In 2008, President Barack Obama was elected into one of the worst economic disasters since Franklin Roosevelt stepped into the Oval Office. The United States economy was shedding approximately 800,000 jobs per month. Home foreclosures were skyrocketing and the stock market plummeted. From continuing the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and the Recovery Act, to the emergency bailout of General Motors and Chrysler, policies pursued by the Obama administration and the Federal Reserve put a floor on the recession and returned the economy to sustained growth. The GDP growth rate turned from negative 5.3 percent during the first quarter of 2009 to positive growth by the third quarter. Today, the unemployment rate is lower than it has been at any point during Obama’s term in office led by 31 consecutive months of private sector job growth. The stock market indices more than doubled from their low point, observed just six weeks after Obama took office. Corporate profits of the Fortune 500 reached an all-time high in 2011 and consumer confidence is now higher than it has been at any point since 2007. The housing market is recovering, with home prices, sales, and construction rates rising significantly in 2012. Even though the Obama administration’s handling of the economy has not been flawless, their accomplishments have been impressive given unprecedented partisanship in Washington.
Equally impressive is the fact that the Obama administration’s economic policies aided a recovery while lowering the federal deficit. Obama inherited a $1.4 trillion annual federal budget deficit (10.1 percent of GDP) during his first year in office, but the deficit is projected to be only 7 percent of GDP in 2012. Even though our national debt remains a grave challenge, a second term would grant the President the political capital necessary to negotiate a balanced compromise. The administration also put into place significant reforms of the financial sector that will help prevent a similar financial crisis in the future by regulating the derivatives market.
More Domestic Successes
President Obama’s signature on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in March 2010 fulfilled a near-century-long quest to establish a system of universal health care in America. ACA is a conservative, market-oriented universal health care system that was previously championed by many Republicans and was modeled after Governor Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts health care reform plan. ACA does not add to the deficit (but it’s repeal would) and it helps low-wage workers and their families, who comprise most of America’s uninsured, obtain medical coverage while removing some of Medicaid’s perverse incentives. Paradoxically, ACA has been highly controversial even while most of its features are wildly popular, including the provisions that end insurance companies’ ability to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions and to impose caps on annual or lifetime health benefits, as well as the clause that allows parents to keep their children on their insurance plans up to age 26. This is partly due to a deliberate effort by Republicans to deny the President with a major legislative achievement and the unrelenting rightward drift of the GOP as a whole. ACA did not go far enough in controlling skyrocketing health care costs; however, the rate of health insurance premium increase has slowed to a historic low this year. And this news arrives even before the central component of ACA, the insurance mandate, goes into effect, which will put significant downward pressure on the rate of insurance premium inflation. Obama’s signature domestic achievement, ACA, is a major step in the right direction for improving the American health care system.
President Obama has delivered other achievements on the home front, including major successes for equality and human rights. The repeal of the military’s discriminatory Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) policy brings us one big step closer to living the ideal set forth in the Declaration of Independence, that all men and women are created equal. Studies since the repeal have shown that there has been no significant negative impact to the military, contrary to what most Congressional Republicans had warned. Also, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which was the first bill President Obama signed into law, goes a long way to help ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work.
The President’s recent executive order, which gives reprieve from deportation and an opportunity for work authorization to undocumented immigrant children who were brought to the U.S. before they turned 16, is an important first step to overhauling our nation’s badly broken immigration system. Like his predecessor, President Obama supports a comprehensive approach to immigration reform that provides both a pathway to residency for undocumented immigrants while improving border protection and enforcement. However, an ever-more right-wing Congressional Republican caucus, which revolted against George W. Bush’s push for a comprehensive overhaul of our immigration system, refused to consider any immigration legislation that did not have a narrow enforcement-only approach.
President Obama saved both students’ and taxpayers’ money when he reformed the student loan program and enabled the federal government to provide loans directly to students rather than going through a costly middle-man. The Race to the Top initiative in the Department of Education has received bipartisan praise for spurring innovative reforms of public education in many states.
