41 replies to this topic

[Cait]

RovEsque, on Jan 22 2009, 12:23 PM, said:

Ideally, he would have just enough capital to spend on exactly what I want. .

I agree, except I hope he has just enough capital to spend on what *I* want.  

[QueenTiye]

Seems that Obama is taking this transparency thing kinda seriously: http://www.recovery.gov/

If you watched the weekly YouTube address (or saw it on whitehouse.gov) you'll know that the recovery.gov site is how the administration will keep the public informed about how it is spending the stimulus, now called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

QT

[RobL]

QueenTiye, on Jan 24 2009, 09:56 AM, said:

Seems that Obama is taking this transparency thing kinda seriously: http://www.recovery.gov/

If you watched the weekly YouTube address (or saw it on whitehouse.gov) you'll know that the recovery.gov site is how the administration will keep the public informed about how it is spending the stimulus, now called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

QT

Don't tell Barney Frank!

[FnlPrblm]

Good call I think on the pinning.

For those opposed to it, I think it's all a matter of perspective.  Honestly, I'd really like to see just how far G. W. B. got on his promises and so on.

  There is only so much which can be written off for Bush Jr. in regards to 9/11.  Yes, it put a strain on a great many things and changed the landscape all around.  But he was in office for eight years and he was the top guy (typically labeled the most powerful person/position on the planet).  More often than not, what they say, tends to go.  I'm not looking to start a fight or debate on who did what and why or why not.

Beyond GWB, I'd like to see what Regan and F.D.R. managed to do with their time (in comparison to what they set out to do).  Granted, F.D.R. would be a bit harder (being out of most everyone's lifetime who reside here on the board and the fact that the way things operated in politics and the presidency).

[Rov Judicata]

Obama broke his first promise: http://politifact.co...fore-signing-b/

[sierraleone]

^ did he say all bills?

Oh, he said he won't sign any, that are non-emergency bills. That works too.

Considering this is one of the few things he should have complete control over you'd think he try to keep this one.  

[Rhea]

I love this site. I don't mind them keeping track of the president. Wish they'd done it for other presidents.

I love the section that finds the truth of various rumours and outright lies that have been told by various politicians,political orgs. and bloggers. I particularly like the way that they link to the facts.

[QueenTiye]

It is a great site.

At present, President Obama's score card looks like this:

Quote

The Obameter Scorecard

    * Promise Kept - 17

    * Compromise - 7

    * Promise Broken - 2

    * Stalled - 3

    * In the Works - 40

    * No Action - 444

That's not bad.

QT

[Datalyss]

Smokers might wanna check it  right now if you haven't recently (the home page).

Edited by Datalyss, 03 April 2009 - 12:34 AM.

[Cheile]

hmm today reads as such:

The Obameter Scorecard
Promise Kept 26
Compromise 7
Promise Broken 6
Stalled 3
In the Works 60
No Action 412

[Drew]

Quote

Obama broke his first promise: http://politifact.co...fore-signing-b/

Well, so far he's broken this one 10 out of 11 times.

Edited by Drew, 28 April 2009 - 07:33 PM.

[Cheile]

to date:

Promise Kept 31
Compromise 8
Promise Broken 6
Stalled 12
In the Works 65
No Action 392

[Rhea]

I was interested in the 6 broken promises:

1. End Income Tax for Seniors Making Less than $50,000 (updated to stalled)

Not in the stimulus bill. The seniors did get their $250 economic stimulus payment for the first time ever.

Quote

We should add that the Tax Policy Center didn't care for this idea because it conflicted with the center's mission statement that taxes should be "fair, simple and efficient." In a report on Obama's tax proposals, author and tax analyst Roberton Williams said that the move exacerbates inequity between older and younger taxpayers with the same income:

"Most senior citizens already pay no income tax because they may claim an additional standard deduction and because most Social Security benefits are not subject to tax; nobody age 65 and over whose income comes entirely or almost entirely from Social Security pays income tax. Obama’s proposal would remove even more elderly from the tax rolls while maintaining taxes on working families with similar income but greater need. With federal spending on programs for the elderly projected to soar as the baby boomers retire, targeting special tax breaks on the elderly seems inappropriate. Furthermore, the proposal only helps seniors who currently pay income taxes; those too poor to owe any tax — arguably those most in need — would get no benefit."

Whether the policy is advisable or not, it's not listed explicitly in the budget outline, even though other tax credits and deductions are mentioned prominently. More details on the budget will be released in April, and Congress must approve the final package. But for now, because this measure is not part of the initial budget proposal, we're rating this item Stalled.

2. Allow 5 days of comment on public bills before signing - just flat broken, although there are signs of life when they put up a bill with a place for public comment. Unfortunately, it's more often than not done without the 5 days of comment,as far as I can tell.

3. Tougher rules against lobbyists, etc.  - the law is good, the waivers and recusals bad.

4.  Create a $3,000 credit per employee for companies who create jobs - never gonna happen. There's no support on either side of the fence in Congress for this.

