As he runs for re-election, President Obama wants to point to his accomplishments in office. Trouble is, he's having trouble identifying them.
He killed Osama bin Laden, for sure. But after that...
He'd like to say that the economy is getting better, but the slow recovery is hampering his ability to sell that idea to the public. He likes to say that he saved General Motors and Chrysler; his critics argue that he really spent $23 billion of taxpayers' money to force the companies into bankruptcy and save the United Auto Workers Union. The president also has tried to claim that federal spending was increasing more slowly on his watch than in any presidency in 60 years, but the data don't bear out that narrative.
So the president's accomplishments are a little difficult to find. But I'm here to offer assistance. I've combed through the research, and unearthed some achievements the president can claim:
Most deportations. Despite his endorsement of the DREAM Act, President Obama has deported more illegal immigrants than any president in history. He's been deporting about 400,000 people a year, about double the number in the George W. Bush administration.
Most leaks prosecutions. The Obama administration has been criticized for leaking classified information in a series of campaigns to portray the president as a tough, engaged commander-in-chief. But meanwhile the administration information has used the 1917 Espionage Act to target suspected leakers in twice as many cases as all previous presidential administrations combined.
Most troops in Afghanistan. The United States had about 30,000 troops in Afghanistan during 2008, the last year of President Bush's term. By the end of 2010, President Obama had increased that number to almost 100,000. It's down to about 88,000 now, which still might surprise people who recall candidate Obama's ringing antiwar speeches of 2008.
Most medical marijuana raids. In March 2009 Attorney General Eric Holder said that the Justice Department would end the Bush administration policy of raiding medical marijuana distributors that violated federal statutes as long as the dispensaries appeared to be complying with state laws. Beginning later that year, however, as Lucia Graves reported at The Huffington Post,
"The administration has unleashed an interagency cannabis crackdown that goes beyond anything seen under the Bush administration, with more than 100 raids, primarily on California pot dispensaries, many of them operating in full compliance with state laws. Since October 2009, the Justice Department has conducted more than 170 aggressive SWAT-style raids in 9 medical marijuana states, resulting in at least 61 federal indictments."
Federal agents have seized property of landlords who rent space to medical marijuana dispensaries and have threatened to prosecute state employees who carry out state laws on medical marijuana.
Most drone strikes. President Obama doesn't like the way the Bush administration treated prisoners at Guantanamo, so he's taking fewer prisoners. The Obama administration has carried out at least 308 covert drone strikes in Pakistan, more than five times the 44 approved under Bush.
Most fundraisers. All presidents spend a lot of their time fundraising. But President Obama leads the league. Political scientist Brendan J. Doherty, author of the new book The Rise of the President's Permanent Campaign, reports that Obama had held 104 fundraisers by March 6, compared to 94 held by Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush combined. CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller noted that by June 12 Obama had done 160 re-election fundraisers, twice as many as Bush by the same point in 2004.
The economy may not get much better this year, not with all the taxes, spending and regulation weighing it down. President Obama may be hoping to achieve the distinction of being the president reelected with the highest unemployment rate.
In the meantime, though, he's got a lot of accomplishments he could boast about -- if he dares.
David Boaz is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of Libertarianism: A Primer and The Politics of Freedom.
Trey Ellis: We Need a Cause More Than a Candidate
Stewart J. Lawrence: Obama Needs to Run on His Foreign Policy Record
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| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
Obama Administration’s Achievements (Thus Far)
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A Short List of Barack Obama’s Major Progressive Achievements Thus Far
Our main achievements list is being updated, and will be released in the springl of 2012. Â You can read about the effort here. In the meantime, you may find the following useful as you try to educate people about the realities of the Obama administration, as opposed to the many myths, rumors, and allegations made about it.
Highlights
In a very pointed essay about how wrong some libertarian-left bloggers can be, Booman Tribune (@booMan23) outlined a very good summary of just  some of the major progressive achievements of the Obama administration.
• Obama has overhauled the food safety system
• Advanced women's rights in the work place
• Ended Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) in our military
• Stopped defending DOMA in court.
• Passed the Hate Crimes bill.
• Appointed two pro-choice women to the Supreme Court.
• Expanded access to medical care and provided subsidies for people who can't afford it.
• Expanded the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
• Fixed the preexisting conditions travesty [and rescissions] in health insurance.
• Invested in clean energy.
• Overhauled the credit card industry, making it much more consumer-friendly.
• While Dodd-Frank bill was weak in many respects, it was still an extremely worthwhile start at re-regulating the financial sector.
• He created a Elizabeth Warren's dream agency: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
• He's done a lot for veterans
Oh Yeah....that didn't actually happen once Florida finished recounting. The SCOTUS gave it away...my bad.
Show me an example scenario of an electoral tie...bet you cannot.
I find both Obama and Romney to be liars and that's enough for me to not vote for them. Both will increase the burden of government and our economy will remain in the doldrums as a result.
If Obama didn't hand out government favors at our expense, he'd be left with trying to raise money from those on welfare. That he gives government favors to donors, is the reason the rent-seek flys are so attracted to him.
Who started normalized trade with communist China? Clinton. Who signed NAFTA? Clinton. So Clinton ended welfare AND changed all the laws to encourage offshoring of US jobs to places like communist China...and you blame Romney?!
The two parties are basically stepping over themselves to crush US workers. Wake up. You have NO party.