Why Do People Love Obama?

Dr. Keshab Chandra Mandal

E-Mail: mandalkeshab2013@gmail.com

A lot of factors facilitated Obama’s election as the President of the most powerful country of the world. Those factors are still realistic, living and vivid. Similar reasons are still prevalent and some more factors have been added in last four years of his presidency which will prove his mettlesome. His strong personality, firm commitment, bold steps to retrive its glory and reputation, deep knowledge of Constitution and working of the Government and others will act as helpful in getting him reelected in the November 6 general election.

Charming Physical Appearance – President Barack Obama is very handsome. He is slim and physically fit. He still plays basket ball. He was a player since his school days. This is a great quality. If one does not have enough physical strength, it becomes very difficult for him to work hard, visit different places personally and thus have first hand experience, and take firm decisions. A healthy body is an asset of a person.

Strong Mental Attitude – He is having a strong mental attitude. Without strong mental make up, it is not possible to compete, contest, win and retain the winning spirit. It is the first thing one should have. Our mind at first think and then we act according to our plan. It is said in Modern Management that, “Make your plan and work according to your plan.” He first planned to hold the highest chair in the US, he started acting accordingly, sidelined all problems and troubles came on its way, and with persistence and mental power he worked hard and ultimately success kissed his feet.

Determination - Common persons think commonly. But the exceptional and ambitious men think differently. So when Obama thought to contest against four-time incumbent Bobby Rush in 2000, Michelle was sure of his defeat. She forbade Obama to venture out in national Politics, but he disrespected her warning because he was confident enough of his strength and power, while wiser Michelle was well-aware of the consequences. Michelle Obama contemplated divorcing Barack Obama in 2000 after he ignored her advice to run for a House seat in Chicago, which made him naturally very "depressed." 

According to a recent book by Edward Klein, Michelle even prepared divorce papers then following Barack's disastrous attempt to win a House seat in Chicago against the  incumbent Bobby Rush. Their marriage -- in its eighth year at the time -- was "on the rocks" with Barack so depressed that some of his friends feared he was suicidal, author Edward Klein has claimed in his book, titled 'The Amateur'. "After Obama's humiliating defeat he was broken and deeply in debt and it looked as though he might be finished in public life. During the dark days that followed his defeat, he turned to Michelle for comfort. "But she was in no mood to offer him sympathy. After all he had refused to listen to her warnings about taking on the formidable Bobby Rush. He had also put his family in a precarious financial position. And he had dashed Michelle's hopes of creating a stable and secure future. "As a result their marriage was on the rocks, and Obama confided to friends that he and Michelle were talking about divorce. Michelle actually had divorce papers drawn up," the author wrote, citing a friend of the Obamas.

The couple appear to have worked out their differences, however -- Barack Obama ran for a Senate seat in Illinois and won it in, assuming office in 2005 and restoring his wife's faith in him. The couple has admitted that in the past they did go through a rough patch but that they patched things up and grew closer together. (Source: The Times of India; May 16, 2012)

Vast Experience - Barack Obama has personal experience with poverty and the growing income gap, having grown up abroad in Indonesia and working as a community organizer in the south side of Chicago. He has the most experience as an elected official and legislator with over 10 years in state and federal public service. He is the only top Democratic candidate who understands both state and federal government as an elected legislator.

Mentality to Work for the Unpreviliged People - After graduating from Harvard Law, Magna Cum Laude and president of the Harvard Law Review, Obama could have become a wealthy corporate or trial lawyer but returned to Chicago to practice civil rights law.

Expert of Constitution Law - He also taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago, so he knows the Constitutional provisions regarding the functions and powers of House, Senate and the president. The various roles and duties of the president, the procedure of passing bills etc.

He is aginst War - He opposed the Iraq war before it started and has a specific plan for redeploying all combat troops by March 31, 2008.

A Champion of Preserving World Environment Clean - He has sponsored, co-sponsored and advocated for significant and realistic legislation to end global warming by capturing and safely disposing carbon dioxide, raising vehicle fuel economy standards and replacing petroleum with home-grown biofuels like cellulosic ethanol. About 10 percent renewable energy is required by 2012. The President released oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve, raised fuel economy standards, invested in all types of alternative energy, enacted tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars, asked people and businesses to conserve electricity, required more energy-efficient appliances, required states to provide incentives for utilities to reduce energy consumption.

Environment

Regarding preservation of environment the President encouraged water-conservation efforts in the West, increased funding for national parks and forests and increased funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Mr. Barack Obama established program to convert manufacturing centers into clean technology leaders, established ‘Promise Neighborhoods’ for areas of concentrated poverty and worked toward deploying a global climate change research and monitoring system. President Obama created a ‘Green Vet Initiative’ to promote environmental jobs for veterans and created job training programs for clean technologies.

