What has President Obama Done Right in Three Years? LOTS! (Updated 5-23-2012) [78*-61]

JANUARY 21, 2009: PRESIDENT OBAMA kept his promise to end the war in Iraq. After a meeting on his first day in office with his cabinet and military commanders, President Obama reported, "The meeting was productive and I very much appreciated receiving assessments from these experienced and dedicated individuals. During the discussion, I asked the military leadership to engage in additional planning necessary to execute a responsible military draw-down from Iraq."

JANUARY 22, 2009: PRESIDENT OBAMA issued Executive Order #13491 that ended these practices, fulling a longstanding campaign promise.

The executive order said that prisoners "shall in all circumstances be treated humanely and shall not be subjected to violence to life and person (including murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment, and torture), nor to outrages upon personal dignity (including humiliating and degrading treatment)." It also specifically nullifies interpretations of federal law on interrogations "issued by the Department of Justice between September 11, 2001, and January 20, 2009" under President George W. Bush.

The executive order brings the CIA into line with U.S. Army Field Manual on Interrogation. This limits interrogators to humane techniques, a standard that already applies as a matter of law to the U.S. military.

In addition, Obama created a High Value Interrogation Group to manage the debriefing of the most important suspected terrorist captives using humane, non-coercive techniques. While there is no official policy of abuse anymore, it will still take strong leadership from the president on down to prevent it from happening.

February 17, 2009: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) - The goal of this initiative was, in conjunction with TARP, to prevent America from entering a depression of the size equal to or greater than that of the Great 1929 Depression; a course most economist of any merit said we were on. Here are facts Conservatives want you quickly to forget and that Democrats have not found an effective way to present:

• In Nov 2008, President Bush and the Conservative economic policy lost 533,000 jobs!
• In Dec 2008, President Bush and the Conservative economic policy lost another 524,000 jobs!
• In all of 2008, President Bush and the Conservative economic policy lost a total of 2,600,000 jobs!
• In Jan 2009, when President Bush left the White House, he lost yet another 598,000 job!
• In Jan 2009, when President Bush left the White House, he had increased unemployment from in the low 5% to 7.6% and climbing ... FAST!
• When President Obama took office, basically in February 2009, the job loss caused by President Bush and the Conservative economic policy in what is now the Great 2009 Bush Recession was accelerating; it hadn't hit its peak yet and wasn't going to for another two month; numbers that somehow the Democrats have let the Conservatives lay at the feet of President Obama.
• The ARRA was based on 3rd Quarter, 2008 economic data, the only solid data available at the time; it predicted a moderate recession. The ARRA reflected that.

If the 3rd Quarter data had been accurate, the ARRA would have been adequate. As it was, it was sufficient to put the brakes on a run-away train let loose by the previous administration in less than 10 months; an unheard of feat for financial-type depression/recessions.

February 17, 2009: This promise was part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

MARCH 16, 2009: President Obama has said "Our recovery in the present and our prosperity in the future depend upon the success of America's small businesses and entrepreneurs," To help provide for this success, Obama said he would increase the amount the SBA would guarantee to private lenders making loans under Small Business Administration (SBA) programs. Previously, the federal government would guarantee 85 percent for loans at or below $150,000 and up to 75 percent for larger loans. Under the new program, the government will guarantee up to 90 percent of all loans for a limited time. The money for the programs will come from the economic stimulus package, aka, "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act", and from money already approved for use by the Treasury Department.

August 18, 2009: President Obama announced his plan in increase access to contracting opportunites by minority-owned, small businesses that keeps his pledge to "Strengthen Small Business Administration programs that provide capital to minority-owned businesses, support outreach programs that help minority business owners apply for loans, and work to encourage the growth and capacity of minority firms."

Historically and still today, minority and women-owned, small businesses have a harder time attracting contracts than their no better qualified white, male owned businesses of the same size therefore promting President Obama's action, to the disgruntlement of Conservatives. As of November 13, 2009, $14.7 billion had been distributed in the form of stimulus contracts with the help of the Small Business Administration.

April 21, 2009: President Obama, when campaigning for that office, promised to expand a volunteer program aimed at keeping seniors active in their communities. On April 21, President Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, a large expansion of the national service program, which included provisions that kept Obama's promise to seniors.

