Achievement: Obama Style
Against fierce opposition at every step of the way, President, President Obama has won a huge number of economic battles. The policy victories Obama has delivered have been hard-fought, messy and politically fraught. The achievements may not be all that the president’s 2008 boosters hoped for, but change has come. Here, six years of progress, by the numbers:
Peak unemployment, October 2009: 10.3 percent
Unemployment rate now: 5.9 percent
Consecutive private sector job growth: 55 months
Private sector jobs created: 10.3 million
Federal deficit, 2009: 9.8 percent of GDP
Deficit in 2013: 4.1 percent of GDP
Average under Ronald Reagan: 4.2 percent of GDP
Average tax rate for highest earners 2008: 28.1 percent
Average tax rate for highest earners 2013: 33.6 percent
Banks regulated as too big to fail, 2009: 0
Banks regulated as "systemically important financial institutions" — a.k.a. too big to fail — 2014: 29
Billions returned to consumers by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement: $4.6 billion
Americans compensated for being swindled by banks, lenders and credit card companies: 15 million
Dow Jones close, inauguration day 2009: 7,949
Dow Jones yesterday: 16,719
Required MPG (miles per gallon) for cars when Obama took office: 27.5
Required MPG for light trucks/SUVs when Obama took office: 23
MPG requirement by 2016 for cars, light trucks/SUVs: 35.5
MPG required by 2025: 54.5
Gigawatts of wind power installed when Obama took office: 25
Gigawatts of wind power installed through end of 2013: 61
Peak summertime solar power generation June 2008: 128 gigawatt hours
Peak summertime solar power generation June 2014: 2,061 gigawatt hours
Coal burned in electrical generation 2008: 1 billion short tons
Coal burned in electrical generation 2013: 858 million short tons
Reduction: 14.2 percent
EPA-proposed CO2 reductions for power sector by 2030: 30 percent
Pell grant funding 2008-2009: $18 billion
Pell grant funding 2013-2014: $33 billion
Adults gaining insurance under first year of Obamacare: 10.3 million
As a percentage of the uninsured: 26
Annual cost for birth control prior to Obamacare: Up to $600
Annual cost for birth control under Obamacare-compliant policies: $0
Prescriptions now required to obtain emergency contraception: 0
2009 projection for Medicare going broke: 2017
2014 projection for Medicare going broke: 2030
Troops in Iraq, inauguration day 2009: 144,000
Troops in Iraq today: 1,600
Osama bin Ladens alive 2009: 1
Osama bin Ladens alive 2014: 0
Troops in Afghanistan, day, 2009: 34,400
Troops pledged in Afghanistan by end of 2014: 9,800
Guantánamo detainees inauguration day 2009: 242
Gitmo detainees today: 149
Crack vs. Powder cocaine-crime sentencing disparity when Obama took office: 100:1
Crack vs. Powder disparity today: 18:1
Drug offenders eligible to seek early release under new sentencing guidelines: 46,000
States with medical marijuana, 2009: 13
Jurisdictions with medical marijuana today: 23 states, plus Washington, D.C.
States with legal recreational pot 2009: 0
States with legal recreational pot today: 2
Jurisdictions with marijuana legalization on the ballot in 2014: Alaska, Oregon, Washington D.C.
States where gay marriage was legal inauguration day 2009: Massachusetts, Connecticut
States where gay marriage is legal: 24, plus Washington, D.C. (soon to be 30 plus D.C., following Supreme Court refusal to intervene)
Immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children now shielded from deportation: 800,000

Hello Mark,



I think your article is too general, expecting President Obama to be Interpol, CIA, FBI, Pentagon, etc. (maybe Scotland Yard too) that is demanding too much from the man. He cannot do it, the people in those agencies have to do their jobs efficiently and work together. The executive branch is only a part of the whole system, and previous failures of US Intelligence agencies gave way to the 911 attack, recall that the bombers were trained in the US -under the noses of your CIA/FBI. They were informed of the imminent attack a year before, it is just that they did not take it seriously. Be fair and look at the issues more objectively.

Marion Dollar is so right.

Obama is working on a lot of initiatives. The international portfolio has been sadly neglected and needs serious attention and he is aware how important dealing with these problems out of the gate is important. As for aid and assistence to the those who would destroy America - remember the atage - "Keep you friends close - your enemies even closer." Give the new president a break.
Malcolm Watts

That's just the begining Mark, you ain't seen nothin yet. I was really hoping I was wrong about the guy...Unfortunately I wasn't. We're doomed

It is not only about our material needs. Sustainable prosperity begins with principles such compassion, love, selfcontrol, frugality, temperence, patience, regulation, and integrity. Great wealth and prosperity has a spirit. It is in that spirit that we have to restore our integrity to the world that we are not a country that torture others. Remember, We are always living up to a higher standard, set by or maker.

Mark, your 109-word commentary is a bit light to be considered an article - more like a short rant wouldn't you agree? But, Dude, what ARE you ranting about?

toe the line like all the other presidents who managed to survive their terms (Reagan almost bit the dust when his vice-president's son's high school buddy shot him several times, but again that You mention "those that vow to destroy our country and murder its citizens" - Dude, the Soviet Union went out of business in 1989! We won, the Commies lost. This is 2009, not 1989. Time to wake up from your slumber.

That said, do not expect our new president to do anything different from any of his predecessors. Unless he wants to wind up like JFK, he'll carry one with business as usual (Reagan almost joined JFK when his vice-president's son's high school buddy shot him, which goes to show you that even "vodoo economics" can get a president into trouble).

Strange - looking from afar through the media reports, blogs and web sites, the vast majority of US citizens seem really happy with President Obama's first days. Far from finding out 'the hard way', I see most of you in a state of great relief that the Bush years are finally over, and rejoicing at the new broom sweeping the White House. There will always be a diversity of opinion in any society, but such strident tones seem to indicate a deep rooted aversion to President Obama that no amount of achievement could ever assuage.

Good luck to us all in a new and hopefully better era.

It did no good to warn them did it.. they had to find out the hard way. Now we all suffer for their ignorance. The entire escapade was the unqualified being elected by the uninformed and the ignorant. Messiah me ass! May God intervene and bless our country.

Marion

Amen!