Wednesday, December 12, 2012

As President


Executive Order


Signed Legislation



Administrative
  • Release presidential records
  • Require new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliation or contributions.
  • Create a White House Office on Urban Policy
  • Appoint an assistant to the president for science and technology policy
  • Ban lobbyist gifts to executive employees
  • Warren office to monitor financial products
  • Appoint at least one Republican to the cabinet
  • Froze the salaries for top White House staff members.
  • Signed an executive order that restored a 30-day timeframe for former presidents to review records before they are released. It also eliminated the right for the vice president or family members of former presidents to do the reviews.
  • The White House and federal government are respecting the Freedom of Information Act
  • Instructed all federal agencies to promote openness and transparency as much as possible
  • Limits on lobbyist's access to the White House
  • Limits on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration

Civil Rights
  • Fair Sentencing Act, August 3, 2010 reduces the punishment for possession of crack cocaine, making it closer to powder cocaine.
  • Push for enactment of Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors



Economy

http://money.cnn.com/news/storysupplement/economy/obama_100_days/index.html
  • Small Business Jobs Act, September 23, 2010. This bill continues the SBA loan program, more than doubles the maximum borrowing amount, establishes a new $30 billion Small Business Lending Fund which – by providing capital to small banks with incentives to increase small business lending – could support several multiples of that amount in new credit; helps states loan money to small businesses; eliminates capital gains tax on investments held over 5 years, coupled with immediately expensing capital investments. And more. Intended to inspire companies to spend capital and bump up productivity.
  • Manufacturing Enhancement Act, August 11, 2010 To make their products, manufacturers often have to import certain materials from other countries and pay tariffs on those materials. This legislation will reduce or eliminate some of those tariffs, which will significantly lower costs for American companies across the manufacturing landscape -– from cars to chemicals; medical devices to sporting goods. And that will boost output, support good jobs here at home, and lower prices for American consumers.
  • Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act August 10, 2010 26.1 Billion state aid package: preventing roughly 161,000 teachers and 158,000 public works employees from being laid off with $10 billion to fund education and $16 billion to fund Medicaid. The jobs bill is paid for by closing a loophole that allows U.S. companies to get a tax break for moving jobs offshore. The bill reduces the deficit by $1.4 billion.
  • Created a foreclosure prevention fund
  • Expand loan programs for small businesses
  • Extend and index the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch
  • Extend unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspend taxes on these benefits
  • Increased infrastructure spending (roads, bridges, power plants) after years of neglect
  • Housing rescue plan
  • The public can meet with federal housing insurers to refinance (the new plan can be completed in one day) a mortgage if they are having trouble paying
  • US financial and banking rescue plan
  • American Recovery Act: invested $100 million in infrastructure, the largest investment since Eisenhower Feb 17, 2009

  1. Outlawing pre-existing condition exclusions,
  2. Banning annual and lifetime benefit limits,
  3. Setting minimum Medical Loss Ratios,
  4. Expanding Medicaid,
  5. Significantly investing in and expanding Community Health Centers, and
  6. Setting up exchanges by 2014 that will subsidize those who need help to purchase insurance
Education
  • Funds for high-speed, broadband Internet access to K-12 schools
  • New funds for school construction
  • March 30: Education Affordability: "This Democratic Congress and this President passed student loan reform - correcting a very stupid system of student loans in which banks were subsidized for loans that were guaranteed by the Federal government anyway. Instead, now the federal government will make the loans directly, and use the savings to help more students." deaniac

Energy Initiatives
  • Weatherize 1 million homes per year
  • Invest in all types of alternative energy
  • Enact tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars
  • Support high-speed rail
  • Provide grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes
  • 4/22/09 - Developed the renewable energy projects on the waters of our Outer Continental Shelf that produce electricity from wind, wave, and ocean currents.

Federal Deficit
  • October 28, 2009: Signing of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010. This bill expands family leave rights for the family members of our troops and veterans, eliminates some of the waste and inefficiency in our defense process, terminates troubled and massively over budget programs such as the Future Combat Systems, the Airborne Lasers, the Combat Search and Rescue helicopter, and a new presidential helicopter that costs nearly as much as Air Force One.
  • Ended no-bid contracts
  • Signed bipartisan legislation to reform defense procurement so weapons systems don't spin out of control.
  • Phasing out the expensive F-22 war plane and other outdated weapons systems, which weren't even used or needed in Iraq/Afghanistan
  • Save Program to inspire people to find ways to save money December 29, 2009