March 23, 2010: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009, and the March 30, 2010, Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, comprise what Conservatives would like to derisively call "Obama Care." I would encourage President Obama and Democrats to embrace the term and use it for their own, it has been done before, because this program, even watered-down, is something they can be proud of!

As to popularity, well that is a different story. Since it's passage, Obama Care's approval rating has held fairly steady at about 43%, with a slight rally from Jun to Sep 2010, the high was 50%, while it's disapproval rating has fluctuated between 35% in July 2010 and 50% in Jan 2011, but has averaged around 43% as well; the slack is taken up with Undecided. As of Aug 2011, Approval is 39% and Disapproval is 44%; the month before, it was 42%/43%, respectively. I suspect the reason is, in addition to the Conservatives long, drawn-out propaganda campaign against health care reform, is the lack of understanding by the American people of what the reform brought to the table, a recent Kaiser Health survey clearly points this out. By implication, this means that President Obama and the Democrats need to get on the ball and start making sure the American people understand all of the good Obama Care does for them. So, what is that good:

1. The plan is not a government takeover of health care like in Canada or Britain. This is the biggest myth the Conservatives were able to convince Americans was true and many Americans still believe this is true today! It isn't!. At one point in time, early in the debate, the far left wanted true "one-payer" government health care vis-a-vis Medicare. That idea died very quickly. Conservatives, however, were successful in making Americans believe, falsely, that this is what the Democrats were attempting to pass. Simply not true. What was passed is not much different than how people buy insurance today; it is not even as good as how the Conservative federal politicians purchase their insurance.

2. Insurance companies will be regulated more heavily. They will be told the minimum services they must cover, including preventive care. They will have to pay out a certain percentage of premiums for patient care. By 2014, when the exchanges open, insurers won't be able to deny customers for pre-existing conditions. This two points are HUGE benefits to Americans which even Conservatives like, but hate to admit and will repeal if given the chance. They do not want to tie insurers hands by making sure Americans get a minimum set of services for their money.

3. Everyone will have to have health insurance or pay a fine, a requirement known as the individual mandate.The fine for not having insurance would be a minimum of $695 per person per year, with exemptions for financial hardship and other special cases. Without this mandate to prevent freeloading by healthy Americans, the cost of health care will skyrocket.

4. Lower income Americans will get help with their premiums. The government intends to cap premiums for people who make below a certain income. For people who buy insurance on the exchanges, a family of four making $88,000 would have a cap of 9.5 percent of their income. Lower incomes would have lower caps. This is a provision very few Americans are aware of.

5. Employers will not be required to buy insurance for their employees, but large employers may be subject to fines if they don't provide insurance. But Congress wanted to encourage employers, especially large employers, to offer insurance. So they created a fine for employers with more than 50 workers: If those employees are forced to buy insurance on the exchanges and qualify for a low-income credit from the government, then the employer would have to pay a fine. Fines are calculated based on number of employees; for large firms, the fines could be significant.

6. The vast majority of people will not see significant declines in premiums nor will they see significant increases in premiums. When President Obama talks about premiums going down, he usually means they won't go up as much as they would otherwise. For the four out of five people who get their insurance through their employer, the savings would land in the 0 to 3 percent range by 2016, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, or CBO. People who buy insurance on their own, but who don't qualify for government subsidies, could actually see their premiums rise by as much as 10 to 13 percent, but that's largely because they'll be getting beefed-up policies that would pay for more basic services, especially preventive care. Low-income people who qualify for new credits to buy insurance would see the biggest drops.

7. The government-run Medicare program will keep paying medical bills for seniors, but it will begin implementing cost controls on health care providers, mostly through penalties and incentives.(These cost controls are probably the Medicare dollars Michelle Bachmann says the Democrats are stealing.) 1) The legislation would reduce payments for hospital-acquired infections or preventable hospital admissions; 2) for Medicare Advantage, the federal government intends to reduce extra payments; 3) taking away subsidies to private insurance companies.

8. Medicaid, a joint federal-state program for the poor, will cover all of the poor, instead of just a few groups the way it currently does. Right now, to qualify for Medicaid, a person has to be poor and also disabled, elderly, pregnant or a child. Under the new plan, all poor adults would qualify; something else most Americans don't know about.

