coming from the state level, such as marijuana legality and civil rights for gays, will not come from him. He may not necessarily agree with some of these changes, I think they will come to fruition because the people want it and are willing to continue the fight until it becomes a reality. Remember, true lasting change generally comes from the bottom up, not from the top down.

I've been posting less frequently here because of the level of vitriol being flung about these days between the various factions. It's really easy to get caught up in it, and frankly, I don't need the stress. However, I will happily argue policy any time. I'll just have to remind myself to avoid making it personal and ignore those who do. I still love DU. It's full of intelligent people that can provide insight on a variety of issues and topics, even if I don't agree with all of them. With the exception of the true freepers and trolls and paid operatives that likely exist, we are all basically progressives and liberals that want our country to succeed. I think we all need to remember that occasionally.

I'll be watching the scorecard.
Thanks again for making us aware of it.

[scheming daemons]

36. Thanks for your thoughtful response

...

[Political Heretic]

34. There's more going on than keeping campaign promises.

I agree with you that Obama has kept more campaign promise than he's broken. Which is way more than any other president that I remember.

That's a good thing, but its far from the only thing. What dwarfs this, in my opinion, are his policy positions major issues - many of which did not have a direct campaign promise connected with them.

What are some of those? Well...

Single Payer is left off the table. The administration EPA is tossing out ridiculous environment screwing policy. We are escalating wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan and leaving residual bases and forces in Iraq. We're making Bush-era legal arguments against government transparency, and against civil liberties, We're "moving forward" on the biggest federal crime scandal in the history of our government, proving that there is no accountability and no meaning to the concept of "law" when you have enough power.

The Wall Street bailout is a disgrace to working America, designed to reinflate a false bubble for rich people without fixing the fundamental flaws and excesses that will ultimately bring our economy to complete collapse (you can't ask for a bigger warning sign than what we've just experienced, and instead of really doing something about it, we've punted the problem to our children while propping up the very people who are doing the most damage). There is silence on EFCA and push make concessions to Business. Don't Ask Don't Tell is off the Table. So far the highlight of educational policy reform is the failed GOP idea of so-called "merit" pay.

It's not that positive things haven't happened. It's that the sheer contrast between the scale of the positive things that have happened, vs. the extensive number of major issues on which the exact opposite of anything I could support has happened is simply shocking. It's that every morning I get headlines and find more bad news about something this administration is doing that I completely oppose.