I've seen a lot of conflicting viewpoints on this site as to how effective our current pres has been in office. I want to know what you think. Also try to give reasons as to why you think so. I wanna know what you think?
IMO, he did what he had to do. He didn't really fail but never exceeded expectations either. I think if he came in when things were more stable he would have done much better. I wish we could give him another 8yrs so he could see things through. I like him. He just came at a really bad time.
"Fast and Furious," "Solyndra and Solar Trust of America," the prostitution scandal, the lavish vacations on taxpayer money, the record breaking attacks against whistle blowers, the coverup of the BP oil spill, Presidents race baiting comments about Trayvon, lack of compliance with FOIA requests, executive order to kill Americans without trial, passing Ledbetter act but refusing equal pay to his own female staffers, war crimes against nations even after acquiring a nobel peace prize, suicidal economic policies that blames Americans cause we can't make a living with high taxes and strangling regulations. His Justice Departments preference to go after small businesses rather than criminal corporations (HSBC,) spying on everyone and aligning with Al Qaeda to take down Libya and Syria.
I'm no political peep at all, so disclaimer.But from what I see the guy tries to appeal to both sides, tries to make them both happy,which is a fool's errand, cause you'll upset people no matter what. No matter the president no matter the time, there is always clashing viewpoints.
"Fast and Furious," "Solyndra and Solar Trust of America," the prostitution scandal, the lavish vacations on taxpayer money, the record breaking attacks against whistle blowers, the coverup of the BP oil spill, Presidents race baiting comments about Trayvon, lack of compliance with FOIA requests, executive order to kill Americans without trial, passing Ledbetter act but refusing equal pay to his own female staffers, war crimes against nations even after acquiring a nobel peace prize, suicidal economic policies that blames Americans cause we can't make a living with high taxes and strangling regulations. His Justice Departments preference to go after small businesses rather than criminal corporations (HSBC,) spying on everyone and aligning with Al Qaeda to take down Libya and Syria.
President Barack Obama IMO is probably Middle of the Pack... he did not provide the change we expected him to and he did some very questionable acts as well as Commander In Chief... but I don't think he is bottom of the field.
@willpayton: What has he done to be considered a good president???
-Maybe the #1 thing is not letting the economy self-destruct as was happening when he took office. The economic changes from the day he took office to now have been pretty substantial, including saving the U.S. auto industry which was about to die, as was predicted to happen by some at the time. As far as the general economy, it was headed pretty much downward when he took office and many predicted that we were headed for a second Great Depression. Turning this around is a major success.
-Then there's health-care reform. Personally I would have preferred a system more like what the Democrats wanted, a single-payer system for everyone, but I suppose some reform is better than none.
-He finished getting us out of Iraq, although it took longer than he thought it would.
-He didnt get us into another war.
-Killing Osama Bin Laden, with a gutsy call to send in troops instead of missiles. Also, killing a lot of top Al Qaeda leaders... so many, in fact, that we really stopped counting or caring. But if you list them, it's quite significant. AQ is no longer the feared presence it once was.
-Repealed "Dont Ask Dont Tell" in spite of significant opposition from Republicans, and even the hysterical warnings from people like McCain... which proved to be completely unfounded
-Generally turned around and improve the image of the U.S. abroad after the Bush administration
Other things I'm sure, but these are the ones that come to mind right now. I'm sure there's hundreds of things that you can put on the list that have been positive.
EDIT: I forgot about him also working towards renewable energy and the environment. He's supported not just renewable energy, but higher efficiency and fuel-economy standards, moving factories to newer efficient technologies, opposed things like mountaintop-removal mining which is catastrophic for the environment, supported regulation of carbon emissions, and all kinds of other things. This is cumulatively very important, since the environment is the main problem facing the world today.
-The economy has not turned for the better since the only jobs that are being created are minimum wage jobs. It's been reported that the median income for families has dropped to 1970 standards. Bailing out the financial and auto industry is not a great achievement since it's misusing funds to businesses that have either loss it's competitive edge or were corrupt to begin with. One of those companies, GM, has used the bailout to expand it's plants into China, not the US.
