Crossposted from The People's View
I am not just a blind follower of my President even though some do think that about me but I really don't give a damn about what people say especially from those who are hell bent to destroy him. The facts are irrefutable for why I support my Democratic President. I classify myself as a well informed pragmatist progressive/liberal who is results oriented. To that effect, look no further than what President Obama and the Democratic Congress have accomplished in the last two years. After all, progressive means to make progress and there is no better person to lead America to progress than President Obama if you look at what he has accomplished to date.
So, yesterday I gave my first $100 to the Obama 2012 campaign in support of the President's vision for America and for his accomplished to date. I am committed and plan to actively do my part in support of the 2012 "yes we can" campaign.
This President has done so much of what he had promised quietly in a very short time while so many chastise, belittle, undermine and disrespect him from day one with the intent of ensuring his Presidency is a failed Presidency. However, we never see him taking his eyes of off his target (the people), taking the high road and focusing on the issues at hand.
With all the hating going on in our country and the Republicans doing everything they can to hijack and blackmail the President, threatening to shut down the Government, we need someone like this President who is a bridge builder, a leader who understand the pain of its people, someone who always put the business of his people first to move the country in the right direction not to mention a person who has display the utmost class for the office of the Presidency.
Our country is in dire need of civil discourse that exemplify maturity, strength, intelligence and compassion and there is no other modern day leader with all of those qualities to move America in the right direction than President Obama.
However, for a President to really effect change that will be lasting in a profound way, one term is not enough to see a significant impact while this President has accomplished in two years what some had not been able to do in two terms. Considering President Obama's track record, I am committed to helping him get the kind of support he deserves to change America for the better in the long run.
I also understand some Democrats believe in such outrageous statements:
This President ISN'T fighting for our party. He has shown in two years that he either has no idea what the democratic party is or he is such a weak individual that he cannot summon the energy to fight for anything he believes in (if he truly believes in anything).
I only ask, why be so blind folded? Why do some have to feel like the only way to progress is by beating up on the President? Don't you have any clues of politics and how it is played in Washington? Don't you know that we have a broken system that will take more and better Democrats to fix it? Don't you realize that in our current political landscape, this President is the best we got?
Well, I am all IN for my President. I am in because President Obama is fighting for me and my party every day. Yes, he sure is not screaming to show he is a screaming fighter as some would like to see but to what end? So, they can call him "Angry Black Man". I am in because of he has saved this country from disaster. I am in because I have a fighting President who is civil, calm, collected and reality based. I am in because what the President has been able to accomplish to date that is fundamental to winning the future of our country. I am in because reversing the course is just not an option.
It is my hope that as Democrats we do our share to actively spread positive information such as noted below to enlighten and help people see it takes a fighter to get these things done and how the Administration is helping them.
Join me by spreading the Administration's achievements to shape our messaging. Let us all be in it and be in-charge of the messaging to shape the future because President Obama on his own can't do it alone.
You in?
On reducing and assisting people that have become victims of the increased poverty made worse by economic crisis
1) A $20 billion increase for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as Food Stamps.
2) A $1 billion in funding for the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) that is intended to revitalize low-income communities via "Job training and placement assistance", "Financial literacy programs", et al, to helping families become self-sufficient.
3) A $2 billion in new Neighborhood Stabilization Funds that will allow ailing neighborhoods be kept maintained.
4) A $1.5 billion in Homelessness Prevention Funds to keep people in their homes and prevent homelessness.
5) A $5 billion increase for the Weatherization Assistance Program to help low income families save on their residential energy expenditures by making their homes more energy efficient.
6) A $4 Billion program, The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, "authorizes funding for federal school meal and child nutrition programs and increases access to healthy food for low-income children."
7) As part of the HCR bill, subsidies will be available to the uninsured and families with income between the 133 percent and 400 percent of poverty level($14,404 for individuals and $29,326 for a family of four).