Quote

It never got any significant support in Congress, even from Democrats. Lawmakers said they were concerned the credit wasn't enough of an incentive to get companies to hire additional workers. Tax policy analysts said the credit would be an administrative nightmare to implement. Companies might eliminate a job and then create it again later in hopes of getting the tax credit.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said at a news conference on Jan. 14, 2009, that both Democrats and Republicans had problems with the measure.

"If you have a company and you're selling fewer shingles, $3,000 isn't going to get you to hire somebody when your sales are shrinking," Schumer said.

5. Allow penalty-free hardship withdrawals from retirement accounts in 2008 and 2009 - just flat broken, and maybe that's not a bad idea:

Quote

The measure, which Obama proposed during the fall of 2008 as the economy was swooning, would have allowed workers to take money from their 401(k) retirement accounts before retirement, but without the usual penalty of 10 percent on top of regular taxes. The idea was to help cash-strapped workers get through hard times without having to absorb penalties for their bad fortune.

The potential downside to the idea is that money taken out now won't earn compounded growth later to build wealth. Also, early withdrawals lock in market losses that might turn around in time.

6. Recognize the Armenian genocide - broken. The why? Negotiations on this subject have been opened and are ongoing between the Turks and Armenians.

Quote

"I want to be as encouraging as possible around those negotiations which are moving forward and could bear fruit very quickly very soon. And so as a consequence, what I want to do is not focus on my views right now but focus on the views of the Turkish and the Armenian people. If they can move forward and deal with a difficult and tragic history, then I think the entire world should encourage them.

"And so what I told the president was I want to be as constructive as possible in moving these issues forward quickly. And my sense is, is that they are moving quickly. I don't want to, as the president of the United States, pre-empt any possible arrangements or announcements that might be made in the near future. I just want to say that we are going to be a partner in working through these issues in such a way that the most important parties, the Turks and the Armenians, are finally coming to terms in a constructive way."

Translation: Don't piss off Turkey during the negotiations.

Not too bad overall.

Edited by Rhea, 06 July 2009 - 11:15 AM.

[SparkyCola]

What about this broken promise?

Quote

To achieve health care reform, "I'm going to have all the negotiations around a big table. We'll have doctors and nurses and hospital administrators. Insurance companies, drug companies -- they'll get a seat at the table, they just won't be able to buy every chair. But what we will do is, we'll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies. And so, that approach, I think is what is going to allow people to stay involved in this process."

Read the full article on why they feel this promise has been broken.

Sparky

[SparkyCola]

In fairness, for all the criticisms, this is not so bad:

Promises Kept: 110
Compromise: 34
Broken: 19
In the Works: 255
Stalled: 83
Not yet rated: 3

[Rhea]

SparkyCola, on 23 April 2010 - 10:16 AM, said:

In fairness, for all the criticisms, this is not so bad:

Promises Kept: 110
Compromise: 34
Broken: 19
In the Works: 255
Stalled: 83
Not yet rated: 3

I agree. I love this site - I check it periodically, because it really does link to some interesting stuff. And it reminds me that for a year and a half, his record's not so bad.

I'm still stunned by people who actually thought the public option was ever going to survive. The Republicans and some of the more conservative Democrats were going to make sure of that. I find it a little repulsive that they got down to "I'll trade you some women's control over their bodies for your vote." Gah. And they were so stupid that they thought signing an executive order restating what was already mandated federally anyway was some sort of triumph. I do wonder how some of these guys get their pants on in the morning.

But when I sit back and look at it, it's much like Medicare B - flawed, but you have to start somewhere, sometime, and move on from there. Medicare B has, for all its crap, been a lifeline for a lot of seniors (my own mother included). It has a lot of flaws that need to be fixed, not the least the cost, but I consider it worth the trouble.

Call me crazy, but I tend to prefer programs that help people. Buildings can be rebuilt. Possessions can be replaced. People, IMO, just aren't expendable.

So I'm ok with the shaky start of the health care program, if time and care is taken to revise and retool it as time goes by. If.

(Don't ask me where all that came from. I haven't weighed in on this stuff in months. Sometimes I open my mouth and my brain hooks up to it while completely bypassing me in the process. )

Edited by Rhea, 06 May 2010 - 08:38 PM.

[Rhea]

Lesee where we are now:

Promise kept   122
Compromise 41
Promise Broken 22
Stalled           82
In the works    236
Not yet rated       3

[Cheile]

no one's been here in awhile but here's the current scorecard, with an update on the DADT issue:

Promise Kept 126
Compromise 40
Promise Broken 28
Stalled 82
In the Works 227

[Balthamos]

I've looked at this a few times, it looks reasonable that he's kept so many promises but we've no other politicians to compare it to. It will become more of a measure of performance when future presidents are measured in the same way. Still, it does suggest he's acting on SOME of his campaign promises. How effectively is also another question.

[QueenTiye]

http://www.politifac...kill-bin-laden/

Quote

Osama bin Laden dead

Updated: Monday, May 2nd, 2011 | By Angie Drobnic Holan

During the 2008 campaign, then candidate Barack Obama pledged several times that he would act to capture or kill terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. Back then, his political rivals criticized him for saying he'd do it with or without Pakistan's help.

QT