The awful things that have happened under Obama

Just as predicted by the political right, many bad things have befallen our country and the world with Barack Obama as our president for the past 5 years.  I have generated a list of these below.  But I'm sure the list is not complete.  So I need my readers' help.  Please post comments (or send me email - keithsinterweb@gmail.com) to inform me of the things I have missed.  I'll update the list accordingly.

• The 2007 financial crisis and the largest economic recession since the great depression were both ended.  But this was done too slowly and at too high of a cost.  Unemployment, although steadily dropping for 4 years now, is still above 7%. Collapses of many of our financial institutions and major corporations (such as General Motors) were averted with bailouts. The bailouts are now mostly repaid, but they cost taxpayers billions.

• From 2008 to the end of 2013 $7.2 trillion was added to the federal debt to bring the total to $16.7 trillion. The bulk of this deficit spending went out as assistance (food stamps, unemployment benefits) for the jobless and the least wealthy and to the states to maintain or create jobs (policemen, teachers) and to pay for infrastructure projects to reduce joblesness as well as to build and make repairs to bridges, highways and the like.

• Gays are now permitted to serve openly in the military.

• Osama bin Laden was tracked down and killed.

• The executive branch withheld their approval for construction of the Keystone oil pipeline.

• Rates of killing Al Qaeda leaders and operatives have tripled (this is for the most recent 5 years vs. the preceding 5 years.

• US involvement in Iraq has been reduced.  All US troops have been pulled out of Iraq

• Immigration enforcement has sent higher numbers per year of illegal immigrants back to Mexico than under any previous administration.

• US involvement in Afghanistan has been reduced.  In 2014 the last of the US troops will be pulled out.

• Assistance to aid Libyan rebels, in the form of air force and naval offensive actions by US forces, ended the reign of Moammar Khadafy.  In the aftermath, a year later, an ambassador and 3 others associated with the Libyan embassy were killed (2012 Benghazi attack).  These deaths were avoidable had better and more security been provided.

• The position of the US as the indisputable "top dog" in the world has been diminished - largely as a result of China's economys' continued rapid growth over the past 5 years.

• Guantanamo Bay prison was not shut down.

• Congress has been largely gridlocked and unable to pass important legislation such as immigration reform.

• The US has not gotten militarily involved to help the rebels in the Syrian conflict

• Sweeping health care reform has been passed by congress. The program roll-out was started. In the first 2-3 months the computer software for enrollment and for other essential interfacing into the system were not working well at all - so parts of the program were delayed.   

• Among other things, the health care reform program proscribes the following: all citizens are required to buy health insurance; same cost health insurance is guaranteed to individuals with pre-existing conditions, subsides are provided to the poor toward paying for their health insurance; specific standards are required for coverages provided by health insurance policies; individuals can choose their insurance plans from a competitive market; individuals can not necessarily keep their existing health care plans; at least 80% of the revenues collected by health insurance providers must be paid out directly toward health care costs (this clearly limits the profits that can be had by health insurance companies).

• US annual oil consumption has gone down by about 1% per year in the past five years.  The level of US electric consumption has stagnated - there has been less than 1% change total over the last 8 years. Clearly our economy is not what it once was - possibly exponential growth is coming to an end. Also, for the first time in decades, the US now imports less than half of the oil that it consumes - clearly US dominance in the consumption of the world's resources has been diminished.

• Windpower is now supplying 6% of the electric consumed in the US (vs. 2% in 2008).

• The annual rate of coal burned in the US has dropped by more than 12% since 2007. About 5% less coal is being mined each year (most of the the difference goes to exports).

• Domestic natural gas production from 2008 to 2013 has increased 16% and prices have dropped by over 30%. Domestic oil production has increased as well.

• The stock market has gone up. In the past 5 years the Dow Jones has risen 80% and the NASDAQ has risen by 170%. Both are at levels considerably above their highs preceding the 2007 crash.

How much of the fault (or the credit) for the above changes is attributable to the President?  Or is attributable to the US Congress? Or to one or the other political party? Or to the corporations and other big institutions and organizations in the US?  Or to we individual Americans who every day drive or oppose these events as they occur?

I think it's fair to say that some of all of the changes can be attributed to all of the above.  And, I would add, the good things that have happened over the past 5 years definitely outweigh the bad.

If you stand back and take an objective look, I think you'll see that much has improved over the past five years. Our economy is in the best shape its been since the crash, and arguably, it is the healthiest its been in well over a decade. It is the star of the developed nations and the envy of the world. US unemployment is considerably lower than in most of the developed nations, and certainly much lower than the  the current 12% level in Europe. American businesses are strong, competitive and lean. We threaten our environment less than we did 5 years ago.  Crime rates are low. The rule of law reigns as sure as ever. We are more energy independent than at any other time in the past 30 years. America continues to offer the freedom and opportunity for an individual to succeed and to live his or her dream - I believe America offers this moreso today than it ever has.  

Two examples of areas in which we have seen big gains are:  1) increased freedom (below poverty line children now included!) from likely medical disability, or death or impoverishment in situations where a reasonable cost universal medical care system can prevent such; 2) hugely increased freedom in speech and access to information - enabled by advancements in computers, the Internet, websites, Internet services, website providers (like Wikipedia), software and smartphones (in fewer words - enabled with our advancement into the digital age.  By the way, this is an area in which, despite all the words about how our government can't do anything correctly or effectively, our government has done an excellent job of creating new laws that allow digital innovations to grow, advance and benefit us but at the same time prevent them from being monopolized and misused.  Kudos to Congress :-).

And while I'm giving out kudos:  Kudos to the President too.   I've never said that Obama was without his faults. Like anyone who's human, he makes mistakes and says the wrong things at times.  But we have seen that he is an honest man, a man of good principles and a very capable leader.  Over the past 5 years he's done a good job in delivering on most of what were his key goals from the start (source):

1. making Americans more secure, healthy, well educated and employed; 
2. giving more Americans the opportunity to pursue the American dream;
3. making our industries, businesses and financial systems strong, healthy and efficient; 
4. improving international stability; 
5. improving national security; 
6. moving us toward energy independence;
7. protecting our environment.