On energy, the U.S. is now less dependent on oil than it has been in generations. While a domestic oil boom contributed significantly to this phenomenon, the Obama administration has made key investments in renewable energy, helping the U.S. to double its production of wind energy while increasing solar energy by six times. Obama’s all-of-the-above approach to energy included conservation initiatives such as the new fuel efficiency standards that will nearly double the current fuel economy of American automobiles by 2025, and approval to build the first nuclear power plant in the U.S. in decades. Although climate change has unfortunately not been a serious political issue during this election cycle, the threat remains and the President’s comprehensive approach to energy stands in stark contrast to Governor Romney’s more traditional, yet myopic approach that heavily favors fossil fuels.
National Security
President Obama and his national security team helped navigate an exceptionally turbulent period in the Middle East and around the world. Obama fulfilled one of his most important campaign promises in December 2011 when the last U.S. troops departed from Iraq, ending one of the most serious American foreign policy blunders in generations. President Obama’s counterterrorism policies have been tremendously successful. As he promised in 2008, Obama refocused our war effort on al-Qaeda and their allies in their safe havens in Afghanistan and Pakistan, decimating their leadership, and is now in the process of bringing a responsible end to the war in Afghanistan. Most notably, Obama ordered a high-risk Navy SEAL operation that killed Osama bin Laden in Abottabad, Pakistan in May 2011, striking an unprecedented blow against the terrorist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks. Admiral William McRaven, the military commander over the bin Laden raid, said afterwards that President Obama “was at all times presidential” and had exemplified “leadership skills we’d expect from a guy who had 35 years in the military.”
In other parts of the Middle East, the Obama administration stood for American principles when they sided with pro-democracy uprisings across the region, particularly in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia. Mr. Obama helped form a successful military coalition, which included several NATO partners and some Arab countries, that helped to prevent Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s forces from massacring his own people and eventually led to his overthrow. President Obama’s national security team put tremendous pressure on Iran and its nuclear ambitions by mustering global support for the toughest multi-lateral economic sanctions ever enacted against Iran. The sanctions have led to the most serious economic crisis Iran has faced since the devastating Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.
Mr. Obama negotiated and signed into law a new nuclear arms treaty (new START) with Russia that further reduces nuclear stockpiles on both sides while putting into place a modern weapons decommission verification system that will allow the U.S. to better monitor Russia’s implementation of the agreement. The new treaty won near universal praise from Republican and Democratic security experts. The Obama administration’s successful approach to diplomacy and national security has not only delivered tangible successes like the ones mentioned above, but it has helped to heal alliances that were tattered by the callous approach to world affairs of the previous administration. Global views of the U.S. have risen significantly since President Obama took office.
Four More Years
We have not agreed with all of President Obama’s actions and recognize that not all of his policies have been completely successful. Nonetheless, the President and his team were able to implement numerous reforms that have made a positive impact on our nation. The President has provided steady, consistent, and smart leadership during the most challenging period in decades. Mormon Democrats proudly endorses Barack Obama for re-election. He has earned another four years in office.
Four more years! Obama/Biden 2012! I am a Democrat because I am a Mormon, not in spite of it!
Well said, Darlene. I feel exactly the same. My core beliefs, faith, and values are much more represented by Pres Obama than Mitt Romney. I was ecstatic on 6Nov
4 more years!!! Let’s win this election and get back to work cleaning up the mess left behind for a REAL President! Thank you Mr. President for striving to be “in touch” with everyday Americans…and more so for fighting for us!
Tim Burbach
I am an active Mormon and I love President Obama. I think he reflects all the values that I hold dear, including family values.
cynthia carter
Democrat and Mormon.
I am an active lifelong member of the LDS church and have believed in President Obama since I heard his speech at the 2004 DNC. I believe he stand for all of the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which I have been taught and and try to live my life by. The GOP platform has strayed so far from any christian values it’s hard to see anything resembling Christianity in their rhetoric.
I am a life-long, active, “Utah” Mormon. I love this gospel. And I have cast my vote for President Obama.
I have voted to re-elect President Barack Obama! He deserves to have four more years. I want a president who tells the truth and stands for values that made and make America!
I am proud to cast my vote for President Obama. I feel that so many Democratic values are in step with Mormonism. Four more years!