Obama created incentives for tree planting and promote carbon sequestration, improved water quality, regulated pollution from major livestock operations, strengthened federal environmental justice programs. He also improved climate change data records, upported improved weather prediction program, offered prizes for advances in consumer technology.

Agriculture and Farm Development

For improving farming facilities Obama encouraged farmers to use more renewable energy and be more energy efficient. He pursued a wildfire management plan, removed more bush, small trees and vegetation that fuel wildfires and expanded access to places to hunt and fish. He launched an international Add Value to Agriculture Initiative (AVTA), increased funding for land-grant colleges. In agriculture Obama increased funding for organic and sustainable agriculture, partnered with landowners to conserve private lands, Increased funding for progams that conserve lands and habitat for select species such as the Osceola turkey and supported wetlands protection.

He Refuses PAC money - He has the broadest base of supporters, has not accepted PAC money and is the least compromised by big money special interests.

Donors Pay $40,000 a Plate

The garment district is the new financial district. Fashion industry leaders are opening their wallets for President Obama, filling a crucial void in New York fund-raising circles left by Wall Street donors who remain leery of giving to the president.

On Thursday night (June, 14, 2012) many luminaries of the fashion world gathered at the Greenwich Village home of Sarah Jessica Parker, who is co-hosting a $40,000-per-plate dinner with Anna Wintour, editor of Vogue. On the guest list are Vera Wang, Michael Kors, Kenneth Cole, Andrew Rosen of Theory and Millard Drexler of J. Crew. Others in the list were Meryl Streep and Andy Cohen, a talk show host and programming executive for Bravo, the network responsible for the “Real Housewives” franchise and “Project Runway.”

Though Republicans use Mr. Obama’s ties to Hollywood and fashion as a way to mock him, the president’s campaign is not being shy about using Ms. Parker and Ms. Wintour as fund-raisers. Ms. Parker starred in a 30-second commercial for the president announcing a contest to win two tickets to the event on Thursday. “We need him, and he needs us,” she says. And Ms. Wintour, with an Obama 2012 silk scarf knotted around her neck, filmed a video of her own at her home urging people to enter the contest, but implored them, “Just don’t be late.”

A Great Fund-raiser - During both the primary process and the general election, Obama's campaign set numerous fundraising records, particularly in the quantity of small donations. On June 19, 2008, Obama became the first major-party presidential candidate to turn down public financing in the general election since the system was created in 1976. In one day, Obama raises $5 million dollar. In Atlanta (Geoogia), (17 March, 2012) the President Barack Obama performer duel roles as fundraiser extraordinaire and commander-in-chief and thus piled up a single-day campaign blitz.

In no other country is a leader expected to tend to a deteriorating war he is leading in Afghanistan on the same day as conducing the business of stuffing millions into his war chest to bankroll his own political career.

But such is the cost of running for president in America, where campaign teams play on a vast and complex political map, building expensive grass roots get-out-of the vote networks and multi-million dollar advertising blasts. Mr. Obama started yesterday in Washington, in the early hours, trying to talk president Hamid Karzai down after a fresh broadside at America’s war strategy, as he fumes after a US soldier launched a ramgage killing 16 civilians.

Later, Obama was about as Air Force Once nosed into the murky skies over Washington, heading to a five-event, two city, 1700-mile odyssey of events in a vast hotel ballroom, huge film studio and intimate living room setting. Going home – to Chicago – for four hours, Mr. Obama amassed US$2.1 million, first giving a talk to 600 loyal supporters in a ballroom under glistening chandeliers, who paid least US$2,500 a head.

Mr. Obama, then, retreated to more exclusive eompany – a roundtable for 60 well-helled supporters who were each paying at least US$ 10,000 dollars for some face time with the local boy made good.

Mr. Obama has already raised more than US$ 140 million dollars for his reelection bid and experts believe he is well on the way to amassing the more than US$ 700 million he piled up in his 2008 run for the White House. He will likely fall short though of the staggering one billion dollar figure some campaign watchers fully expected him to haul in. Money may be even more important to Mr. Obama this year than in 2008. Thanks to a much debated Supreme Court decision individual rich donors and corporations are now free to throw unlimited millions of dollars into so-called Super PAC committees to support a candidate and savage his opponents. Mr. Obama yesterday took his total to 110 fundraisers since he launched his bid for the second term that all Presidents crave. They range from big rallies to small firms where the richest donors pay up to US$ 35,800 to break bread with the president, ask him questions away from the prying eyes of the press, and get to bend his care on a pet cause. According to campaign figures, the minimum take from yesterday’s events was 4.8 million dollars, but the true figure was likely over five million dollars. (Source: The Statesman, Kollkata, 18^th March, 2012)

Tremendous Communication and Convincing Skill - Barack Obama has the intellect, natural talent and charisma to communicate effectively to the entire world, bring people together, change the status quo and move our country forward.