- The healthcare reform was basically giving the insurance industry free will to create legislation in it's favor. Instead of providing Universal Healthcare like Congress has, the US citizens are instead fined for not having health insurance. Even worse is that the legislation has caused many businesses to cut their employees hours to avoid having to provide insurance.
- By moving troops from Iraq into Afghanistan doesn't mean we are out of Iraq. The military is still there with thousands of US contractors on the military payroll.
- He did get us into another war. He has attacked Libya and has been aiding mercenaries in Syria for an eventual attack on the country.
- There has been little proof to conclude that it was Osama Bin Laden who was killed. The reason why it appears that Al Qaeda is not to be feared is due to the fact that the administration has chosen to ally with them in order to topple Libya and Syria.
- Repealing "Don't ask don't tell" doesn't benefit the United States and make Obama a great president.
- The US public approval in the World is at a low. Maybe during the beginning of the first term we could say there has been a patch of relations but all of that has diminished. Obama continued the same policies that Bush did by disrespecting foreign sovereignty, and its ever increasing use of drone strikes. It's pretty sad when Russia is now considered more moral than the United States.
- By moving troops from Iraq into Afghanistan doesn't mean we are out of Iraq. The military is still there with thousands of US contractors on the military payroll.
The war in Iraq and our role is basically finished, I'm not going to argue about some small numbers that may still be there. As far as Afghanistan, the troop numbers went up and then started to go down, but that's a different war. And, yes, moving troops from Iraq to Afghanistan does mean we're out of Iraq. The last U.S. troops left Iraq at the end of 2011.
- He did get us into another war. He has attacked Libya and has been aiding mercenaries in Syria for an eventual attack on the country.
Attacking Libya was not "a war". And, the fighters in Syria are constantly complaining that we're NOT sending them weapons. But even if we were, we're not in that war either.
As far as your predictions about the future... I dont really care.
- There has been little proof to conclude that it was Osama Bin Laden who was killed. The reason why it appears that Al Qaeda is not to be feared is due to the fact that the administration has chosen to ally with them in order to topple Libya and Syria.
- The US public approval in the World is at a low. Maybe during the beginning of the first term we could say there has been a patch of relations but all of that has diminished. Obama continued the same policies that Bush did by disrespecting foreign sovereignty, and its ever increasing use of drone strikes. It's pretty sad when Russia is now considered more moral than the United States.
It's true that approval has declined since his first term, but overall his approval compare to Bush Jr has been much better, especially in places like Europe and Japan.
What in the world were people expecting?! Barack Obama is not Jesus!! He is not a branch of the Triune Godhead!!
He is an imperfect person, just like everyone else!
Even if President Obama really was Jesus, People would still hate him!
People even hated the real Jesus 2000 years ago!
I hope this is some type of joke i just dont get, because compare Obama with Jesus is just wrong and show the insane expectations people have to him and how the people cant deal with him not being what they wished him to be.
Also many people still hates Jesus, they dont like he say: Stop being aholes with each others, the short version.
What did you want, he was a change? he is part of a system, the system you let run wild all over the place.
He is to the USA what to México is Vicente Fox and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
I never belive he would be a change, i have more problem with his followers that with him and i always knew he was part of the system.
@inlife: your opinion. I personally think Obamacare and killing Bin Laden alone makes him a pretty successful president despite the obvious obstructionism by Congress.
I don't know anymore. Obama doesn't really help our country, but then i again i hate how everybody plames america's problems on him. So the only real thing i can say is meh.
From what I have seen, only his worshippers think he does anything worthwhile. Everyone else sees that everything he does is absurd and possibly permanently damaging to the country. I think he's a terrible president who keeps trying to act like a "real guy" in order to seem relateable, like he's a character in a book. I want our president to act like a president. Not put his feet up on the desk of the oval office.
Not good at all. To be fair though, when he was elected into office, we were already in the middle of a shitstorm. So you can't really lay all the blame on him.
From what I have seen, only his worshippers think he does anything worthwhile. Everyone else sees that everything he does is absurd and possibly permanently damaging to the country. I think he's a terrible president who keeps trying to act like a "real guy" in order to seem relateable, like he's a character in a book. I want our president to act like a president. Not put his feet up on the desk of the oval office.
So you think getting rid of Dont Ask Dont Tell was "absurd and possibly permanently damaging to the country"? Interesting.