Every day I see Romney not worthy enough to be President due to his dishonesty. Obama wants fairness and is really concern of the common person. Romney comes across as an elitist representing the corporate culture and lacks solid values. Obama has been straight with us and was in the White House for us. This time we are for him.
President Obama has done a great job with the mess he inherited and because I am LDS I feel he’s the only real presidential choice I have that holds my core values. I’m happy to be able to vote for Obama again for four more years of honest, reliable leadership!
Proud Mormon and proud Democrat here, proudly casting his vote for President Obama!
Totally LDS and 100% behind Obama!
I am an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and I am voting for Barak Obama BECAUSE I am a Mormon and believe fully in the teachings of Jesus Christ.
I too am a mormon and will be voting President Obama…..
Proud to be a Latter Day Saint and proud to be voting for President Obama.
I am a convert of 40 years so I feel like a lifelong Mormon and I proudly support our amazing President. His re-election will be a boon for healthcare and our economy .
I am a proud Democrat and a proud Mormon. I too support another four years of President Obama’s policies.
I support this President and am grateful for the hard work he has done when he had overwhelming obstacles. He is a strong leader and has restored respect for our nation.
I am proud to be a Latter-day Saint who is voting for President Obama!
Gobama! Thanks for the great article. So nice to be supported by one of the bretheren.
I am 100% in support of President Barak Obama AND I am 100%proud to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! Thank you Mr. President for your leadership and personal sacrifice to serve your country. And to your family who have shared their husband and father
Thankful to have a President that has values our church stands for, more then what Governor Romney has shown. No matter what the other side may claim, it is what you call, “Watching too much fox news and not being informed”. The LDS Church does not teach us to have such behavior and I’m quite embarrassed right now to even be part of a church that has displayed such hate in and out of the church building.
A proud supporter of Pres. Obama!
Very thoughtful article. It is very nice to see facts spelled out so well.
Great article! They say facts have a liberal bias but I believe facts are facts. Period. Thanks for all you have done.
I am a happy Latter-day saint that enthusiastically endorses Barack Obama for President!
As a Latter-day Saint I proudly support the re-election President Obama!
As a Latter-day Saint I proudly support the re-election of President Obama!
I am a devout recent convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and I strongly endorse Obama in most of his policies. Obama embodies the Beatitudes far more than Romney, along with the 2 great commandments
Niccole Burbach
Proudly cast my ballot for President Obama early last week. Vote by mail in Oregon, yay!
FOUR MORE YEARS! The ship has been righted and after all that work we’re not going to let someone else come in, take credit, and then wreck it again!
Voted for the President on the 22nd – the first day of early voting In Wisconsin!
I early voted last week for President Obama. Four more years!
Husband, daughter, and I have all emailed our ballots back to Massachusetts — that’s three more votes for President Obama (and for Elizabeth Warren, too). It has been discouraging to see the enormous amount of misinformation and lies about our president so willingly swallowed by so many LDS. Here’s hoping for a victory on Tuesday and for a return to greater sanity by at least some of our relatives and friends.
I am an active, card-carrying member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and a proud Obama supporter. His vision for our future holds out not only hope, but will continue to move our country forward without placing a burden upon the poor and the middle class. It will also end the war in Afganistan (just as he did the war in Iraq) and will ensure that we do not jump into a war with Iran or allowing Israel to dictate our foreign policy. You have my vote.
How do you all of you deal with family members that are very ANTI-Obama? I mean, every single time we get together with any of them, and there are quite a few, there is some stupid, ignorant comment made. Conspiracy theories out the wahzoo…WAY to much watching of Fox News. Now that he has been re-elected, it’s going to be sooo bad! I can’t stand it! My husband and I are both “in the closet” supporters of the President. If our families were to really know where we stand, they would disown us, I’m sure of it!