Most Popular World Leader

According to a May 2009 poll conducted by Harris Interactive for France 24 and the Internaional Herald Tribune, Obama was rated as the most popular world leader, as well as the one figure most people would pin their hopes on for pulling the world out of the economic downturn. In a 2010 Siena College poll of 238 presidential scholars, Obama was ranked 15th out of 43, with high ratings for imagination, communication ability and intelligence and a low rating for background (family, education and experience).

Mr. Obama still has a number of enthusiastic supporters here. Diane Woods, the owner of Pee Dee’s Brunch and Bar, a diner in downtown Steubenville, described him as “regal, and presidential,” and said she would vote for him again because “when he talks, it makes sense to me.”

Obama a Great Public Speaker

Television personality Oprah Winfrey (1954–) interviewed Obama not long after the Democratic National Convention and asked him how he became such an eloquent public speaker. He replied that he knew from an early age that he had a career in the persuasive arts—be they legal or political—ahead of him. "I always knew I could express myself," he said in O, The Oprah Magazine. "I knew I could win some arguments. I knew I could get my grandparents and mom frustrated!" (Source: file:///D:/Barack%20Obama/Obama-Barack.html 7.2.2012). Not only that, he has an excellent voice. His voice is so attractive and distinct that people get charmed with his wisely lecture. Thousands of people become standstill and enchanted when they came to listen him before his pre-election campaign in 2007-08.

Sweet and Charming Behaviour – The President has a sweet and charming personality. He smiles like an angel, he behaves with world leaders like his own brothers and sisters. He is free and frank and very attractive and dear to the other world leaders. His frankness and straightforwareness has made him acceptable to the general people. He speaks the truth and gives the actual picture and allow people to judge and comprehend the actual situation and seek their assistance to improve the situation from worse to better.

Takes Care of Family and Children – He comes back home every night at home and spend time with the family members. He loves his children and wife and respects his mother in law. He loves and respects all the people in the world irrespective of caste, creed, gender, economic and social status. He is concerned about his two lovely daughters as well as his wife and mother in law. The President does as much as possible for the betterment and welfare of his little family.

Very Optimistic – He is very optimistic. It is his optimism that brought him in the highest chair of the USA and made him most powerful man in the world. Hope made him see dreams and dreams made him work hard and working hard gave him bonus of the chair that he occupies now. He has strong eagerness to win and become successful and he fulfilled his desire with hard work and dedication.

Computer Savvy – President is a computer savvy. He regularly updates his status on various issues and made them avaialble to the people and sought their opinions on them. Seeking support on various policy matters through e-mail is really praiseworthy. In this way he could reach to millions of people and get to know the opinions of the people. Through the various websites President Obama highlighted various problems and supports he faces from some Congressmen. It is great to communicate with common people and have their views and opinions on different issues to understands their standpoint and assess whether the Government working towards the right path.

A Great Admirer of His Heroes - US President Barack Obama invoked the legacies of his heroes Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela as he sought support from voters for a second term, saying he too needs time to fulfil his promise of bringing a “real change” to America just as the two legendary leaders did. “The change we fought for in 2008 hasn’t always happened as fast as we would have liked… real change, big change, is always hard,” Mr. Obama clearly stated to the people present at a fundraiser held in Washington on 4 March.

“Around the world – Gandhi, Nelson Mandela – what they did was hard. It takes time. It takes more than a single indivudual”, he said. From the civil rights movements to winning the vote for women, bringing about “real and big change” in the world has been hard and has taken time, the President said. Going by the tough times America has seen in the recent years, change may appear impossible to achieve, he said. However, change is possible through “ordinary citizens who keep believing, who are committed to fighting and pushing and inching this country closer and closer to our highest ideals,” Mr. Obama said.

Mr. Obama said while he is “not a perfect man and I will not be a perfect President,” he had promised America when he won the election in 2008 that “I would always tell you what I believed, I would always tell you where I stood, and that I would wake up every single day thinking about you and fight for you as hard as I could, and do everything possible to make sure that this country that has given me and Michelle and our kids so much, that country is there for everybody. “And you know that? I have kept that promise.” Seeking support for a second term ahead of the November Presidential polls, Mr. Obama said change will come to America if its citizens are willing to work with him and help him remove obstacles the country faces.