I'd say a pretty good President, not great, but definitely hampered by a horrible Congress.
I think if it had not been for Congress and the Republicans, we might have gotten a true single-payer healthcare program, instead of the compromise that is Obamacare.
Luckily the Republicans werent able to torpedo the economic recovery, although it probably would be much better now if they hadnt tried to stop every single program that Obama proposed. Remember when the Republicans were opposed to bailing out the auto companies, saying that if the government bailed them out that they'd fail for sure? Well, that was a load of crap. The car companies now are in much better shape then they've been in a long time, and much of the bailout money has been paid back. It has also been estimated that unemployment would have soared without the Stimulus plan, not to mention the other negative effects on the economy.
- The healthcare reform was basically giving the insurance industry free will to create legislation in it's favor. Instead of providing Universal Healthcare like Congress has, the US citizens are instead fined for not having health insurance.
- There has been little proof to conclude that it was Osama Bin Laden who was killed. The reason why it appears that Al Qaeda is not to be feared is due to the fact that the administration has chosen to ally with them in order to topple Libya and Syria.
- Repealing "Don't ask don't tell" doesn't benefit the United States and make Obama a great president.
What are we supposed to do? If our citizens don't have health insurance, we aren't just going to not let them in hospitals and have them die in the lobbies. That's barbaric, we as a country have to protect the lives of people. It's our #1 duty. If they don't have health insurance, and don't pay, then we have a problem. There is really no middle-ground. We either let people die on the street, or give away free health insurance to people who just don't want to pay, and make everyone else pay. (Then nobody would pay, and we'd have to publicize it.)
Are you really trying to say that it was a conspiracy to make Obama look good, and that Bin Laden wasn't really killed? Because if that's what your saying, then you're kind of throwing out your credibility.
How could you say granting a large group of people civil rights is not a benefit to the United States? I think expanding civil rights to more citizens certainly adds to how good a president is, regardless of your party affiliation.
He's a president. Definitely not the best, definitely not the worst. Some of the things he's tried to do I appreciate and he did get screwed by congress a few times, a fair portion of the things he's done I do not agree with or like. He did take over during a time when the country was not in a great position and some things he was able to improve, other things were ignored. Either way we have about three more years with him so it's not like he's out yet so this question is a little premature there is still a chance of improvement. But keep in mind Reagan is viewed as this amazing president when he really wasn't.
@inlife: your opinion. I personally think Obamacare and killing Bin Laden alone makes him a pretty successful president despite the obvious obstructionism by Congress.
I believe that the day of good leaders is over, or postponed until further notice.....I look at Obama and my eyes do not see a leader. Not saying that the others who were running were better; indeed, Obama was the best among the choices.
But my point is not whether he is the best or the worst of the current league. The point is how far have the standards of the league dropped......In our world of control, terror, cyber communication; I simply do not believe that a great president is coming our way anytime soon. As a matter of fact, is it just me or the candidates we have for office seem to be getting worse?
Obama is good......Sufficient, but not great. The people in Congress are just far worse.
I simply call him "horrible" as I have a horrid rating system and just happen to dislike most people.
He's just a politician, which pretty much means of course he's terrible at his job just like every single politician currently in office because the dumbf**k voters only elect people who look good in a suit instead of actually qualified people then the get upset because the unqualified idiot they voted for based solely on camera presence and telling them what they want to hear turns out to suck.
So guess what all you concerned citizens who decided on the lesser of 2 evils and let a moron in office the state of this country is your fault for not demanding better from our leaders.
He's just a politician, which pretty much means of course he's terrible at his job just like every single politician currently in office because the dumbf**k voters only elect people who look good in a suit instead of actually qualified people then the get upset because the unqualified idiot they voted for based solely on camera presence and telling them what they want to hear turns out to suck.
So guess what all you concerned citizens who decided on the lesser of 2 evils and let a moron in office the state of this country is your fault for not demanding better from our leaders.
I have no great love for politicians, but then again some politicians are better than others. Also, I have to take into account how horrible the political system is and what you have to do just to get elected. Do you really think anyone can get elected as President and not have to compromise some of their values along the way? We have a system that's designed to corrupt... with vast amounts of money flooding in, media networks who's goal in life is to put out propaganda against you and undermine your leadership, and a system in Congress that supports people who only want to stop progress from happening.
