THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT!
What President Obama has accomplished in his
first two years in office
11/11/10
(See if you can find a pattern in the list below.
The answer will explain why mega-corporations dumped millions of dollars into Republican campaigns.)
For Veterans:
Added $4.6 billion to Veterans Administration budget to recruit and train more mental health professionals.
Added $1.4 billion to improve services to veterans.
For Students and their Parents:
Because of the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act, children can stay on their parents’ health insurance plans until age 26.
Insurance companies cannot deny health insurance because of a pre-existing condition.
Significantly increased Pell grants to help low income students pay for college.
Eliminated subsidies to private lenders so that federal student loan money will go directly to students and cut out the overhead to banks.
For Small Business Owners:
Developed stimulus package that included $18 billion for nondefense scientific research and development.
Increased minority access to capital.
Tax cuts worth $3.5 billion to help small businesses pay for their employees’ health insurance.
For Workers:
Signed Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act restoring basic protections against pay discrimination for women and other workers.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 made available $789 billion in tax cuts and stimulus programs which created more private sector jobs
in 2010 than George Bush created in his entire presidency.
Endorsed the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009 to provide full partnership benefits to federal employees.
Provided stimulus funds to boost private sector spaceflight programs.
Set up www.recovery.gov to track spending from the Recovery Act (check it out and see how your local community has benefited from the economic stimulus program.)
Expanded the Family Medical Leave Act to ensure that LGBT parents and partners can take leave from work to care for their child, parent, or spouse just as any family member could.
For Everyone who Needs Medical Care:
Signed Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act providing health insurance to 11 million children, 4 million of whom had no insurance.
Signed Christopher and Dana Reeves Paralysis Act, the first piece of comprehensive legislation to improve the lives of Americans living with paralysis.
Repealed Bush era restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
Signed Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act giving the FDA authority to regulate manufacturing and marketing of tobacco for the first time.
Tax credits for up to 29 million individuals to help pay for health insurance.
Expansion of Medicaid to all individuals under age 65 with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level.
Requires health insurance plans to disclose how much of the premiums they collect actually go for patient care.
Cut cost of prescription drugs for Medicare recipients by 50% starting in 2011.
For America’s relationships with other countries:
Ended Bush era CIA program of torturing prisoners and requiring them to use the Army field manual as their guide for interrogations.
Reversed the “global gag rule” allowing U.S. aid to organizations abroad regardless of whether they provide abortions.
Signed new START treaty, a nuclear arms treaty with Russia.
Signed Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act to stop fraud and wasteful spending in defense procurement and contracting system.
Financial reform for all Americans:
Signed financial reform law establishing a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to look out for the interests of everyday Americans.
Signed financial reform law prohibiting banks from engaging in proprietary trading (trading the bank’s own money to turn a profit which hurts their customers.)
Signed financial reform that requires lenders to verify applicants’ credit history, income and employment status so people don’t get in over their heads with loan companies.
Signed financial reform allowing shareholders of publicly traded companies to vote on CEO pay.
Established Credit Card Bill of Rights preventing credit card companies from imposing arbitrary interest rates increases on customers.
For the environment we all depend on:
Increased average fuel economy standards from 27.5 mpg to 35.5 mpg starting in 2016.
Increased funding for national parks and forests by 10%.
For all of us because it’s the right thing to do:
Appointed the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer.
Appointed the first Latina to the Supreme Court.
Significantly increased funding for the Violence Against Women Act.
Provided $12.2 billion in new funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
• Signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, expanding federal hate crime law to include crimes motivated by gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
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