8) Estabilished Open Doors to end the 640,000 men, women and children who are homeless in America by 2020.
9) Increased the amount of federal Pell Grant awards so that funds are available to those with less access to have opportunity.
10) Provided $510 Million for the rehabilitation of Native American housing.
11) Expanded eligibility for Medicaid to all individuals under age 65 with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level ($14,400 per year for an individual).
12) Providing assistance to low-income workers through the Earned Income Tax Credit giving millions of working families the break they need.
13) Education being the way out of Poverty, kicked off the "Race to the Top", a $4.3 billion program, that rewards via grants to States that meet a few key benchmarks for reform, and states that outperform the rest.
On Health Care Reform:
1) Coverage can’t be denied to children with pre-existing conditions.
2) Adults up to age 26 can stay on their parents’ health plans.
3) Free preventive care.
4) Rescinding coverage is now illegal.
5) Eliminating lifetime limits on insurance coverage.
6) Restricting annual limits on insurance coverage.
7) More options to appeal coverage decisions.
8) $5 billion in immediate federal support to affordable Coverage for the Uninsured with Pre-existing Conditions.
9) $10 billion investment in Community Health Centers.
10) Create immediate access to re-insurance for employer health plans providing coverage for early retirees.
11) Made an $80 billion dealwith the pharmaceutical industry to contribute to cut prescription drug costs for the nation’s seniors reduce the size of the "donut hole" in the Medicare (Part D) Drug Benefit.
12) Provides a $250 rebate to 750,000 Medicare Beneficiaries who reach the Part D coverage gap in 2010. As of March 22, 2011, 3.8 million beneficiaries had received a $250 check to close the coverage gap, according to an HHS report.
13) Businesses with fewer than 50 employees will get tax credits covering up to 35% of employee premiums effective 2011 and a 50% tax credit effective 2013.
14) Creates a state option to provide Medicaid coverage to childless adults with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level. By 2014, States are required to provide this coverage.
15) Provides a 10% Medicare bonus payment for primary care services and also a 10% Medicare bonus payment to general surgeons practicing in health professional shortage areas.
16) Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) requires that insurance companies spend at least 80 to 85 percent of the proportion of the premium dollars on clinical services. As an example, WellPoint's Anthem Blue Cross unit in California has reduced its proposed rate increase.
On Jobs and the Economy:
1) The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) has worked. The Economy Has Been Growing - take a look at the graph of GDP growth between 2007 thru 2010.
2) The $787 billion economic stimulus package has created or saved nearly 2 million jobs slowing the bleeding
3) Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 that extended Unemployment benefits up to 20 weeks and more.
4) Provided $14.7 billion in small business loans increasing minority access to capital.
5) The $26 billion aid to states package preventing large-scale layoffs of teachers and public employees.
6) As of March 31, 2011, created 1.8 million Private sector jobs since Jan 2010.
7) US auto industry rescue plan saved at least 1 million jobs
8) Helpedmake the Auto Industry start making huge profits again with Ford sales up 19% over last year. GM up 11%. Chrysler up a whopping 31%.
9) Jobs for Main Street Act (2010)injected $27.5 Billion for Highways, $8.4 Billion for Transit into the country’s transportation system to create jobs and spur economic activity.
10) A $33 Billion Jobs Packagethat will allow Small businesses to get $5,000 tax credit for new hires.
11) A $26 billion State Aid Package Jobs Bill saving 300,000 teachers and public workers jobs from unemployment.
12) As part of the 2010 tax extension, Unemployment Insurance was extended to 7 million Americans who would have been without income.
On Banking and Financial Reform
1) Signed a sweeping bank-reform bill (the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act)into law
2) Managed the $700 Billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) that Banks have repaid more than 100% of TARP funds ($251 of the $245 banks owed) as of March 2011 exceeding the original investment by $6 billion.
3) Cuts Salaries of 65 Bailout Executives
4) Closed offshore tax safe havens, tax credit loopholes on companies that use the tax laws to ship American Jobs oversees. HR 4213.
