Thank you President Obama. You will be missed.
When history looks back at this time, there’s little doubt in my mind that President Barack Obama will be seen as one of the greatest leaders to ever hold office. While many may disagree with that sentiment, it will not change the fact that he brought historic social and economic change to this country and its people with little support and historic opposition. The one thing he didn’t do well enough, unfortunately, was brag about his many victories.
Now that a new president has taken his place, Obama’s supporters and dissenters alike, should take some time to reflect on just what he did for us. Below is a list of the Obama Administration’s accomplishments compiled for a TV segment on the Rachel Maddow show last night. Whether you liked him or not, I guarantee that even the most cynical will find value in some of these historic victories.
At the end of the Maddow segment, she makes a call to Obama’s supporters to defend these accomplishments. I’d like to second that call because many of these accomplishments will be in danger under a Trump administration. And for those policies that endure, we must make sure President Trump doesn’t take credit for them, because, unlike Obama, Trump loves to brag about his accomplishments, even when they’re not his.
Obama on Jobs and the Economy
- He saved the US auto industry with a stimulus package that was paid back in full and now US Auto Makers are among the most profitable car manufacturers in the world
- He decreased the unemployment rate by over 5% (Oct 2009: 10% unemployment; Now: 4.7%)
- We’ve seen 82 consecutive months of private sector job growth (the longest streak in our history)
- He decreased the deficit from 10% of GDP to 3%.
Obama on Bank Reform
- Banks can no longer use your money to make their risky bets
- Your credit card company cannot raise your interest rate without notification (yeah, this wasn’t already the case!)
Obama on Veterans
- “Secret” funerals of fallen soldiers have now been made public and the families of fallen soldiers now have their travel expenses paid so they can attend. (Yeah, this wasn’t always the case either, which is absurd to me.)
- He increased the mental healthcare budget for Veterans by billions.
- Veteran homelessness dropped by half
- LGBT can now openly serve in our military
- Woman can now serve in combat positions
Obama on Education
- He shut down creditors that allowed scam colleges that took your money but didn’t give you a proper education. (Kind of like trump university.)
- High school graduation rate increased to 83%, the highest it has ever been in the history of our country
Obama on Civil rights
- He legalized same sex marriage.
- A Muslim registry installed by Bush was dismantled (we’ll see how fast it’s put back in place shortly)
- LGBT Individuals can no longer be fired for being gay
- He appointed the 3rd & 4th women to ever be on the Supreme Court, including the first Latino
- He appointed the most diverse cabinet in history.
- Solitary confinement banned for juveniles in federal prison
- The federal prisoner incarceration rate experienced its first drop in decades
President Trump’s cabinet will be the first since the 1980s to not include a Latino.
Obama on Foreign Policy
- Syria destroyed their chemical weapons arsenal (Just imagine if they had it now)
- Torture was banned under all circumstances
- A US embassy opened in Cuba
- 16 countries gave up all of their enriched uranium
Obama on Health care
- Pre-existing conditions cannot prevent you from getting health insurance
- Women cannot be charged more for health insurance.
- No lifetime cap can be placed on how much health care you will need
- 20 million Americans received health care benefits who were previously uninsured
- For the first time in history our number of uninsured it’s in single digits
- And for all of you breast-feeding moms, that complimentary breast pump was courtesy of Obama.
If the rest wasn’t enough
- He put a rover on Mars!
- And he was the 1st president in history to voluntarily release the list of all guests to the White House.
And I almost forgot about this guy ….
– Dennis Marrero (aka Nephew)