9. You will not be taxed for the company provided portion of medical benefits. This is another great myth propagated by the Conservatives, I just heard it from a well educated business person just last week. It simply isn't true but sure is a good indication of how effective the Conservative propaganda machine is. The reason this myth abounds is that the IRS will require the amount of the premiums be reported on the employee's W-2, but this is to help with compliance; they will not be added to taxable income, however. Nice try, Conservatives.

10. Illegal immigrants are not eligible for benefits under Obama Care. Another Conservative Obama Care myth busted!

Some of the major improvements in the delivery of health care that Obama Care does deliver are:

• Require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions. This becomes effective in 2014, but, in its place, a high-risk pool has been established for uninsured people with pre-existing conditions. [Will not go into effect if Supreme Court rules against Obamacare]
• Provide tax credits to help middly and low-income tax payers afford health insurance.The subsidies will take effect in 2014 and are available to Americans who buy insurance on the exchange, which will be virtual marketplaces for health plans. The exchanges are designed to serve people who do not already have insurance through their employer and who are not covered by a government program such as Medicare or Medicaid. [Will not go into effect if Supreme Court rules against Obamacare]

• Require large employers to contribute to a national health plan. This provision also starts in 2014 and provides the companies of 50 or more employees who do not provide health insurance must pay a fine of $2000 per employee, excluding the first 30, if there is at least one full-time employee receives a public subsidy to purchase health insurance.

• Requires that all children have health insurance coverage. This part of Obama Care is currently in force. The law allows dependents up to age 26 to remain on parents health care plans. [Will probably be repealed if Supreme Court rules against Obamacare]

• Expand eligibility for Medicaid. Will become effective in 2014. Historically, Medicaid coverage has been focused primarily on pregnant women, children and the disabled. Under the new law, eligibility will be expanded to all individuals under age 65 with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. New beneficiaries will be assured a package that includes essential health benefits. [Will not go into effect if Supreme Court rules against Obamacare]

• Health insurers must disclose how much of their premium goes toward patient care. This provision is now in force. Obama Care requires health insurance providers to report how much they spend on payments for clinical coverage, activities that improve health care quality, and "all other non-claims costs." Further, starting in 2011, companies that provide insurance for the small group and individual market must issue rebates if they do not spend at least 80 percent of the premium revenue on medical care. For the large group market, the threshold is 85 percent. The rebate amount is based on the premium revenue and by how much the provider falls short of the prescribed thresholds.

• Establish an independent health institute to provide accurate and objective information. This rule is currently in effect and it creates a new entity which will set priorities and conduct research. It will be independent, governed by a board of experts and stakeholders; the research will be peer-reviewed and made public.
  
  It is intended that this research will lower costs by advising against expensive procedures that don't improve people's health. But critics have suggested that the effort could lead the United States down a slippery slope in which experts insert themselves between doctors and patients and micromanage what treatments should be used -- especially with regard to end-of-life decisions; similar to what private insurance companies do today.
  
  Faced with such concerns, the bill's authors took special care to require any findings to be advisory only, rather than being binding on doctors or insurance companies.Responding to the critics' allegations of "death panels," the law prevents the use of any findings "in a manner that treats extending the life of an elderly, disabled, or terminally ill individual as of lower value than extending the life of an individual who is younger, non-disabled, or not terminally ill."

• Increase profits for hospitals and doctors. This is a natural outcome of Obama Care and the reasons are simple to understand; they rest on the fact that more people will be insured, especially the poor. Between the subsidies leading to large increases in the number of people under private insurance and increasing the scope of Medicaid for the indigent, hospitals and doctors will see a significant rise in their income. For the hospitals and doctors, a lot of the emergency room care that was provided to uninsured Americans went unpaid; that will be virtually eliminated because, as has been demonstrated in Massachusetts, the poor will be paid by Medicare and the others will be paid by private insurance. 2) there will simply many more insured Americans, 30 million of them, which will drive down emergency room visits, lowering costs, and transferring payments from lower Medicaid to higher private insurance.