5) Signed into law the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act to fight fraud in the use of TARP and recovery funds, and to increase accountability for corporate and mortgage frauds.
6) Signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act
On Education
1) Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010 that increased the amount of federal Pell Grant awards and enabled the stripping of banks privileges as intermediaries for student loan servicing saving the US government about $68 billion dollars over 11 years.
2) Created the Race to the Top Fund, a $4.35 billion program to reward States that submit the best proposals for change.
3) As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, funded over$100 Billion for reforms to strengthen Elementary and Secondary education, early learning programs, college affordability and improve access to higher education, and to close the achievement gap.
On Energy
1) Implemented renewable fuels mandate of
36 billion gallons by 2022, four times what we currently consume.
2) Automakers will be required to meet a fleet-wide average of
New Gas Mileage Standards at 35.5 MPH by 2016.
3) A
$60 billion investment in renewable and clean energy.
4) developed
a Biofuels Roadmap to determine the next steps in growing an advanced biofuels economy to meet the goal to use at least 36 billion gallons of bio-based transportation fuels by 2022 helping create more green energy jobs.
5) established
EPA regulations which require large U.S. ships to cut soot emissions by 85 percent.
6) pledged via the
Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future that in a decade from now to cut our oil dependency by one-third, and put America's energy future by producing more oil at home and reducing our dependence on oil by leveraging cleaner, alternative fuels and greater efficiency.
On Housing
1)
$275 billion dollar housing plan - $75 billion dollars to prevent at-risk mortgage debtors already fallen victim to foreclosures and $200 billion to bring about confidence to offer affordable mortgages and to stability the housing market.
2) Established "
Opening Doors" to end the homelessness of 640,000 men, women, and children in the United States in 10 years.
3) Provided
$510 Million for the rehabilitation of Native American housing.
4) Provided
$2 billion for Neighborhood Stabilization Program to rehab, resell, or demolish in order to stabilize neighborhoods.
5) Provided
$5 billion for Weatherization Assistance Program for low income families to weatherize 1 million homes per year for the next decade.
6)
Provided grants to encourage states and localities to take the first steps in implementing new building codes that prioritize energy efficiency.
On Medicaid/Medicare/Social Security
1) giving
$250 economic stimulus check to 55 million Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients in 2009.
2) Cutting prescription drug costs for Medicare recipients by
50% and began eliminating the plan’s gap (“donut hole”) in coverage.
3) Passing as part of
H.R.3962 (Preservation of Access to Care for Medicare Beneficiaries and Pension Relief Act of 2010) a
$6.4 billion measurereversing a 21 percent cut in physician payments that would have started a flood of rejections by some doctors of seniors covered by Medicare.
4) Expanded eligibility
for Medicaid to all individuals under age 65 with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level ($14,400 per year for an individual).
5) Committed to ensuring that
Social Security Budget Will Not Be Cut nor would change
the retirement age.
On Military Veterans and Families
1)
A $112.8 billion VA budget, an increase of 15.5 percent over 2009, the largest percentage increase for VA requested by a president in more than 30 years.
2) Implemented a
strategic planto increase the hiring of Veterans and
Military spouses throughout the Federal civil service.
3) Provided for
the expenses of families of to be at Dover AFB when fallen soldiers arrive.
4) Passed
the Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2009 increasing the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans.
5) Declared the end of the war in Iraqi
bringing back nearly 100,000 U.S. troops home to their families.
6) Donated
250K of Nobel prize money to Fisher House, a group that helps provide housing for families of patients receiving medical care at military and Veterans Affairs medical centers
7) Ended
media blackout on war casualties; giving access to the return home of a dead US soldier for the first time since an 18-year ban on coverage was lifted.
