Hello
Recently, the debate over how to label Barack Obama, reached new heights of fierceness. Seems like the most important thing right now, is to decide where to place him on the line between Dick Cheney and Dennis Kucinich, but.....
Personally, i find most kinds of labeling to be a real passe in 2010. It's not enough to have the "right" ideals, it's much more important to actually move towards materialize them. Some steps are small, some bigger, but taking them is what's crucial, moving the ball forward is what eventually makes the difference. The rest is theoretical debate - interesting within itself - mixed with acquisition of certain labels to fit one's agenda. At this crucial junction in history - i find it to be a luxury.
But, the specific debate over president Obama's label is obviously very much on, and getting more heated every day. Anyone who read both of his books - and the obviously much more objective and quite phenomenal, "The Bridge" by David Remnick - knows exactly how to "label" Barack Obama, but as i said, it's not very interesting to me. Facts, on the other hand, matters to me a lot. Facts have no opinion. Facts don't watch cables, they never read Politico, they don't know what blog is and they have no anonymous sources. They're just facts. And the facts in this case are pretty clear:
No president in the last 100 years - except for FDR and LBJ - moved the Liberal agenda further and faster than Barack Obama did in mere 16 months. People can label him in any kind of way, the facts tells the truth. The truth of constant progress - frustrating, sometimes ugly, never quite feels like a huge victory - yet in the historical context, it's a real, substantial and enormously rare progress.
This is a very incomplete list of things that Liberals waited for for years - in some cases for decades - and happened over the past 16 months (And not even getting into the trivial detail of dealing with the second worst shitstorm to ever welcome a new president). If anyone can show me any other president (again, except FDR and LBJ) who comes even close to what this man has done in 16 months, i'd love to hear them.
*
*
*
- He passed the biggest stimulus bill in history. $787 billion going straight to main street.
- Signed Children's Health Insurance Bill, which itself expanded coverage for an additional 4 million uninsured children by 2013 on top of continuing coverage for 7 million already enrolled in the program. And for the first time, it allowed states to cover many documented immigrant children who previously were not eligible.
- Congress passed a bill to give the government the power to regulate tobacco.
- The stimulus money for health care, dedicated more than $145 billion to investments and reform of health care systems, including:
* $87 billion to states in just the next couple of years to maintain Medicaid programs.
* $25 billion to help laid-off workers afford their previous employer's health care via COBRA.
* $19 billion for Health Information Technology (HIT) deployment.
* $10 billion in additional funds for the National Institute of Health.
Increase funding to expand community based prevention programs: $851 million from the recovery act support the construction, repair and renovation of over 1,500 health center sites nationwide.
- Provided tax cuts for 95 percent of working families – the most progressive tax cuts in history.
- Made the largest investment in green technology in history:
A) Over $14 billion for various State Energy Conservation Programs, including $5 billion for the underfunded Weatherization Assistance Program to help low-income families to weatherizing their homes.
B) $11 billion for smart grid technology.
C) The stimulus was also a key "down payment on a new transportation vision," in the words of the coalition Transportation for America, including $27.5 billion allocated to the traditional highway program, $8.4 billion for public transportation, $9.3 billion for intercity and high-speed passenger rail, and $825 million for projects that will make streets safer for walking and biking.
D) Clean cars mileage rules - For literally decades, automakers blocked higher federal gas mileage rules and the Bush administration blocked state laws seeking to establish higher standards in their states. Obama engineered a new rule that by model year 2016, the average mandated fleet fuel efficiency standard will be 35.5 miles per gallon. Add in the $2 billion in stimulus cash for advanced batteries systems.
E) Landmark U.S. conservation bill - A a package of more than 160 bills, designating roughly 2 million acres - parks, rivers, streams, desert, forest and trails - in nine states as new wilderness and render them off limits to oil and gas drilling and other development.
F). $175 million was included in the stimulus bill for water conservation. Of that, $135 million is being used for water reclamation and reuse projects in the West.
G) Doubled the federal spending for research on clean fuels.
H). Increase funding for national parks and forests: Congress approved about $2.7 billion to preserve and improve the tracts of land. That's a $218 million increase over the last National Park Service budget, or about 10 percent
- Made the largest investment in education in history:
A) The stimulus devoted $139.24 billion to education funding over a couple of years, including:
* State Fiscal Stabilization Fund of $53.6 billion to help state and local governments avert budget cuts.
* $39.5 billion in educational block grants allocated by student and general population measures.
* $5 billion for incentive grants and other purposes.
* $24.8 billion for School Construction Bonds.
* $11.3 billion for special education.
* $10 billion for Local Educational Agencies.
* $3 billion for School Improvement Grants.
* Higher education funding of approximately $30 billion was distributed directly to students and their families, but an estimated $15 billion for scientific research flowed partly to universities.