Angie, thank you for reading and commenting. I can sympathize a little with what you’re going through- I’ve got a lot of right-wing conservative relatives and friends. I wrote about some of my experiences in dealing with people, particularly Mormons, who are very intolerant to those who have different political beliefs, as well as ideas on how to deal with such situations, here: http://www.mormondems.com/archives/144
I have plenty of right-wing family members and I generally try to avoid speaking politics with them, but they often bring it up with me intentionally, because they know I’m a Democrat and support of President Obama. When they do, I try to be as polite as possible while trying to help them understand that there is another valid viewpoint on the issue. If they don’t seem to be interested in hearing another side of an issue and just want a contentious debate, I change the subject. I’ve found that some relatives and friends are simply incapable of objectively considering an alternate viewpoint and so I avoid politics with them altogether. Humor can sometimes be helpful in dealing with people who make such hateful and ignorant comments about the President.
My colleague here at MormonDems wrote a great post here (http://www.mormondems.com/archives/224) where he noted that he personally avoids using Facebook and email forwards to air his political viewpoint since such methods often cause contention with the people we care about the most. It may be worth asking your family to stop sending you those kinds of email forwards (if that’s one of the ways they vent their political rhetoric).
It’s questionable that TARP, the Recovery Act, and the restructuring / bailout of GM and Chrysler “put a floor on the recession and returned the economy to sustained growth.” More likely another correction will take place given the “malinvest” that was spurred by Fed easy money policies.
Also, the ACA or socialized medicine” is definitely not a “conservative, market-oriented universal health care system.” As others such as Sheldon Richman have pointed out elsewhere, collectivist solutions are simply not “market-oriented” by definition. Freedom to choose health-care options as individuals is at the core of a free-market (vs. coercive) economic system.
Thanks for reading and commenting. American libertarians have been warning for years of third world-style hyperinflation and a major “correction” that is coming due to Fed policy and the Obama administration’s stimulus efforts. But so far, it’s just been empty rhetoric. You’ll be hard pressed to find many macro-economists who dispute that Fed actions, TARP, the Recovery Act, and auto bailout helped to end the recession. Now I’ll concede that we are not back to the 2-3% GDP growth that we had on average pre-recession, but many of the most important economic indicators are showing an economy moving in the right direction, as I wrote about more extensively in this post: http://www.mormondems.com/archives/333
ACA is not “socialized medicine.” You conservatives love to throw around the word “socialism” a lot but do not use it as it is defined in political science. The only truly socialized medical system among the industrialized world is the UK system, where nearly all medical professionals are employees of the government. ACA-style health care is the brain child of the conservative Heritage Foundation and was the Republican counter-offer to Hillarycare in 1993. And as you should know, the core elements of ACA and Romneycare are nearly identical. I wrote about this issue more extensively here: http://www.mormondems.com/archives/124 The kind of system you advocate would leave millions of Americans without care. When basic private medical insurance plans for a family cost over $10,000 per year, millions of low income Americans would be left by the wayside, with inadequate access to health care.
Hi Aaron,
Reading your response reminded me that in today’s political reality it is easy to categorize others’ opinions as “conservative” or “libertarian” as if these concepts dominate one’s political thinking. While libertarian’s did adopt Austrian economics as its political economic standard, it does not necessarily follow that citing Austrian economic theory (e.g. “malinvestment”) makes one a libertarian. That would be a gross miscategorization.
While it may be true that a person would be “hard pressed to find many macro-economists who dispute . . . Fed actions”, this may have more to do with the fact that both major political parties adopted Keynesian economic theory and government economic intervention long ago, but which has seemingly led to today’s “boom and bust” business cycle.
Last, while “socialism”, at least as it is used today, is a politically charged word, historically it has a very specific meaning. Also, absent in the post above is an alternative health care system that was “advocated” which “would leave millions of Americans without care”. Rather, the comment intended to point out that collectivist (e.g. government mandated) health care solutions – regardless of their sponsorship by Republicans, Democrats or other organizations (e.g. Heritage Foundation) – are simply, and by definition, not “market oriented” despite how they are positioned by these groups.
Hopefully, this clarification will go a long way towards creating meaningful dialogue when posting comments on this blog. While it may not always be possible in today’s politically charged environment, it is hoped that alternate (not necessarily opposing) view points will be welcome on this site if for no other reason than to exchange ideas regardless of their source, etc.
Thanks.
Nice post, Aaron. Glad to see Obama back in the White House!
This is a very good post, Aaron. I too am delighted to see President Obama back in the White House. It feels like a contentious black cloud has been lifted off of this country.
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