“If you’re willing to work with me, and push through the obstacles, and push through the setbacks, and get back up when we get knocked down, and if you’re willing to hold that vision that we have for America in your hearts, then I promise you, change will come. And if you’re willing to work as hard as you did in the last election, then we will finish what we started, and remind the world just why that America is the greatest nation on earth,” he said. (Source: The Statesman, 5 March, 2012, Kolkata.)

Obama Honors Israel’s President

President Obama presented Israel’s president, Shimon Peres, with America’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, calling Mr. Peres “the essence of Israel itself — an indomitable spirit that will not be denied.” The president praised Mr. Peres, 88, for helping to build the long-running alliance between the United States and Israel.

“No individual has done so much over so many years to build our alliance and bring our two nations closer as the leader we honor tonight — our friend Shimon Peres,” Mr. Obama said Wednesday night at a dinner for Mr. Peres at the White House. Accepting the award, Mr. Peres told Mr. Obama that he was “honoring the pioneers who built homes on barren mountains, on shifting sands.” Mr. Peres continued: “Fighters who sacrificed their lives for their country. On their behalf, I thank America for days of concern, for sleepless nights, caring for safety, for our future.” (Source : The New York Times, June 13, 2012, Washington). 

War and Peace

Regarding war and peace he directed military leaders to end war in Iraq within a specific time frame and began removing combat brigades from Iraq. Not only that he created a military families advisory board and ended the abuse of supplemental budgets for war. He made U.S. military aid to Pakistan conditional on anti-terror efforts.

He tried to improve relations with Islamic Countires. President Obama opened “America Houses” in Islamic cities around the globe. He improved relations with Turkey, and improved its relations with Iraqi Kurds. He allocated Homeland Security funding according to risk, created a real National Infrastructure Protection Plan, increased funding for local emergency planning, extended monitoring and verification provisions of the START I Treaty and appointed a White House Coordinator for Nuclear Security.

Education

Obama recruited math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession, reduced subsidies to private student lenders and protect student borrowers. Mr. Barack Obama expanded Pell grants for low-income students. Obama provided grants to early-career researchers. President Obama set a national goal to provide re-screening for all 2-year-olds for developmental disorders and commissioned a study on students with disabilities and their transition to jobs or higher education. Obma fully funded the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), launched educational initiative for employers on tax benefits of hiring employees with disabilities, establish a Global Education Fund.

Moreover, Mr. Obama doubled funding for Federal Charter School Program and require more accountability, addressed the dropout crisis by giving schools incentives for more dropout prevention, created Teacher Residency Programs that will send teachers to high-need schools, expanded teacher mentoring programs and provide incentives for more planning time, promoted innovative ways to reward good teachers, simplified the application process for financial aid, increased the number of high school students taking college-level courses. Mr. Barack Obama also created a community college partnership program and promoted more pre-school education, encouraged contests and programs to interest students in science and increased research opportunities for college students. The president reformed the policy of ‘No Child Left Behind.’

Health Care: a Great Achievement

President Barack Obama is committed to universal health care by the end of his first term. Nancy-Ann DeParle, Deputy Chief of Staff and her team met Nathan and his son, Thomas in 2009. Thomas was born with hemophilia, and he hit lifetime limits on his health coverage with two different insurance companies before he turned seven years old. Two years ago, Nathan was hopeful about what the Affordable Care Act would mean.

In April 2012 when a team led by Nancy-Ann DeParle, Deputy Chief of Staff spoke with Thomas's family again and they made it clear: Health reform has improved their quality of life. It means they can focus on making sure that Thomas has the best possible care. It's changing their lives for the better.

Thomas is not alone. He's just one of the 105 million Americans who no longer have lifetime dollar limits on their coverage. The Affordable Care Act gives hardworking, middle class families the security they deserve. Because of health reform, 54 million Americans with private insurance have been able to access more preventive services. In the 2011 tax year, two million workers were benefitted from the small business health insurance tax credit. And 2.5 million young people under age 26 have gained coverage on their parents' plan.

Behind each of those numbers is a person like Thomas. Two years after President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, life is a little better for millions of Americans from all over the country. (Source: an E-mail sent by Nancy-Ann DeParle, Deputy Chief of Staff).

Preventive Care Benefits for Women

The Affordable Care Act will benefit 47 million women in the USA who will have access to eight additional preventive health care services at no out-of-pocket cost. Women in private plans and Medicare already have received potentially life-saving services, such as mammograms, cholesterol screenings, and flu shots at no extra cost.
The law now requires new, non-grandfathered private health plans to offer eight additional screenings and tests for adolescent and adult women at no extra charge. These include:

• Well-woman visits.
• Gestational diabetes screenings that help protect women from one of the most serious pregnancy-related diseases.
• Domestic and interpersonal violence screening and counseling.
• FDA-approved contraceptive products.
• Breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling.
• HPV DNA testing, for women 30 or older.
• Sexually transmitted infections counseling.
• HIV screening and counseling.