Tell me how anyone can be a good President or get much done in such an environment.
People who criticize Obama because he didnt achieve all the great things they think he should have are judging him on a completely unrealistic idea of how the world works, same as the people who thought he was going to be the savior of the world when he was running for President in 08.
True, he's a politician first and I dont deny that. He got in through the same system as Bush Jr. Difference is that by the time Bush Jr was done we were in 2 wars, one of them started under false pretenses, and our economy was cratering. The auto industry was about to become extinct in the U.S., the real estate market was in free-fall, as was the stock market, and unemployment was headed straight up. On top of that our reputation around the world was miserable.
I'm curious who here thinks they could have taken over as President in '09, with an opposition party whose stated main goal was to make you a "one term President", and done a better job?
President Barack Obama IMO is probably Middle of the Pack... he did not provide the change we expected him to and he did some very questionable acts as well as Commander In Chief... but I don't think he is bottom of the field.
This. I see him as the Democrat Party George Bush: He may not be the best, nor the worst, it is just people cannot seem to find middle ground with him.
@willpayton: I wasnt critisizing obama i was critisizing the whole political system that got us here and the sheep who let it get this bad
I didnt think you were. Just wanted to point out that it's one thing to do the best you can in a terrible job, and another to be terrible at your job.
I think given the context and the nature of the system, he's doing as well as can be hoped for. What I'd like to see is changes in the system, so that politicians dont have to be the second coming of Christ just to get some stuff done. Get rid of private money in campaigns, get rid of the filibuster, change the electoral system to an instant-runoff type system... there's a lot we can do that will make the system better, so politicians can focus on taking us into the future and not waste time just struggling to get basic things done... like getting Congress to even vote on things. The whole system is horribly broken right now.
He's a president. Definitely not the best, definitely not the worst. Some of the things he's tried to do I appreciate and he did get screwed by congress a few times, a fair portion of the things he's done I do not agree with or like. He did take over during a time when the country was not in a great position and some things he was able to improve, other things were ignored. Either way we have about three more years with him so it's not like he's out yet so this question is a little premature there is still a chance of improvement. But keep in mind Reagan is viewed as this amazing president when he really wasn't.
Exactly!
And yes, some people like to worship the very ground Ronald Reagan walks on! Its ridiculous!
I knew he wouldn't do anything. This should've been made obvious when he had the exact same speech before his first run. This is why I don't get into politics. They're all the same. I live in Canada, so we just everytime Obama says something about "change".
Obama is a fine president, only problem is that he's been politically "cock blocked" his whole presidency. Can expect him to get work done if they don't give em' any wiggle room.
Obama is a fine president, only problem is that he's been politically "cock blocked" his whole presidency. Can expect him to get work done if they don't give em' any wiggle room.
Awww c'mon now.. We all know white men can't cockblock a black man even if they wanted to... They're outgunned. Nyahahahahahahahahahaha!
This really depends on what you consider a good or bad president. Obama probably tries to fulfill his role to the best of his abilities. The truth is, being president doesn't grant him absolute power, and in the most important of ways, it doesn't grant him the last word. So whether he wants the change he talks about to happen or not, it isn't up to him to decide. Even he must go through tons of red tape in order to get anything done. This is the sad reality. If you want to say he's a bad president because he's accomplished very little of what he said he would, then you have every right to feel that way, even though most of it I'm sure was just naïveté. To say he's a good president you'd need to have special knowledge in order to know whether he's doing everything he can do to perform his job in the best possible way.
Not unlike the battle forums, political arguments tend to present valid points from both sides while simultaneously trying to bury the opposing side. There is never a clear answer because a great majority of it all is fueled by baseless fanaticism. People get enraged, defending their opinion like they were defending their own honor, which causes a separation between both parties and blinds them from the truth. Both sides are useless when you take into consideration that they cannot simply find a middle ground; supposed powerful men and women that have the lives of everyone in their respective nations as their responsibility end up squabbling like fanboys on the battle forums in a DBZ thread.
To those of you who have the benefit of not having to suffer from this kind of leadership, then I hope this continues for you as long as possible.
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