These days, especially on channels that provide cushy employment for right wing pundits, we often hear Barack Obama’s presidency described as a failure, even though he inherited two foreign occupations and an economic mess of epic proportions left by his predecessor, George W. Bush, even though he has yet to complete his first term, and even though the economy has improved in virtually every respect since he took office.
The president’s major legislative accomplishments are probably familiar to many readers of this column, since they’ve been extensively debated and litigated. But that’s hardly the extent of President Obama’s record as president.
Barack Obama has:
• Extended benefits to same-sex domestic partners of federal employees. In addition to signing the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, President Barack Obama in 2010 issued a presidential memorandum using his authority under existing law to grant LGBT employees some of the same benefits that heterosexual employees already enjoy with their spouses.
• Created new community service corps. Through the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, signed in March 2009, the Obama administration created five new service corps to work in low income neighborhoods, which bolstered the number of volunteers working on community service projects to around 250,000 from 75,000. The Act expanded AmeriCorps, originally created by President Bill Clinton, and increased the education award provided to AmeriCorps members in exchange for their service to $5,350 per student.
• Increased auto efficiency (CAFE) standards. In 2010, the Obama administration finalized new fuel efficiency standards for automobiles sold in the United States. By model year 2016, vehicles must get an average of 35.5 miles per gallon, which the Environmental Protection Agency estimates will save the typical car owner $4,000 in fuel over the lifetime of the vehicle.
• Negotiated the New START Treaty with Russia. In early 2010, the Obama administration announced it had reached a new nuclear arms reduction agreement with the Russian Federation. The agreement then went before the U.S. Senate for ratification. Despite senseless objections from hawkish Republicans like John McCain of Arizona, the treaty was approved and is now in effect. Its terms stipulate that the United States and Russia must take half of their strategic nuclear missile launchers out of service. In addition, the number of deployed warheads must be limited to 1,550, down nearly two-thirds from the original START treaty negotiated decades ago.
• Published a White House visitor log for the first time in U.S. history. Prior to President Obama’s inauguration, no administration had ever voluntarily disclosed the names of the people visiting the White House. But now it’s possible to see who is coming to the West Wing to lobby, thanks to the president’s increased commitment to open government.
• Appointed two women to the U.S. Supreme Court. Barack Obama is the first president in history to appoint more than one woman to the Supreme Court (Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton appointed Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, respectively; Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, both of whom were confirmed).
• Signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, outlawing pay discrimination. In the landmark Supreme Court case Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, the Supreme Court refused to award back pay to Goodyear production supervisor Lily Ledbetter, who unknowingly had not been paid as much as male counterparts had for years. The Fair Pay Act, the first bill signed by President Obama, says that the statute of limitations for filing an equal pay lawsuit under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 gets reset with the issuance of each new paycheck.
• Established the Credit Card Bill of Rights. It used to be legal for credit card companies to arbitrarily impose rate increases on borrowers for any reason at any time. Not anymore. Under the Credit Card Bill of Rights, signed by President Obama, banks can’t do things like raise interest rates on existing balances just because a payment was missed.
• Finally, in a significant but under-appreciated piece of legislation signed in 2010, the president saw to it that the federal government stopped paying Wall Street banks to provide student loans. The $68 billion in savings realized from cutting out the banks were redirected to expanding Pell Grants and helping more students pay off outstanding loans.
These are just 10 examples of advances championed and implemented by President Obama that have raised America’s quality of life, making the United States of America a more perfect union. Want to discover more? Check out whatthe
heckhasobamadonesofar.com.
Andrew Villeneuve, a 2005 Redmond High graduate, is the founder and executive director of the Northwest Progressive Institute, a Redmond-based grassroots organization. Villeneuve can be reached at andrew@nwprogressive.org.