Finance Reform

  1. Creates a powerful consumer protection bureau,
  2. Directs the SEC to grant access to the corporate ballot for board election to shareholders,
  3. Creates a warning system for troubled financial institutions,
  4. Institutes the Volcker Rule,
  5. Bans banks from trading for their benefit with federally insured dollars,
  6. Forces derivatives to be traded on an open exchange,
  7. Forces banks to spin off their derivative trading activity, and
  8. Grants the government resolution authority over troubled banks."
  1. Creditors cannot increase the annual percentage rate (APR) during the first 12 months of opening up an account.
  2. Creditors are required to provide consumers with a 45-day advance notice of changes in rates and significant contract changes. Rates that change due to a change in the index that the rate is based on are excluded from this 45-day notice requirement.
  3. Promotional rates need to be in effect for at least six months from the beginning date of that promotion.
  4. Creditors need to provide a 30-day advance notice of an account closure.
  5. With certain exceptions, credit card issuers are prohibited from charging a finance charge based on the double billing cycle method.
  6. Creditors are prohibited from charging a fee on an outstanding credit card balance at the end of the billing period if the fee is attributed to the interest accrued on an outstanding balance that was fully repaid during that preceding billing period.
  7. Consumers have the right to reject a new credit card after the creditor notifies a consumer reporting agency of its corresponding account.
  8. Creditors are required to remove information provided to a consumer reporting agency about newly established credit card accounts if the consumer has not used or activated the account and and if the consumer contacts the creditor within 45 days of its establishment to close it.
  9. If two or more different APRs apply to different portions of an outstanding balance, the amount of any payment above the required minimum payment needs to be applied to the balance with the highest APR first and then to lower APR balances.
  10. Creditors are required to provide a grace period for payments even if the cardholder takes advantage of a promotional rate balance or deferred interest rate balance.
  11. Creditors are required to send credit card statements at least 21 days before the due date of the outstanding balance.
  12. Creditors are prohibited from providing credit to consumers under age 18 (unless they are emancipated under state law, or the consumer's parent or legal guardian is designated as the primary account holder).
  13. For college students who do not have a co-signer, the maximum amount of credit extended will be limited to the greater of 20 percent of the student's annual gross income or $500 dollars. The aggregate amount of credit extended from all of their credit cards will be limited to 30 percent of the student's annual gross income (for the recently completed calendar year).
  14. Creditors are prohibited from opening a credit card account for any college student who does not have any verifiable annual gross income or already maintains a credit card account with that creditor, or any of its affiliates.
  15. Creditors are prohibited from charging a fee to make telephone and web-based payments. However, a fee may be charged for expedited telephone payments made on the due date or the day before the due date.
  16. Creditors are required to post their written credit card agreements on the internet.


Foreign Policy

  • 3/18/8 – Obama caught world-wide attention for his moving speech on race relations

  • 7/24/8 - Obama lays the foundation for a new era of international relations and began inspiring renewed hope in American leadership during his campaign speech in Berlin

  • 11/6/8 – Obama’s victory was hailed as a promise of hope for the world.

  • 12/1/8 – Obama began plans to restore U.N. ambassador to cabinet rank.

  • 1/22/9 - Appointed a Special Envoy for Middle East peace

  • 1/22/9 – Ordered the closing of Guantanamo Bay

  • 1/22/9 – Ordered comprehensive review of detention policies

  • 1/22/9 – Prohibited use of torture

  • 1/22/9 - Signed an executive order to close CIA secret prisons

  • 1/23/9 – Lifted “Global Gag Rule” on international health groups

  • US presses Israel to end expansion 2009 May 24
  • Grants Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba
  • Directs military leaders to end war in Iraq
  • Sent two additional brigades to Afghanistan
  • Gives a speech at a major Islamic forum in the first 100 days of his administration
  • Set a deadline to close Guantanamo
  • Signed a detailed executive order to ban torture and inhumane treatment of prisoners.
  • Granted his first TV interview as president to Al-Arabiya, a channel described as a "voice of moderation" to the Middle East.
  • Lifted a ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide abortion information.

  • 2/27/9 – Committed to responsibly ending the war in Iraq

  • 4/1/9 – Agreed to negotiation of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia.

  • 4/1/9 – Enhanced U.S. – China relations

  • 4/2/9 - Led global response to the economic crisis through the G20, obtaining commitments of $1.1 trillion to safeguard the world’s most vulnerable economies

  • 4/4/9 - Renewed dialog with NATO and other key allies

  • 4/5/9 – Announced new strategy to responsibly address international nuclear proliferation

  • 4/13/9 – Began easing tension with Cuba through new policy stance

  • 4/17/9 - Secured $5 billion in aid commitments "to bolster [Pakistan's] economy and help it fight terror and Islamic radicalism"

  • 5/8/9 – Proposed International Affairs budget that included funds to create a civilian response corps -- teams of civilian experts in rule of law, policing, transitional governance, economics, engineering, and other areas critical to helping rebuild war-torn societies; Provide $40 million for a "stabilization bridge fund," which would provide rapid response funds for the State Department to help stabilize a crisis situation.

  • 6/4/9 - Gave historic address to the Muslim World in Cairo - "American is not at war with Islam" Foreign affairs experts insist that Obama's engagement with the Muslim world has been remarkable. "He has been able to dramatically change America's image in that region"

  • 8/4/9 - Used DIPLOMACY to free 2 American journalists from a North Korea prison

  • 9/18/9 - De-escalation of nuclear tension through repurposing of missile defense prompting Russia to withdraw its missile plan.