(Source: Erin Lindsay, White House Office Hours: Preventive Care Benefits for Women, August 01, 2012, http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=IUJj_&m=Iq_rZ2BOylWHMG&b=C_OaZv2Vgaltkcd37arY5Q accessed on 17.8.2012)

Universal Health Care Policy

President Obama signed a “universal” health care bill that provided easy-to-understand comparisons of the Medicare prescription drug plans, invested in electronic health information systems, he phased in requirements for health information technology, introduced health plans utilize disease management programs that required the providers to report measures of health care costs and quality, held hospitals and health plans accountable for disparities in care, implemented and funded proven health intervention programs, prevented drug companies from blocking generic drugs, allowed Medicare to negotiate for cheaper drug prices, worked with schools to create more healthful environments for children, improved recruitment of public health workers, mandated insurance coverage of autism treatment, fully funded the Combating Autism Act and Federal Autism Research Initiatives, doubled federal funding for cancer research and increased participation in cancer-related clinical trials.

He made it obligatory for the large employers to contribute to a national health plan and provided required children to have health insurance coverage. It is he who expanded eligibility for Medicaid and expanded eligibility for State Children’s Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP). His administration started health plans to disclose how much of the premium goes to patient care, established an independent health institute to provide accurate and objective information. He forced insurers to pay out a reasonable share of the of contributors’ premiums for patient care, eliminated the higher subsidies to Medicare Advantage plans, expanded funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners, increased funding to expand community based prevention programs. Moreover, he gave tax credits to those who needed help to pay health premiums. He established standards of care for traumatic brain injury treatment and reinstated executive order to hire an additional 100,000 federal employees with disabilities within five years.

Record High Number of Health Care Fraud Prosecutions

The Obama Administration is committed to fighting health care fraud and a new independent report shows just how serious Obama’s administration are about cracking down on criminals. The independent Syracuse University Transactional Records Access Clearing house examined data from the Justice Department and reported:

“Federal health care fraud prosecutions reached an historic high last year. During the twelve months of fiscal year 2011, the government reported 1,235 new health care fraud prosecutions -- the largest number reported since separate tracking of this offense began twenty years ago. This number is up 68.9% over the past fiscal year when the number of criminal prosecutions totaled 731.”

Health care fraud is a crime and when fraudsters steal from the health care system, the people all pay the price in the form of higher health care costs. This news builds on the Vice President’s announcement earlier this week on a new Medicare initiative to crack down on fraudulent prescriptions for drugs like OxyContin. And the record number of prosecutions is yet another sign that President Obama’s team is serious about fighting fraud and it sends a strong message to anyone who would think about committing these crimes.

Business Industrial Policy

President Obama raised the small business investment expensing limit to $250,000 through the end of 2009. He extended unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspends taxes on these benefits, supported network neutrality on the Internet. Obama established a credit card bill of rights, expanded loan programs for small businesses.

President Obama made it compulsory to disclose fully of the company pension investments to employees, created the best practices list for private businesses in accommodating workers with disabilities. Mr. Obama reduced the threshhold for the Family and Medical Leave Act from companies with 50 employees to companies with 25 employees, provided a $1.5 billion fund to help states launch programs for paid family and medical leave, and required employers to provide seven paid sick days per year.

Regarding manufacturing Obama doubled funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a program that encourages manufacturing efficiency. He included environmental and labor standards in trade agreements. Obama created an international tax haven watch list, made permanent the Research & Development tax credit, created a consumer-friendly credit card rating system.

Relief for Families and Small Businesses

It is learned that Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield will provide more than 4,200 small businesses in West Virginia with rebates worth an average of $2,500 per business. Highmark is providing the rebates because of a new rule in the Affordable Care Act. Under the law, if insurance companies don’t spend at least 80 percent of your premium dollar on medical care and quality rather than advertising, overhead and bonuses for executives, they have to provide you a rebate for those excessive profits.  

When Highmark determined they wouldn’t meet the standard, they cut their premiums, giving consumers some welcome health care cost relief. Many more consumers across the country are getting benefit from this provision of the law and will be getting so in the weeks and months ahead. President Obama is committed to controlling health care costs and the latest news shows his work is making a difference.

