What has Obama done wrong so far? I'm trying to educate my friends and don't want to

[Jared]

forget anything!! Thx.? Examples are like the stimulus, the people he's appointed, etc. But any more detail on such things would be really helpful. These 'friends' are a bit ruthless if you leave out any facts or implement any bias.

 

[Armchair Goddess]

The Stimulus was correct, and needs time to work its way through the economy from the ground up. The cutting of $32 billion his first week in office was correct. The freeze put on the second half of the TARP funds fed chairman Ben Benanke and Bush pushed through was correct. Putting oversight into place before the remaining $350 billion TARP money could be used was correct. The foreign trips so far have been effective in restoring our nation's image around the world, and so are correct. President Obama's masterful and nuanced speech in Cairo, Egypt to a vast Muslim audience was right-on fabulous---and also correct. The agreement forged by President Obama with both the Russian president and Prime Minister Putin to reduce nuclear weapons by a significant percentage over time is correct. The permission to make use of Russian airspace in order to transport troops, weapons, and military equipment to Afghanistan is correct. The closing of Guantanamo is proceeding on schedule and is correct. The withdrawal of American troops from the cities of Iraq is a step closer to ending the war without leaving chaos in the wake, so this is also correct. The repayment of TARP funds, with INTEREST ($86 billion) by ten of the banks is a direct result of the restrictions President Obama and the Democrats put in place restricting salaries and bonuses of "welfare" banks, and so is correct. The appointment of quality people to head the various Cabinet positions has been correct. [Note: I think President Obama was INCORRECT when he backed off from having Tom Daschle in his Cabinet---Daschle is a very ethical and intelligent man who would have been good in whatever post to which he was assigned.] Within the stimulus, there is an $8000 tax credit for people who buy an American-made car (which helps both the buyer and the U.S. auto industry, a correct move. The two-year tax cut for all working Americans who make less than $250,000 a year is a good move, and also correct. The first-time homebuyer provision in the Stimulus will help the housing market recover, give a huge tax break to any buyers, and thus help the economy. The summer youth employment program in the stimulus will help teens earn an income during the summer months, which peripherally helps the economy. There have been jobs saved in some states, but other states (such as FL, CA, IND, etc.) were in debt prior to receiving the stimulus dollars and so in these states the recovery isn't going to be as robust. Construction projects in my own state, Missouri, are plentiful and there are plenty of high-paying jobs available. We have several small-business startups, too, thanks in part to the stimulus and also to the state incentives. President Obama underestimated the employment figures by hoping the job loss could stay in the 8% to 8.5% range---but this recession is both national and global---meaning our exports are not selling in the global markets, which causes layoffs. However, the unemployment compensation increases in the Stimulus package will help these displaced workers through December, and there are also increases in food stamps for families until the job markets stabilize (Bloomberg economists predict either mid- to late-August or mid-September before the corporate restructuring is done and the job losses "bottom out"---sort of like a river that keeps on swelling well past flood stage long after the rains have ceased).

For only being in office six and a half months, President Obama has been incredible, convincing greedy-gut pharmaceuticals to fork over a donation of $80 billion/year to fix the "donut hole" in seniors' prescription coverage; convincing CEOs of credit card companies to rein in their predatory practices (signing it into law); showing tremendous political courage by standing up to billionaire insurance companies who want to block a public plan that will provide cost controls for the rest of the health care industry; and still somehow finding the time to be a good husband and father---AMAZING! I know people are impatient to see an economic turnaround (which has actually happened according to economists interviewed for CNN, MSNBC, and Bloomberg TV), but eight long years criminally negligent economic policies and use of phony figures (i.e., excluded war costs) , faked reports, and fudged statistics is going to take at least a year, I suspect, before visible signs for the American consumer or workers begins to show. How are the debtor states going to fix their economies (especially California) so that the national recovery can continue?