  • 1/27/2010 - Because of US policy, Afghan's Pashtun's fight Taliban
  • 4/8/2010 - START treaty with Russia for nuclear disarmament
  • 8/30/2010: Expanded sanctions against North Korea to pressure them to give up nuclear weapons.



Global Warming & Environment
  • Fast-tracked the process to apply new fuel standards to 2011 car models AND initiated steps to allow California to set its own standards for auto emissions that are stricter than that of the Federal government.

  • 1/26/09 – Began to address climate change by increasing fuel standards for automobiles

  • 1/26/09 – Appointed Special Envoy for Climate Change

  • 2/5/09 - Again addressed energy conservation by increasing standards for appliances.

  • 2/25/09 - Initiated international efforts to reduce mercury emissions worldwide
  • 6/16/10 $20 billion dollar fund from BP for clean up

  • --$11 billion funding for an electric smart grid
  • --$6.3 billion for state and local government
  • ­­s to make investment­­s in energy efficiency
  • --$6 billion for renewable energy and electric transmissi­­on technologi­­es loan guarantees
  • --$6 billion for the cleanup of radioactiv­­e waste (mostly nuclear power plant sites)
  • --$5 billion for weatherizi­­ng modest-inc­­ome homes
  • --$4.5 billion for the Office of Electricit­­y and Energy Reliabilit­­y to modernize the nation's electrical grid and smart grid.
  • --$4.5 billion for state and local government­­s to increase energy efficiency in federal buildings
  • --$3.4 billion for carbon capture experiment­­s
  • --$3.25 billion for the Western Area Power Administra­­tion for power transmissi­­on system upgrades.
  • --$2.5 billion for energy efficiency research
  • --$2 billion for manufactur­­ing of advanced car battery systems and components­­.
  • --$3.2 billion toward Energy Efficiency and Conservati­­on Block Grants.
  • --$500 million for training of green-coll­­ar workers
  • --$400 million for electric vehicle technologi­­es
  • --$300 million for federal vehicle fleets, to cover the cost of acquiring electric vehicles, including plug-in hybrid vehicles.
  • --$300 million for reducing diesel fuel emissions




Health Care Reform & Medical

  1. Outlawing pre-existing condition exclusions,
  2. Banning annual and lifetime benefit limits,
  3. Setting minimum Medical Loss Ratios,
  4. Expanding Medicaid,
  5. Significantly investing in and expanding Community Health Centers, and
  6. Setting up exchanges by 2014 that will subsidize those who need help to purchase insurance
  • Directed almost $1 billion for prevention and wellness to improve America’s health, 24 February 2009
  • Expand funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners

Judicial
  • Appointed Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, the fist Latino
  • Appointed Kagan to the Supreme Court, the first person to have appointed two women

Military
  • 18 August 2010: Last brigade leaves Iraq
  • 27 Feb 2009: Beginning the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq
  • Families of fallen soldiers have expenses covered to be on hand when the body arrives at Dover AFB
  • Ended media blackout on war casualties; reporting full information
  • Ended media blackout on covering the return of fallen soldiers to Dover AFB; the media is now permitted to do so pending adherence to respectful rules and approval of fallen soldier's family
  • Ended the previous stop-loss policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan longer than their enlistment date
  • The prison at Guantanamo Bay is being phased out
  • First to walk among soldiers at Arlington.
  • The largest percentage increases to the VA budget in the past 30 years.
  • Help for 200,000 Vietnam vets who may have been exposed to Agent Orange, as well as help for Gulf War vets with specific infectious diseases.
  • Eliminating co-pays for catastrophically disabled veterans
  • Increased funding for veterans' health care across the board.
  • Eliminating delays both in the funding for medical care and the claims process.
  • Pooling the wisdom of VA employees to help cut through red tape.
  • An ongoing fight to end homelessness amongst veterans, which has already seen significant progress.
  • 8 Aug 2010: More support for Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange


Science and Research
  • Reverse restrictions on stem cell research
  • Federal support for stem-cell and new biomedical research
  • New federal funding for science and research labs


Women's issues
  • Obama expanding funds to help women







Miscellaneous
  • Restore funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program
  • Support increased funding for the NEA
  • Fund a major expansion of AmeriCorps




Credits

Some of these collected here: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/10/9/791412/-30+-Reasons-Obama-deserves-the-Nobel-Peace-Prize

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/11/19/805925/-90-Accomplishments-of-Pres.-Obama-Which-The-Media-Fails-to-Report....

http://www.facebook.com/#!/note.php?note_id=150661048281656&id=1606365393

http://www.thepeoplesview.net/2010/06/18-months-in-transformational-historic.html
Posted by at 7:40 AM
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1 comments:

JaneAnneJ said...

Thanks, Kiku. That must have been a lot of work. Happy New Year.

January 4, 2010 5:35 AM

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