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Wait, what? He ran on fixing the economy (done), ending the war in Iraq (done), restoring our relationship with the rest of the world (done), universal health c

Wait, what? He ran on fixing the economy (done), ending the war in Iraq (done), restoring our relationship with the rest of the world (done), universal health care (done) and improving the acceptance of minority groups (somewhat done - at least the LGBT community). Illegal immigration is down, unemployment is down, crime is down. There are definitely things Obama hasn't done, but he absolutely delivered change, and he did it while facing a completely obstructionist Congress and Senate for most of his tenure. People just get complacent, even when things are going great. No matter how much any president does, or how good things are, people will get antsy just because our human nature forces us to constantly avoid what we perceive as stagnation.

rorykoehler 10y ago
Ending the war? He has escalated on all fronts and opened new ones too. Obama talks a good game but under it all is more surveillance, more economic inequality and more violence.
- silverbax88 10y ago
  Escalating on all fronts? Please elaborate how getting the US out of a major war has done that. I certainly won't claim that Obama's foreign policy is golden, but it was said 'empire'...which would mean invading and occupying all over the globe. Obama isn't even close to the imperialist policies we had under Bush.
  - rorykoehler 10y ago
    You haven't been paying attention. Ukraine, Syria (and by proxy Iraq), Libya, Arab Spring, Yemen .... now moving clandestine operations into central Africa. We also have Brazil in SA, we've had dronings in countless other countries, even against US citizens without trial which is also a first and I'm sure I'm missing a few on the hit list. Just because the tactics change doesn't mean he gets a green card.
AnimalMuppet 10y ago
> Wait, what? He ran on fixing the economy (done)... Not really. It's not at the point of collapse, but it sure wasn't a normal recovery. It's better than 2008, but it's still broken in some very real ways. > ... ending the war in Iraq (done)... Sort of. The battle for Mosul was in the news just last week, with US involvement. > ... restoring our relationship with the rest of the world (done)... Russia is fighting against our goals in Syria, and illegally occupied the eastern Ukraine. Iran has a nuclear deal with us, but immediately started thumbing its nose at us. China is trying to see how much influence they can gain at our expense in Asia. North Korea's nuclear and missile programs are, according to their rhetoric, aimed explicitly at us. > ... universal health care (done)... Seen the premium changes for 2017? The law was passed, but "bending the cost curve" sure didn't happen.
- silverbax88 10y ago
  That's what I mean about having some issues. I would have liked to see healthcare be more sweeping, better implemented. But the 'normal' recovery? What does a 'normal' recovery look like when the global economy is on the brink of collapse, and the US has run up a deficit never seen before? The Great Depression needed a World War to finally pull the US back to recovery.
- knz 10y ago
  > Seen the premium changes for 2017? I'm amused by the Republican concern for rising premiums this year. My health insurance rates have gone up every year by 5-10% for the last 10 years after my work switched to high deductible plans. Between my employer and I the total cost of insurance is $14,400/year. That's more than the total income tax for a median income back in my country of birth. Just for insurance! There are a lot of things wrong with the ACA/Obamacare but let's not pretend that the giant mess known as the American medical system is solely the responsibility of the Democrats. Every other OECD nation seems to have figured it out....
  - silverbax88 10y ago
    That's definitely a concern I have - Republicans want to repeal ACA and roll it back to the incredibly expensive system we had before that was bankrupting people. That's exactly what they intend to do.
zigzigzag 10y ago
Maybe the second time around. The first time I remember him talking about reform of Washington.

rorykoehler 10y ago

Ending the war? He has escalated on all fronts and opened new ones too. Obama talks a good game but under it all is more surveillance, more economic inequality and more violence.

silverbax88 10y ago
Escalating on all fronts? Please elaborate how getting the US out of a major war has done that. I certainly won't claim that Obama's foreign policy is golden, but it was said 'empire'...which would mean invading and occupying all over the globe. Obama isn't even close to the imperialist policies we had under Bush.
- rorykoehler 10y ago
  You haven't been paying attention. Ukraine, Syria (and by proxy Iraq), Libya, Arab Spring, Yemen .... now moving clandestine operations into central Africa. We also have Brazil in SA, we've had dronings in countless other countries, even against US citizens without trial which is also a first and I'm sure I'm missing a few on the hit list. Just because the tactics change doesn't mean he gets a green card.

AnimalMuppet 10y ago

> Wait, what? He ran on fixing the economy (done)... Not really. It's not at the point of collapse, but it sure wasn't a normal recovery. It's better than 2008, but it's still broken in some very real ways. > ... ending the war in Iraq (done)... Sort of. The battle for Mosul was in the news just last week, with US involvement. > ... restoring our relationship with the rest of the world (done)... Russia is fighting against our goals in Syria, and illegally occupied the eastern Ukraine. Iran has a nuclear deal with us, but immediately started thumbing its nose at us. China is trying to see how much influence they can gain at our expense in Asia. North Korea's nuclear and missile programs are, according to their rhetoric, aimed explicitly at us. > ... universal health care (done)... Seen the premium changes for 2017? The law was passed, but "bending the cost curve" sure didn't happen.

silverbax88 10y ago
That's what I mean about having some issues. I would have liked to see healthcare be more sweeping, better implemented. But the 'normal' recovery? What does a 'normal' recovery look like when the global economy is on the brink of collapse, and the US has run up a deficit never seen before? The Great Depression needed a World War to finally pull the US back to recovery.
knz 10y ago
> Seen the premium changes for 2017? I'm amused by the Republican concern for rising premiums this year. My health insurance rates have gone up every year by 5-10% for the last 10 years after my work switched to high deductible plans. Between my employer and I the total cost of insurance is $14,400/year. That's more than the total income tax for a median income back in my country of birth. Just for insurance! There are a lot of things wrong with the ACA/Obamacare but let's not pretend that the giant mess known as the American medical system is solely the responsibility of the Democrats. Every other OECD nation seems to have figured it out....
- silverbax88 10y ago
  That's definitely a concern I have - Republicans want to repeal ACA and roll it back to the incredibly expensive system we had before that was bankrupting people. That's exactly what they intend to do.

zigzigzag 10y ago

Maybe the second time around. The first time I remember him talking about reform of Washington.