B) Student loan reform – Reduce subsidies to private student lenders and protect student borrowers. The move would result in savings of $68 billion over the next 11 years, $36 billion of which would be used to expand Pell Grants.
C) Increased funding for land-grant colleges.
D) Created job training programs for clean technologies
E) Created an artist corps for low income schools: federal funding to promote skilled musicians and artists from low-income communities.
F) $12 billion to community colleges renovations and expand curricula.
- Invested $12 billion to support transportation systems throughout the United States," including "buses, subways, light rail, commuter rail, streetcars, monorail, passenger ferry boats inclined railways (and) people movers.
- Equalize tax breaks for driving and public transit.
- Lifted the ban on stem cell research and restored science to its rightful place, creating a once-in-a-generation shift in U.S. science..
- Establish a credit card bill of rights.
- Signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, forcing equal pay for equal work.
- Lifted the ban on immigration of those with HIV/AIDS.
- Ordered hospitals visitation rights for LGBT couples.
- Fully fund the Violence Against Women Act. 2011 budget includes $538 million, an increase of $120 million, to support women victims of violence, including domestic abuse and sexual assault victims.
- Restored funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program (The grants can be used for law enforcement functions such as prosecutions, court programs, drug treatment and education, technology upgrades, planning programs, and crime victim and witness programs). Bush cut funding to $170.4, Obama raised it to $500 million a year.
- Signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, expands the current statute to include any crime instigated by a person's gender, sexual orientation or disability.
- Restored funding to the EEOC and the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs: $367 million.
- Increased spending to prepare for longer space missions: the president's 2011 budget would increase budget authority for NASA's exploration directorate from about $3.8 billion in 2010 to about $5.2 billion in 2015.
- Establish special crime programs for the New Orleans area: $160 million in federal Community Oriented Policing Services money for 173 law enforcement agencies in the Gulf Coast states.
- Rebuild schools in New Orleans: The recovery act includes nearly $1.3 billion in education funds for Louisiana. In 2009 16 schools have reopened in the New Orleans area for the first time since Katrina. In May, FEMA earmarked about $150 million for rebuilding four public schools in the city. Construction of the schools has been under way for more than a year, and in August, the first newly constructed school, Langston Hughes Elementary, opened in New Orleans. Ultimately, FEMA expects to spend more than $640 million at the four campuses and on rebuilding or repairing other public schools in Orleans Parish.
- Increase funding for local emergency planning: In 2010, Congress provided $650 million for the Urban Areas Security Initiative to increase cities' preparedness and emergency response capacity. This was $21 million more than Congress appropriated in 2009, but $15 million less than Obama's budget request.
- Created a Social Investment Fund Network: To expand partnerships between the federal government, social entrepreneurs, and philanthropy organizations by increasing the resources available for programs that seek to provide solutions for issues such as crime, child development, civic engagement and resource conservation. $65 million appropriation for innovative activities in community engagement, $50 million of which will go toward the Social Investment Fund.
- Nominated the first Hispanic woman to the Supreme Court, and in one year nominated two women, doubling the number of women ever to serve in the court.
- And, passed Health Care Reform, which includes, among others, these benefits:
A) Expending coverage to 31 million uninsured.
B) Insurance companies will be barred from dropping people from coverage when they get sick. Lifetime coverage limits will be eliminated and annual limits are to be restricted.
C) Insurers will be barred from excluding children for coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
D) Young adults will be able to stay on their parents' health plans until the age of 26. Many health plans currently drop dependents from coverage when they turn 19 or finish college.
E) Uninsured adults with a pre-existing conditions will be able to obtain health coverage through a new program that will expire once new insurance exchanges begin operating in 2014.
F) A temporary reinsurance program is created to help companies maintain health coverage for early retirees between the ages of 55 and 64. This also expires in 2014.
G) Medicare drug beneficiaries who fall into the "doughnut hole" coverage gap will get a $250 rebate. The bill eventually closes that gap which currently begins after $2,700 is spent on drugs. Coverage starts again after $6,154 is spent.
H) A tax credit becomes available for some small businesses to help provide coverage for workers.
I) Medicare provides 10 percent bonus payments to primary care physicians and general surgeons.
J) Medicare beneficiaries will be able to get a free annual wellness visit and personalized prevention plan service. New health plans will be required to cover preventive services with little or no cost to patients.
K) A new program under the Medicaid plan for the poor that allows states to offer home and community based care for the disabled that might otherwise require institutional care.
L) An incentive program is established in Medicare for acute care hospitals to improve quality outcomes.
M) Crete State health insurance exchanges for small businesses and individuals open.
N) Employers with 50 or more workers who do not offer coverage face a fine of $2,000 for each employee if any worker receives subsidized insurance on the exchange.
O) Health insurance companies will be paying a fee based on their market share.
Source
Source
Source
Source