Gender Empowerment

He paid special attention for the gender empowerment and removing violence against women. He appointed a special adviser on violence against women. He provided full funds for the Violence Against Women Act and worked to overturn Ledbetter vs. Goodyear. Obama expanded the Family Medical Leave Act to include leave for domestic violence or sexual assault. He implemented “Women Owned Business” contracting program

Foreign Policy

With a view to improving bilateral relations with India he appointed an American Indian policy adviser. Obama worked to persuade the European Union to end credit guarantees to Iran, seek to negotiate a political agreement on Cyprus, restructured and streamlined USAID, increased the size of the foreign service, urged China to stop manipulation of its currency value, pressed China to end its support for regimes in Sudan, Burma, Iran and Zimbabwe. President Obama fully funded debt cancellation for heavily indebted poor countries.  He also created a fund for international small and medium enterprises (SME), Obama launched robust diplomatic effort with Iraq and its neighbors and provided $30 billion over 10 years to Israel. He limited Guard and Reserve deployments to one year for every six years

Liberal Attitude towards Other Countries

He has no barrier regarding any country from South to North. Mr. Obama granted Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba. He restored funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program, established an Energy Partnership for the Americans, expanded the Nurse-Family Partnership to all low-income, first-time mothers, provided affordable, high-quality child care. President Obama promoted economic development in Mexico.

Military

Obama ended the “Stop-Loss” program of forcing troops to stay in service beyond their expected commitments, fully and properly equipped troops. He created a Civilian Assistance Corps that would organize private sector professionals to help in times of need and included humanitarian international missions in long-term budgeting. He also reviewed weapons programs and modernized ships and invested more in small vessels. Obama set standards for when the government should hire defense contractors, restored the government’s ability to manage contracts by rebuilding our contract officer corps and created a system of incentives and penalties for defense contracts. President Obama strengthened the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) aimed at stopping spread of weapons of mass destruction; organized successful Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in 2010, expanded federal bioforensics program for tracking biological weapons, President Obama bolstered the military’s ability to speak different languages.

Transportation

President Obama supported high-speed rail, supported airline service in small towns and invested in public transportation. He equalized tax breaks for driving and public transit and considered “smart growth” in transportation funding, shared environmental technology with other countries. Not only that he also doubled federal spending for research on clean fuels, provided grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes, increased funding for the Environmental Protection Agency. Obama created a $60 billion bank to fund roads and bridges.

Cyber Crime

To deter cyber crime he initiated a grant and training program for law enforcement to deter cyber crime. He appointed the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer. Obama developed a comprehensive cyber security and response strategy, mandated standards for securing personal data and companies were required to disclose personal information data breaches.

Policies for Veterans

He also streamlined the Social Security disability approval process, expanded Veterans Centers in rural areas, made the Veterans Administration a national leader in health reform, reduced the Veterans Benefits Administration claims backlog, instituted electronic record-keeping for the Veterans Benefits Administration, expanded housing vouchers program for homeless veterans, launched a supportive services-housing program for veterans to prevent homelessness, increased the Veterans Administration budget to recruit and retain more mental health professionals, expanded the Veterans Administration’s number of “centers of excellence” in specialty care.

Miscellaneous

Obama pushed for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors. He fulfilled his election campaign promises by repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. He also restored funding to the EEOC and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, reformed mandatory minimum sentences, created a White House Office on Urban Policy, fully funded the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). He funded a major expansion of AmeriCorps, created a Social Investment Fund Network, banned lobbyist gifts to executive employees, created new criminal penalties for mortgage fraud, set goals and timetables for implementing Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act. He helped creating a public “Contracts and Influence” database, required Cabinet officials to host Internet town hall meetings and conducted regulatory agency business in public.

President Obama supported repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), vigorously pursued hate crimes and civil rights abuses, signed the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act into law, supported regional innovation clusters, helped low-income areas get phone and Internet service, created a Homeowner Obligation Made Explicit (HOME) score for mortgage comparisons, increased the supply of affordable housing throughout metropolitan regions, invested in transitional jobs and career pathway programs, fully funded the COPS program, improved emergency response plans, capped interest rates on payday loans and improved disclosure and expanded public/private partnerships between schools and arts organizations.

President Obama strengthened the levees in New Orleans, directed revenues from offshore oil and gas drilling to increased coastal hurricane protection, shook loose federal money for rebuilding the Gulf Coast. Mr. Barack Obama extended child tax credits and marriage-penalty fixes. He created an Advanced Manufacturing Fund to invest in peer-reviewed manufacturing processes and changed standards for determining broadband access, extended the Bush tax cuts for lower income-group people, extended the 2007 Alternative MinimumTax patch and closed the “doughnut hole” in Medicare prescription drug plan. Obama Administration had expanded the Senior Corps volunteer program.

President Obama is in favor of stem cell research. He reversed restrictions on stem cell research. His greatest achievement is the killing of Osama bin Laden. He promotes democracy in the globe. He created a rapid response fund for emerging democracies.

