5 ms·

Ask HN: What are the top 3 accomplishments of Obama Administration?

9 points by gamechangr 10y ago

I was asked by a foreigner (or I should say aggressively questioned) and I wasn't as concise I would want to be. I thought I would reach out and see what others think? Thanks

slater 10y ago
- Healthcare - Sorta-kinda ending Iraq/Afghanistan wars (cue can of worms) - LGBTQ issues such as repeal of DADT, marriage equality, etc.
- savethefuture 10y ago
  >Sorta-kinda ending Iraq/Afghanistan wars (cue can of worms) Wasn't that his first campaign "promise" and we're still there, funny isn't it? Worms canned.
- mtgx 10y ago
  Not sure how much the Iraq war ended, when last year they bombed it as much as they bombed Syria, and they were actually trying to wipe out ISIS in Syria (or was it Assad? I lost count on which side the U.S. was there) after the attacks in Paris and whatnot. So that tells you a lot about just how active the US military is in Iraq. You can't say you "ended" a war where you're still dropping 1,000 bombs a month in a country, or more than 30 every day. Imagine 30 bombs being dropped every day in the U.S. by another nation. Would you feel "not at war" with that country? And the U.S. is a huge place with the population spread around. The Middle Eastern countries are much smaller so the impact (both physical destruction-wise, but also psychological to the population) is greater. http://blogs.cfr.org/zenko/2017/01/05/bombs-dropped-in-2016/ http://blogs.cfr.org/zenko/2017/01/05/bombs-dropped-in-2016/
  - slater 10y ago
    Hence "sorta-kinda" and "can of worms" ;)
lend000 10y ago
- Record number of commutations for nonviolent drug offenders and now Chelsea Manning, as well. Granted, it's all symbolism, as his administration has prosecuted far more than he's released for those same 'crimes' and done nothing to improve the system, but at least it improves the dialogue going forward, potentially. I will be impressed if he also pardons Snowden, who exposed him (as opposed to Manning who leaked Bush administration secrets). - Shifted a significant amount of land from the poorly managed BLM to the Forests Service. Again, not actually solving any problems, as the BLM still owns roughly a third of the land in the country, but he did some symbolic improvements which benefit his image. - Providing a strong voice for the large strides made for the LGBT community during his administration. Again, he opposed gay marriage during his 08 run but slowly came around and ended up warming up to it sooner than others. He certainly was not "the reason" progress was made, but I'm at a lack of other accomplishments. Some additional ones: - Balancing the budget. - Getting us out of imperial interventions in the Middle East. - Reigning in the surveillance state. - Promoting healthy interest rates instead of kicking the can down the road and encouraging debt. - Fixing the healthcare system. Those ones were jokes, obviously. Obama has been a pretty awful President where it matters, competing with the Bushes, FDR, and Woodrow Wilson for the title of worst since 1900. The only things the President really has absolute control over are foreign policy, management of non-legislated decisions such as DEA drug scheduling/prioritizing and surveillance programs, and military execution (see: Pentagon audit 2016). On all of these fronts he is an absolute failure who has desecrated our Constitution and hands over the keys to the most powerful Presidency in US history to Donald Trump. But damn, did he look good doing it. Charisma > results, Obama 2020.
- DrScump 10y ago
  the poorly managed BLM to the Forests Service which is still run by Obama appointees, just like Interior departments. One change that Obama could have made at the beginning (or anytime since) would have been to move Forestry into the same Cabinet post as the National Park Service and BLM. But, no.

9 points by gamechangr 10y ago

I was asked by a foreigner (or I should say aggressively questioned) and I wasn't as concise I would want to be. I thought I would reach out and see what others think? Thanks

slater 10y ago

- Healthcare - Sorta-kinda ending Iraq/Afghanistan wars (cue can of worms) - LGBTQ issues such as repeal of DADT, marriage equality, etc.

savethefuture 10y ago
>Sorta-kinda ending Iraq/Afghanistan wars (cue can of worms) Wasn't that his first campaign "promise" and we're still there, funny isn't it? Worms canned.
mtgx 10y ago
Not sure how much the Iraq war ended, when last year they bombed it as much as they bombed Syria, and they were actually trying to wipe out ISIS in Syria (or was it Assad? I lost count on which side the U.S. was there) after the attacks in Paris and whatnot. So that tells you a lot about just how active the US military is in Iraq. You can't say you "ended" a war where you're still dropping 1,000 bombs a month in a country, or more than 30 every day. Imagine 30 bombs being dropped every day in the U.S. by another nation. Would you feel "not at war" with that country? And the U.S. is a huge place with the population spread around. The Middle Eastern countries are much smaller so the impact (both physical destruction-wise, but also psychological to the population) is greater. http://blogs.cfr.org/zenko/2017/01/05/bombs-dropped-in-2016/ http://blogs.cfr.org/zenko/2017/01/05/bombs-dropped-in-2016/
- slater 10y ago
  Hence "sorta-kinda" and "can of worms" ;)

lend000 10y ago

- Record number of commutations for nonviolent drug offenders and now Chelsea Manning, as well. Granted, it's all symbolism, as his administration has prosecuted far more than he's released for those same 'crimes' and done nothing to improve the system, but at least it improves the dialogue going forward, potentially. I will be impressed if he also pardons Snowden, who exposed him (as opposed to Manning who leaked Bush administration secrets). - Shifted a significant amount of land from the poorly managed BLM to the Forests Service. Again, not actually solving any problems, as the BLM still owns roughly a third of the land in the country, but he did some symbolic improvements which benefit his image. - Providing a strong voice for the large strides made for the LGBT community during his administration. Again, he opposed gay marriage during his 08 run but slowly came around and ended up warming up to it sooner than others. He certainly was not "the reason" progress was made, but I'm at a lack of other accomplishments. Some additional ones: - Balancing the budget. - Getting us out of imperial interventions in the Middle East. - Reigning in the surveillance state. - Promoting healthy interest rates instead of kicking the can down the road and encouraging debt. - Fixing the healthcare system. Those ones were jokes, obviously. Obama has been a pretty awful President where it matters, competing with the Bushes, FDR, and Woodrow Wilson for the title of worst since 1900. The only things the President really has absolute control over are foreign policy, management of non-legislated decisions such as DEA drug scheduling/prioritizing and surveillance programs, and military execution (see: Pentagon audit 2016). On all of these fronts he is an absolute failure who has desecrated our Constitution and hands over the keys to the most powerful Presidency in US history to Donald Trump. But damn, did he look good doing it. Charisma > results, Obama 2020.

DrScump 10y ago
the poorly managed BLM to the Forests Service which is still run by Obama appointees, just like Interior departments. One change that Obama could have made at the beginning (or anytime since) would have been to move Forestry into the same Cabinet post as the National Park Service and BLM. But, no.