Reviewing the Campaign Promises of President Obama

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According to the Obameter by PolitiFact Obama made 512 promises over the course of his campaign.  Two new ones have been uncovered since my last article changing the total from 510 to 512. 

In the article I wrote last week I highlighted some of the campaign promises that President Obama has already kept, compromised on, broken, or have been stalled. This week I’m going to finish up by looking at a few that are in the works and some that haven’t been touched yet.

As of March 5th the tally stands at:

• 16 Promises Kept
• 7 Compromises (1 new since last week)
• 2 Promises Broken
• 2 Stalled (1 new)
• 37 In The Works (10 new)
• 447 No Action (11 less)

In The Works:

Military

While the 37 promises “In the Works” span a broad range of topics, many of them have to do with our war on terror and related detainees.  Obama has promised to begin removing combat brigades from Iraq, launch a robust diplomatic effort with Iraq and it’s neighbors, and increase the size of the Army and Marine Corp.  More importantly, in my opinion, he has promised to end the use of torture, rendition, and treat detainees according to the Geneva Conventions, which Bush ignored.  He has also promised to close down the Guantanamo Bay detention center. 

These are important steps to renew our image in the eyes of the world as a fair and just country and I applaud his efforts in this area.  Obviously our current strategies have not made the world that much safer so maybe it’s time to try a new tactic.  One of treating all people as human beings first and foremost.   

Home Front

Obama is starting to make good on some of his promises to update things in our country.  There are bills to create a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank (mainly for transportation upgrades) and make the switch to electronic health care records.

The scientist in me is excited to see that federal funding for basic research will be doubled in 10 years!  I’m also glad that someone is finally forcing the auto makers to create more fuel efficient cars although I’m wondering how this will pan out when our US auto makers are pretty much broke at the moment. And finally, while I don’t know that I agree with all the global warming research out there I do agree that we need to take better care of our natural resources so I’m happy to see that we are again onboard with the UN and the Kyoto Protocol.

There are some other energy and environmental policies being debated that I am, for the most part, happy to see, but we don’t have the time or the space to go into them here.

Many of the other “In the Works” promises have to do with various tax credits expiring or being upheld.  Basically Obama plans to keep tax breaks in place for those making under $200,000 (or $250,000 married) and let the tax breaks for those making more than that expire.  He also plans to keep the current child tax credits in place.  I am definitely not an expert on tax law so I’m not sure how this all evens out in the end. 

In my perfect world I’d like to see a flat tax with personal exemptions and nothing else.  Anyone living below the poverty level would pay no tax, but those above it would pay a flat tax.  I’m sure there are holes in my theory, but at the very least it would keep all those who can afford the lawyers to get out of their taxes from doing just that!

No Action Taken:

I’m not exactly sure where to start in highlighting all the rest of the promises that Obama has made.  There are 23 pages worth of them!  You can however, search by subject to find areas of interest or at the very least have them all grouped together for easier browsing.  Since there is no action on any of these promises there is very little detail provided other than the wording of the President’s promise.  You can follow the links at the bottom of the brief descriptions to get more context.

As you can imagine there are quite a few promises that relate to taxes.  The one I find most fascinating is that Obama promised to require economic justification for tax cuts.  It seems to me that this might have the added benefit of not allowing politicians to campaign on promises of tax cuts that will ultimately do more harm than good.

Overview:

What I’ve hoped to give you here is a general idea of the kinds of legislation Obama is working on and hoping to push for in the future.  I hope that you will take the time to browse through his promises and see for yourself what kind of America he hopes to shape.  Maybe it will inspire you to contact your senators and congressmen.  We as moms have a voice.  Let’s not forget that we are important as American citizens and use our voice!   

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Related posts:

1. Monitoring the Campaign Promises of President Obama
2. Suggested New Year Resolutions for Barack Obama
3. Conservative Message to Our Newly Elected Liberal President
4. The Possibility of Bipartisanship During an Obama Administration
5. I am Voting for Obama