Policy of Running Alone - A Measure of Change

If the congress acts late, if it delays to pass a domestic policy, the president acts prompt and uses his executive powers to enact the law. He uses the term – “We can’t wait”. The same persistence and firmness is not found in almost any democracy. For example, the present Indian Government led by Dr. Man Mohan Singh. Has this sternness been shown regarding the Government’s industrial policy (growth rate is 0.1 percent, July 13, 2012) the situation would not have been so miserable. 

“We had been attempting to highlight the inability of Congress to do anything,” recalled William M. Daley, who was the White House chief of staff at the time. “The president expressed frustration, saying we have got to scour everything and push the envelope in finding things we can do on our own.”

When Democrats controlled Congress, Mr. Obama largely worked through the legislative process to achieve his domestic policy goals. But increasingly in recent months, the administration has been seeking ways to act without Congress. Branding its unilateral efforts “We Can’t Wait,” a slogan that aides said Mr. Obama coined at that strategy meeting, the White House has rolled out dozens of new policies — on creating jobs for veterans, preventing drug shortages, raising fuel economy standards, curbing domestic violence and more. Mr. Obama has further said: “If Congress refuses to act, I’ve said that I’ll continue to do everything in my power to act without them.”

Aides say many more such moves are coming. Not just a short-term shift in governing style and a re-election strategy, Mr. Obama’s increasingly assertive use of executive action could foreshadow pitched battles over the separation of powers in his second term, should he win and Republicans consolidate their power in Congress.

Many conservatives have denounced Mr. Obama’s new approach. But William G. Howell, a University of Chicago political science professor and author of “Power Without Persuasion: The Politics of Direct Presidential Action,” said Mr. Obama’s use of executive power to advance domestic policies that could not pass Congress was not new historically. “What is surprising is that he is coming around to responding to the incentives that are built into the institution of the presidency,” Mr. Howell said. “Even someone who has studied the Constitution and holds it in high regard — he, too, is going to exercise these unilateral powers because his long-term legacy and his standing in the polls crucially depend upon action.”

Mr. Obama has issued signing statements claiming a right to bypass a handful of constraints — rejecting as unconstitutional Congress’s attempt to prevent him from having White House “czars” on certain issues, for example. But for the most part, Mr. Obama’s increased unilateralism in domestic policy has relied on a different form of executive power than the sort that had led to heated debates during his predecessor’s Mr. Bush’s administration.

“Obama’s not saying he has the right to defy a Congressional statute,” said Richard H. Pildes, a New York University law professor. “But if the legislative path is blocked and he otherwise has the legal authority to issue an executive order on an issue, they are clearly much more willing to do that now than two years ago.”

The Obama administration started down this path soon after Republicans took over the House of Representatives last year. In February 2011, Mr. Obama directed the Justice Department to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars federal recognition of same-sex marriage, against constitutional challenges. Previously, the administration had urged lawmakers to repeal it, but had defended their right to enact it.

In the following months, the administration increased efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions through environmental regulations, gave states waivers from federal mandates if they agreed to education overhauls, and refocused deportation policy in a way that in effect granted relief to some illegal immigrants brought to the country as children. Each step substituted for a faltered legislative proposal.

But those moves were isolated and cut against the administration’s broader political messaging strategy at the time: that Mr. Obama was trying to reach across the aisle to get things done. It was only after the summer, when negotiations over a deficit reduction deal broke down and House Republicans nearly failed to raise the nation’s borrowing limit, that Mr. Obama fully shifted course.

Social Policies for Upgradation of the condition of business and obstructions posed by some Congressmen - He is very positive and persistent do do betterment for the middle class and business community. Many Americans take it for granted that President Obama has been one of the most effective Presidents since FDR.  It’s important to remember just how bad things were when he took office and how much he’s accomplished since he’s been in office.

There were tremendous rate of unemployment rate when this President took office and now it has come from 10% unemployment down to around 8.5%.  If the recovery continues on this path, it’ll be back to around 5% unemployment by 2016.

It’s not just about jobs though, President Obama has also worked to restore America’s image around the world. When President Bush was in office the American army were invading countries for no reason, now the soldiers have left Iraq and are in the process of leaving Afghanistan.

Obama Hands Congress Economic ‘To Do’ List

With a polarized Congress already on the defensive, President Obama on Tuesday (May 8, 2012) outlined a five-point “to do” list for lawmakers that packaged job creation and mortgage relief ideas he had proposed before. Mr. Obama presented the election-year list during a visit to a university science complex in Albany. The components of his challenge to Congress - and to the Republican-led House in particular - was a feature of his appearances throughout the spring.  Mr. Obama pushed one of the proposals, to allow more families who are current on their mortgages to refinance at lower interest rates. Nevada, a swing state critical to his re-election, is among the places hit hardest by the housing bust.