8) Create a '
Green Vet Initiative' to promote environmental jobs for veterans
9) Signed into law
the 2009 Military Spouses Residency Relief Act, that will allow military spouses to claim residency in the same state as their sponsor and retain that residency as long as the service member is in the military, in the process avoiding the states where they currently reside from taxing their earned income.
10) Signed the Caregivers and Veterans
Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010
On LBGTQ issues no matter this diarythinks it is overselling of Obama's LGBT Accomplishments
1) Extended benefitsto same-sex partners of federal employees
2) Signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act
3) Instructed HHS to require any hospital receiving Medicare or Medicaid funds (virtually all hospitals) to allow LGBT visitation rights.
4) Banned job discrimination based on gender identity throughout the Federal government (the nation's largest employer)
5) Signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act and while more funding is needed per the 2012 proposed budget, an increase of $80 million to domestic and global HIV/AIDS programs committed
6) Extended the Family and Medical Leave Act to cover Gay employees taking unpaid leave to care for their children of same-sex partners
7) Lifted the HIV Entry Ban.
8) Implemented HUD Policies that Would Ban Discrimination Based On Gender Identity
9) Appointed the first ever transgender DNC member
10) Named open transgender appointees (the first President ever to do so)
11) Eliminated the discriminatory Census Bureau policy that kept LGBT relationships from being counted
12) Extended domestic violence protections to LGBT victims
13) Repealedthe Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) Discriminatory law.
14) Declared DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) unconstitutional and stopped Defending In Court
15) Endorsed a U.N. declaration calling for the worldwide decriminalization of gays and lesbians around the world in an efforts to make it a worldwide policy.
1) Keep $3,000 in tax savings annually
2) Unemployment Benefit for 7,000,000 Americans worth $56 Billion.
3) $2,500 in tax savings to help pay for college tuition and other expenses
4) A $2,000 payroll tax savings to me or a 2% employee-side payroll tax cut for over 155 million workers
5) Child tax credit of $1,000 per child with the $3,000 maximum credit threshold.
6) Earned Income Tax Credit that will give on an average $600 in additional assistance to families with 3 or more children
7) A 65 percent tax credit to help cover the cost of COBRA for those who lost their jobs in the recession
8) forecast to creating approximately 1.6 million jobs increasing the GDP for 2011
9) extended the credit for adoption-related expenses that reduces families tax bill up to $13,170 in 2011 through 2012
with a maximum of $12,170 in credit.
Other Notables
1) signed the Health Package For 9/11 Responders bill that puts $4.3 billion into a fund to assist folks that are suffering from problems caused by breathed-in dust and debris during the 9/11 clean up.
2) signed into law a sweeping Food Safety Act bill that contains 18 major changes to food safety laws.
3) made an excellent choice selecting a new Chief of Staff, William Daley, who Eric London has made a super case for why it was a smart choice.
4) made a $78 billion spending cut to the U.S. military and defense department budget, including reducing the size of the Army and Marine Corps.
5) signed in to law the START Treaty with Russia, a sweeping new arms reduction pact that will reduce the stockpile nuclear weapons in both countries adding new verification plan.
6) The passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act enabling the rights of workers to sue employers over wage discrimination claims.
7) The expansion of SCHIP health-care program for children worth $33 Billion.
8) The declaration of two million more acres of wilderness in one of the most omnibus Public Lands bill.
9) Government Transparency as noted by Common Cause, Democracy 21, League of Women Voters and U.S. PIRG-- "The cumulative effect of the Administration's actions has been to adopt the strongest and most comprehensive lobbying, ethics and transparency rules and policies ever established by an Administration to govern its own activities". You can read full report in all of the seven areas the report is graded.
10) signed the Tribal Law and Order Act -- an important step to help the Federal Government better address the unique public safety challenges that confront tribal communities.
I am full of hope for a better America because of what we have achieved to date. We need to capitalize on our accomplishments. If we go out and share the many goodies to shape the message block-by-block, we can motivate voters to GOTV and help elect more and better Democrats to change America.
Go Obama 2012!