MARCH 27, 2012: THE CASE BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT WILL DECIDE 1) IF THE SUPREME COURT HAS JURISDICTION AT THIS TIME, 2) WHETHER THE INSURANCE MANDATE IS CONSTITUTIONAL (not looking good), 3) WHETHER THE REST OF OBAMACARE CAN BE KEPT IN FORCE IF THE COURT DOES NOT UPHOLD THE INDIVIDUAL MANDATE, AND 4) WHETHER THE EXPANSION OF MEDICAID IS CONSTITUTIONAL.

March 30, 2010: AS PART of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009 and Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which President Obama signed into law on March 23 and 30, 2010, respectively, the 'doughnut hole' in the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Program was officially closed; just as President Obama promised it would be. This "doughnut hole" is an artifact of President Bush's unpaid for Part D Prescription Drug Program that left seniors holding the bad for the whole cost of their drugs while still paying the Part D premiums to insurance companies.

Initially, seniors pay the first $310. Then, for the next $2,520, seniors are responsible for 25% of the cost. After that, the seniors are on their own until they have spent a total of $4,550 of their own money; this is the "doughnut hole". From this point on, seniors pay only 5% of the cost.

When President Obama's fix is fully implemented, about 2020, seniors will pay the 25% co-pay at all times until the out-of-pocket limit of $4,550 is reached.

March 30, 2010: This strange sounding action was a little known part of Obama Care and had nothing to do with health care but was expected to bring in about $4.5 billion over 10 years to help pay for the health care program. This fulfills an Obama promise to "Adopt the economic substance doctrine, a policy that states that tax changes must have significant economic justification, as a federal law."

Basically what this law does is prevent companies, primarily large corporations, from structuring a transaction in such a way that the only benefit to that unorthodox structure, while legal, is the tax benefit itself. Do Conservatives support this initiative? I haven't heard.

APRIL 16, 2010: During his 2008 presidential campaign, President Barack Obama promised to make major changes to habitat conservation programs. He promised to:

• "Fight to increase funding for the Conservation Security Program and the major set-aside programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program, Wetlands Reserve Program, and Grasslands Reserve Program, so that rental rates can compete with rising commodity prices.”
• "Direct the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior to place a special emphasis on restoration of habitat for important game species associated with specific regions of the United States, such as bobwhite quail and Eastern and Osceola turkey habitat in the South, ruffed grouse habitat in the Northeast, and sage grouse and pronghorn antelope habitat in the West."
• "Support the use of tax incentives and other financial mechanisms to encourage private landowners to restore and protect habitat." (source: Politifact)

During the first two years of his administration, President Obama worked to fulfill this promise. Most of the work was accomplished in appropriations for 2009 and 2010 where he substantially increased funding for three out of four major conservation programs. On April 16, 2010, Obama signed signed a memorandum establishing the America"s Great Outdoors Initiative, a strategy to work with public and private entities to promote wilderness conservation and preservation and raise awareness of the outdoors. This action more or less capped his efforts to keep this promise.

MAY 20, 2010: President Obaman fulfills another campaign promise, probably one of those "regulations that get in the way of hiring", the Conservatives include in their long list of regulations to repeal, to protect Americans from the predatory credit card industry. He said it is time to make reforms to the credit card industry that would "ban unilateral changes ... apply interest rate increases only to future debt ... prohibit interest on fees ... prohibit 'universal defaults' (whereby a credit card raises its rates because the consumer was late paying a different creditor) ... require prompt and fair crediting of cardholder payments."

July 21, 2010: President Obama signed the first major piece of legislation aimed at protecting middle America from the abuses of Wall Street and those with special access to wealth. In his campaign, candidate Obama said:

" I'll put in place the common-sense regulations and rules of the road I've been calling for since March -- rules that will keep our market free, fair, and honest; rules that will restore accountability and responsibility in our corporate boardrooms."

With the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, a watered-down version of the President Obama's original vision, he kept his promise. The Dodd-Frank Act, among other things, provides for:

• The creation of a Consumer Protection Financial Bureau, a cabinet level organization that, for the first time, provides a high level institution in the federal government whose sole job it is is to look out for the interests for the average American; a concept opposed, understanably so, by big business and, less understandably so, since they are supposed to for the individual American, the Conservatives. Making big business responsible to act ethicallyhurts profits, don't you see.
• New mortgages rules were put into place to make, given many refused to do it on their own, to the great detriment of the country, lenders actually verify income, check credit history, and make sure homebuyers can actually afford the homes they are being sold. Can you imagine having to make a lender do this, but, abuse often leads to these kinds of regulations that Conservatives cry crocadile tears over. It also limits how much of a banks portfolio can be sold off to others, thereby reducing their own risk to the loans they just made; rules that used to be their until the Conservatives dismantled them in the name of "deregulation"
• Create a Financial Stability Oversight Council to make recommendations to the Federal Reserve for how to keep the economy from crashing by keeping tabs on firms that are deeply interconnected within the financial system.
• Give the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation a mechanism to unwind "failing systemically significant financial companies."
• Direct the Federal Reserve to issue rules that ensure that the "fees charged to merchants by credit card companies for credit or debit card transactions are reasonable and proportional to the cost of processing those transactions."
• Institutes the "Volcker Rule".Named after the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, this new rule prohibits banks from engaging in proprietary trading, i.e. trading the bank's money to turn a profit. This rule, which brings back some of the theory of the defucnt Glass-Stegall Act dismantled by the Conservatives and so integral to the 2008 financial collapse, tries to limit the conflict of interest banks have with their customers. The rules also would also limit banks' relationships with hedge funds and private equity funds; another major reason for the Great 2008 Bush Recession.
• Gives the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, along with the Securities and Exchange Commission, authority to regulate over-the-counter derivatives. Banks would also be prohibited from trading certain forms of derivatives, and most of the trading must occur on transparent exchanges. Further, Hedge Funds would have to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission and report their activities. Abuse of deriviatives and the lack of regulation over hedge funds were a third major cause of the the recession.

Conservatives hate each and every one of these common sense regulations and actions; I don't understand why, but, they do.

Dec 9, 2010: President Obama fulfilled this promise when he signed legislation providing the VA $109.6 billion in funding for 2010. He also provided $48.2 billion in advance appropriations for 2011 and put $50.3 billion of advanced appropriation in his 2011 budget for 2012.

On October 22, 2009, President Obama signed another law and kept another promise; the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009. This act guarantees the VA with much more stable funding by putting them on a two-year budget cycle. He began funding this with the $48.2 billion mentioned above.

Dec 16, 2009: Like with the VA funding, President Obama promised to fund the Violence Against Women Act; he did this when he signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010.

Dec 17, 2010: As part of the compromise with Conservatives, President Obama kept the following promise that he "will extend aspects of the Bush tax cuts such as child credit expansions and changes to marriage bonuses and penalties." While he preferred to have make these permanent, along with the rest of the middle-class tax cuts, they were extended two-years.

Dec 17, 2010: During his 2008 campaign, then-Senator Obama promised to extend the Bush tax cuts for lower and middle-class tax payers while allowing those for single people making more than $200,000 or couples making more than $250,000 to expire. In his December compromise with Conservatives was able to extend the tax cuts he wanted, but not elimate those he did not want. The battle will resume December 2012.

December 22, 2010: On September 20, 2011, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was officially banned in the military. This is a result from Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (H.R. 2965, S. 4023), one of President Obama's four signature achievements, the other three being the Stimulus, Obama Care and Consumer Protection Act, is the repeal of the 1993 language in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 that banned homosexuals from being part of the military. In a compromise with social Conservatives, the religious, and the combat commanders in the military, President Clinton signed the final Act which contained this discrimatory text, by issuing Defense Directive 1304.26, aka the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue" policy.

This is another of Obama's great initiatives, from this "do nothing" president that Conservatives are fuming about; social Conservatives, this time; fiscal Conservatives may actually support the repeal but are keeping their mouths shut. This stance by social conservatives to prevent homosexuals from being full members of society is understandable however for other civil right laws they, and evangelical as well as fundelmentalist Christians, fought tooth and nail against over the years are 1) making slavery illegal, 2) allowing blacks and whites marry, 3) social security, 4) medicare, 5) the Civil Rights Act, 6) allowing homosexuals who love each other to marry each other (stll being fought out), etc.

February 14, 2011: Another promise kept by President Obama when a rule first proposed by President Clinton will finally go into effect. President Obama had promised to " ...implement the Women Owned Business contracting program that was signed into law by President Bill Clinton, but has yet to be implemented by the Bush Administration. The program seeks to get more women-owned businesses to compete for federal contracts." The Bush Administration and Conservative Congress tabled this initiative for eight years.