The president’s pitch on Tuesday (May 8, 2012), at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at the State University of New York underscored the obstructions he had been facing from Republicans, and at a time when critics across the political spectrum are assailing a “do-nothing Congress.” Mr. Obama said, “I think the Congress will act because the people that sent them here are insisting that they act.”

Each lawmaker, he said, “has to explain to his or her constituents what they did while they were in Washington these last two years. Did they just say no? Did they just block every effort put forward to help the economy grow and create jobs? Or did they actually try to work constructively to get something done?”

Several of the proposals Mr. Obama is demanding are business tax cuts. One would provide a 20 percent tax credit for companies that move overseas operations back to the United States; the revenue cost would be offset by eliminating deductions for companies’ costs of relocating business abroad. A proposed 10 percent income tax credit would go to small businesses that add employees or increase wages this, and Mr. Obama would extend through this year a measure allowing businesses to write off the full cost of investments in equipment. Also on the president’s list is his call to extend a energy production tax credit and to expand a credit for advanced clean-energy manufacturing.

Obama has also a final proposal that would create a Veterans Jobs Corps to help place veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan as police officers and firefighters or in other community-service jobs. To buttress his case for encouraging companies to relocate operations to this country, Mr. Obama will release new figures from his National Economic Council on what it sees as trends for “in-sourcing” — so-called to distinguish it from American companies’ outsourcing of jobs to low-wage places like Mexico and China in recent decades.

The report cites results of an study of executives released in April by the Boston Consulting Group showing that about a third of companies surveyed — and half with revenues exceeding $10 billion — were planning or considering moving manufacturing to the United States from China because costs there were either higher than anticipated or were expected to rise.

Mr. Obama’s trip to Albany is a rare foray to a state that is not an election battleground; New York is considered safely Democratic. The location nonetheless reflects the president’s penchant for drawing attention to the ways in which the government can promote technology, research and advanced manufacturing. (Source: The New York Times, Tuesday, May 8, 2012).

Indian-Americans Support Romney, but will Vote for Obama, Says Survey

An overwhelming Indian-Amaricns would vote for US President Barack Obama in the Novermber presidential elections, while Mitt Romney has been named as favourite among the Republican presidential candidates, at laest opinion poll has said. “Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney leads his nearest rivals Ron Paul by 24.1 percentage points and former Senator Rick Santorum by 33.4 percentage points,” said the latest national opinion poll among Indian-Americns. “But if the presidential elections were held today, and overwhelming 80 per cent of Asian Indians would vote for President Barack Obama,” said the first of its kind survey among Indian-Americans conducted by Boston-bsed INE Medi Inc., the publishers of IndUS Business Journal and India New England newspaper. The online survey was conducted on 22-26 February with respondents coming from across the country. “This is the first survey of Asian Indians during this presidential election season,” said Upendra Mishra, publisher of IndUS Business Journal and India New England.

“Indians have been primarily known in the USA for their entrepreneurial skills with excellelence in the academic, scientific and technology fields, but now they’re making their mark on both the local and national political scenes,” Mishra said. In the survey, Romney got the maximum support among the Republican cnadidates from the participants with 51.9 per cent. However, Mr. Obama got the commanding lead with 80 per cent when pitted against the Republican candidates with Romney securing 14.7 per cent support from the participants. (Source: The Statesman, Calcutta, India, 29^d Feb, 2012, Wednesday).

President Bush’s Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2008

President Bush on February 5, 2007 released his proposed budget for fiscal year 2008, the last year of his second term presidency. This budget continues the same misguided economic policy that neglects problems at home while racking up hundreds of billions of dollars in national debt. According to John Irons, Director of Tax and Budget Policy at the Center for American Progress, “For the past seven years, the Bush administration’s budget choices have reflected an economic policy that has benefited the few at the expense of the broader economy and our fiscal future. This latest budget proposal does little to address long-term budget imbalances, while continuing to promote policies that benefit wealthy individuals. According to the president’s own numbers, the proposed tax policies would add $600 billion to deficits over the next five years, and $1.9 trillion over the next ten. Once other costs are included—such as needed reform to the Alternative Minimum Tax and ongoing expenditures for Iraq—the deficit totals would be much higher. The president’s claim that his plan will balance the budget by 2012 is simply not credible.”

In the past, the Center for American Progress has been critical of President Bush’s proposed budgets, believing that many of his stated intentions—such as tax cuts that predominately benefited the wealthiest—represented the wrong priorities for the nation. Moreover, on some of the more promising goals and intentions that President Bush expressed in advance of the budget release (for example, reducing dependence on foreign oil), he has repeatedly neglected to follow up with appropriate funding or administrative focus. Likewise, we do not believe that the current document merits serious consideration.