It
is just a bit frustrating when a single legislator (Republican Jim Bunning, in
this case, for 17 years a major league pitcher) can grind the Senate to a halt (in this case, causing thousands of workers to be furloughed
and jeopardizing unemployment benefits for hundreds of thousands of others).
We
need to fix that.
And
we need to do a ton of other things.
For
starters, we need to act on 290 bills that have passed the House but sit
stalled in the Senate.
(Like
the bill that would reform our financial system – but that the
Republicans are hellbent on scuttling, not least because it includes a
much-needed Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Paul Krugman explains.)
With
luck, we are on the cusp of health insurance reform, the cusp of financial
reform, and more.
But
all that said, Politifact.com lists
79 campaign promises Obama has thus far kept. (Politifact is the Pulitzer
Prize-winning fact-checking service of the St. Petersburg Times.)
In
commenting on that list, J.E. Robertson writes:
Most of these items are complex campaign pledges that
Pres. Obama has been able to follow through on. Some just show he’s a
man who follows through on his word, something the media should take more note
of. But PolitiFact’s research shows a long list of serious political
accomplishments, many of historic import, yet the mainstream media
continues to report on the delays seen in enacting the most complex and
comprehensive reforms undertaken in a generation, many of which —like
healthcare reform, energy policy reform, terror prosecutions and financial
regulatory reform— are actually moving forward at a historically
meaningful pace, and will likely be achieved in the first half of 2010.
There are a further 226 campaign promises officially listed, after
extensive fact-checking, as “in the works”, as of this morning.
Many of these will be accomplished in 2010, giving Pres. Obama the most
extensive record of success in fulfilling specific campaign promises in US
history. We can expect this fact will not be widely reported, as the
mainstream news media appear determined to posture “objectivity” by
refusing to report successes Obama’s opponents refuse to acknowledge.
☞
Here are the 79 promises kept. Politifact fleshes each out
with an explanation:
No. 6: Create an
Advanced Manufacturing Fund to invest in peer-reviewed manufacturing processes
No. 15: Create a
foreclosure prevention fund for homeowners
No. 16: Increase
minority access to capital
No. 33: Establish a
credit card bill of rights
No. 36: Expand loan
programs for small businesses
No. 40: Extend and
index the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch
No. 50: Expand the
Senior Corps volunteer program
No. 58: Expand
eligibility for State Children’s Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP)
No. 76: Expand funding
to train primary care providers and public health practitioners
No. 77: Increase
funding to expand community based prevention programs
No. 88: Sign the UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
No. 110: Assure that
the Veterans Administration budget is prepared as ‘must-pass’
legislation
No. 119: Appoint a
special adviser to the president on violence against women
No. 125: Direct
military leaders to end war in Iraq
No. 132: No permanent
bases in Iraq
No. 134: Send two
additional brigades to Afghanistan
No. 154: Strengthen
and expand military exchange programs with other countries
No. 167: Make U.S.
military aid to Pakistan conditional on anti-terror efforts
No. 174: Give a speech
at a major Islamic forum in the first 100 days of his administration
No. 182: Allocate
Homeland Security funding according to risk
No. 184: Create a real
National Infrastructure Protection Plan
No. 200: Appoint a
White House Coordinator for Nuclear Security
No. 208: Improve
relations with Turkey, and its relations with Iraqi Kurds
No. 212: Launch an
international Add Value to Agriculture Initiative (AVTA)
No. 215: Create a
rapid response fund for emerging democracies
No. 222: Grant
Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba
No. 224: Restore
funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program
No. 225: Establish an
Energy Partnership for the Americas
No. 239: Release
presidential records
No. 241: Require new
hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political
affiliation or contributions.
No. 247: Recruit math
and science degree graduates to the teaching profession
No. 266: Encourage
water-conservation efforts in the West
No. 269: Increase
funding for national parks and forests
No. 270: Increase
funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund
No. 272: Encourage
farmers to use more renewable energy and be more energy efficient
No. 277: Pursue a
wildfire prevention and management plan
No. 278: Remove more
brush, small trees and vegetation that fuel wildfires
No. 284: Expand access
to places to hunt and fish
No. 290: Push for
enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include
sexual orientation and other factors
No. 300: Reform
mandatory minimum sentences
No. 307: Create a
White House Office on Urban Policy
No. 325: Create an
artist corps for schools
No. 326: Champion the
importance of arts education
No. 327: Support
increased funding for the NEA
No. 332: Add another
Space Shuttle flight
No. 334: Use the
private sector to improve spaceflight
No. 336: Partner to
enhance the potential of the International Space Station
No. 337: Use the
International Space Station for fundamental biological and physical research
No. 338: Explore
whether International Space Station can operate after 2016
No. 342: Work toward
deploying a global climate change research and monitoring system
No. 345: Enhance earth
mapping
No. 346: Appoint an
assistant to the president for science and technology policy
No. 356: Establish
special crime programs for the New Orleans area
No. 359: Rebuild
schools in New Orleans
No. 371: Fund a major
expansion of AmeriCorps
No. 380: Bolster the
military’s ability to speak different languages
No. 391: Appoint the
nation’s first Chief Technology Officer
No. 394: Provide
grants to early-career researchers
No. 411: Work to
overturn Ledbetter vs. Goodyear
No. 420: Create a
national declassification center
No. 421: Appoint an
American Indian policy adviser
No. 427: Ban lobbyist
gifts to executive employees
No. 435: Create new
criminal penalties for mortgage fraud
No. 452: Weatherize 1
million homes per year
No. 458: Invest in all
types of alternative energy
No. 459: Enact tax
credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars
No. 460: Ask people
and businesses to conserve electricity
No. 475: Require
states to provide incentives for utilities to reduce energy consumption
No. 480: Unprecedented
expansion of funding for regional high-speed rail
No. 483: Invest in
public transportation
No. 484: Equalize tax
breaks for driving and public transit
No. 494: Share environmental
technology with other countries
No. 498: Provide
grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes
No. 500: Increase
funding for the Environmental Protection Agency
No. 502: Get his
daughters a puppy
No. 503: Appoint at
least one Republican to the cabinet
No. 506: Raise the
small business investment expensing limit to $250,000 through the end of 2009
No. 507: Extend
unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspend taxes on these benefits
No. 513: Reverse
restrictions on stem cell research