JULY 2011: During his campaign, then Senator Obama said he "Will reinvigorate antitrust enforcement, which is how we ensure that capitalism works for consumers." In July 2010, Christine A. Varney, whom Obama had appointed as head of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division to renew antitrust enforcement, announced, as she left her post to return to private practice, she had completed her mission.

Since then, the proof has been in the pudding with reporting that shows Varney came in swinging. She immediately reversed the Bush administrations policy to not pursue antitrust actions and to remove the hurdles his administration put in place for others to bring suit. There have been more mergers stopped in the last three years than in the whole of the Bush administration, actions taken against verticle mergers which were avoided previously, and for the year ending Sep 30, 2011, more than 90 criminal cases filed for price rigging and other such illegal activity, more than any other year in the last 20 years.

July 15, 2011: Barack Obama promised that he will "require 10 Percent of electricity to come from renewable sources by 2012. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will establish a 10 percent federal Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to require that 10 percent of electricity consumed in the U.S. is derived from clean, sustainable energy sources, like solar, wind and geothermal by 2012." On July 15, 2011, Christina Kielich of the U.S. Department of Energy press office reported that the United States receives approximately 11 percent of its electricity from renewable sources. While this was a "low-hanging fruit" promise, given America was already well on its way to this goal, because of the 2008 recession, it might not have been made without the stimulus projects.

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011: The United States re-opened its embassy in Tripoli, Libya after having closed it in February 2011 in response to raising tensions between pro- and anti-Qaddafi forces.

Libya was a no-win proposition for President Obama. No matter what he did, he was going to take great political heat from one side or another; the course Obama chose ended up leaving him vulnerable to critisism from both sides; lots of it. even from me (I wrote a letter). I was wrong, the Democrats were wrong, the Conservatives were wrong, everybody seemed to be wrong except President Obama and his foreign policy team. I am about ready to render what is turning into a lengthy explanation as to why I think so, but, I should really reserve it for a new hub, which I will. Let it be sufficient at this point to say I think President did himself and America proud.

SEPTEMBER 2011: Candidate Obama promised "update and reform our copyright and patent systems to promote civic discourse, innovation and investment while ensuring that intellectual property owners are fairly treated." Has he done this? Sort of.

In September 2011, the America Invents Act was passed which addressed the patent side of the promise. It indeed made significant reforms in the patent system which experts feel largely meet Obama's promises. On the other hand, he is still trying to get something useful through Congress regarding Copyright. Happily, their attempt to pass the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), which President Obama opposed, failed miserably do to fierce public pressure brought through, you guessed it, the Internet.

JANUARY 2012: Unlike all of the presidents before him until you get to President Kennedy and most of the senior military leadership, Barack Obama understood how undeclared wars founeed to be fought. During his campaign he said we need to "Build up our special operations forces, civil affairs, information operations, engineers, foreign area officers, and other units and capabilities that remain in chronic short supply."

It took almost losing the Iraq war for President Bush and the military leadership to recognize the old, cold-war tactics and operational plans simply don't work in conflicts like Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. It was special operations forces that brought down the Taliban, but that wasn't because the military was brilliant, it was because those were the only forces they could there in time to do anything, the cold-war forces were simply unprepared for war. As soon as they could, the Army moved the special ops forces out and brought the regular forces in and watched things go downhill from there.

Obama knew better and said so and then did something about it. He made sure senior military and defense leadership where staffed with special ops oriented leaders and he restructured his budgets to emphasize special operation and civil affairs units. Just today, with the Secratary of Defense Penetta announcing the $475 billion cut to the defense budget, it didn't touch special ops and related forces.

• Eliminate Oil and Gas Subsidies
• Require publicly traded financial partnerships to pay the corporate income tax
• Repeal the Bush tax cuts for higher incomes (Politfact rates this as "broken", I don't agree yet)
• Tax carried interest as ordinary income
• Support tax deduction for artists

BELIEVE IT OR NOT: With only 43 or 44 votes, as large as the difference appears to be, the yeas and neys are in a statistical tie becuase the margin of error is 27%. If we had 80 votes cast, however, it wouldn't be a tie; but now it is.

Now with 61 votes, the MOE is down to 23%, but still high enough to keep the voting a statistical tie.