I like how the first thing that came up was "Increased average fuel economy standards from 27.5mpg to 35.5mpg, starting in 2016" on a website called "What the fuck has Obama done so far." Protip, 2016 =/= 2011.

Is there a purpose to this website other than to annoy Republicans and to make Democrats feel smug? Just when I feel that my level of respect for American politics can sink no lower, I come across something like this that knocks it down yet another notch.

I dunno, I'm not staunchly pro-Obama, but I do feel its good to be reminded that he has done quite a few things that most Americans would regard as good.

Are you sure about this, yellow?
All the "quite a fews things" he seems to have *done* is increase spending on some programs that one may or may not sympathize with.

Hmmh... DEBT-crisis, anyone? Hello ??? ... anyone?

I'd say we have more of an unemployment crisis than a debt crisis. Revenues falling this much will put a hurtin' on any budget. And having interest rates this low means that the payments we're making on our debt, as a percentage of GDP, are lower than they've been for previous decades.

Take a look at this and see whose spending is dominating - http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/07/the-chart-that-should-accompany-all-discussions-of-the-debt-ceiling/242484/

But yeah, I guess spending money on kid's health insurance isn't something I can sympathize with.

@Yellow....if Obama has done "quite a few things that most Americans would regard as good"....then why it his approval rating at 39%, and his DISapproval rating at 54%????

You, apparently, have NO IDEA what the American people like and dislike. You ay be in touch with ridiculous left-wing ideology.....but you are NOT in touch with the American people. Even the main-stream liberal media is reporting the negative pubic polling results....meaning that most likely the truth is *that much worse....*!

You need to step into reality, dude.

@Sergeant - OF COURSE we have more of an unemployment problem. If you INCREASE employment, then you increase the tax base. You increase spending. You increase consumption, and thus increase corporate taxes. OF COURSE we have an unemployment problem.

That being said...and this is purely anecdotal....I am working part-time right now. I can't get hired full time because of the cost...because my boss fears that his taxes are going up, so he would rather work his current staff to the bone, because he knows they can't quit....there are no other jobs...

The more money you take from my boss, the less chance I have of getting a full time job.

Krellin: I'm not talking about approval rating, I'm just asking people to judge some of the individual things he's done as listed here, and make their own decisions on them. Chances are that even conservatives will agree with many of the issues individually. What about you, Krellin? What percentage of the things on the link do you find wrong, bad, or offensive to your best interests? Probably fewer than you would have guessed.

I'm firmly grounded in reality, and I resent the prevailing conservative opinion that anybody who disagrees with them is not rational, and tapped only into... what did you say... "left wing ideology," LOL.

Why can't people debate the issues rationally without accusations of lunacy and fanaticism? I respect many conservative viewpoints, and agree with some. That's the beauty of our system: when ever one side gets too far out of whack the other party drags them back. It works both ways.

Conservatives serve a useful and necessary purpose: they put the brakes on some of the liberal ideas that go too far... they say, "Whoah, lets take a step back and think before we make these changes." But all of the room for rational debate on what is right and best for the American people goes right out the window when you believe your opponent is crazy or out of touch for merely disagreeing with you.

You and those like you are a part of that problem. So if you want to debate some issue, fine, have at it, and I'll give as good as I get. But if you can't find anything to respect in my viewpoints (and try to keep in mind that you have no idea what they are) while disagreeing with them then it's not worth the time.

whoah, tl;dr much me?

half of the things that I read on that site I was against...

@Yellow....well, the opinion ratings suggest that the majority of the things that Obama has done are NOT what the American people want. Unless you are one of those that think that most poeple are stupid and you somehow have some sort of superiro intellect, and can see what nobody else sees, then you are denying reality.

I suspect that you have: Never run a business; never paid a significant amount of taxes; never had to make a payroll, etc. I suspect that, at best, you have been a employee, but perhaps are little more than an ill-informed student operating from the basis of ideology, instead of experience. Correct me if I am wrong....but you are a student, right?

Becuase when I became unemployed, I started a business....and found out that the government, including the Feds, but many roadblocks in the way, on up to the Feds. I have discovered that if my choice is to hire an employee, or just work a few extra hours, I will work extra hours because the government takes enough of my check already that I am not willing to share it with anyone else. You may call me greedy....but I am just trying to save enough money to put braces on my kids teeth.

As for what he has done good...

Obamacare: Already driving up the cost of insurance. Already causing insurance copanies to reduce the amount of coverage: in Illinoins, I believe it is, a major insurance carrier will no longer offer individual policies because, they say, of the requirements of Obamacare; the Feds are already *dictating* mandatory coverage...i.e. taking the free market out of the equation. But, since there is no such thing as "free anything" in health care, we all know that "free service / no co-pay" equal "higher premiums for all". In other words, if you are a single guy, you will pay higher premiums so that some bitch can get free birth control, pap smears and obortions. But, by the way, as a guy, you will STILL have to pay a co-pay for your prostate exam. hmmm....Seems the Obama adminsitration is sexist....

CAFE Standards: It doesn't take a genius to realize that the new Cafe standards are *insane*. Given the push in recent years for higher milage, if the auto-insdustry had some secret bullet that would give them 60 mpg, don't you think someone would be selling ALL the cars with their special technology? having worked in th eauto industry, I *assure* you that the design for economical 60 MPG car is not sitting in a file cabinet somewhere. Oh....it will be done....it will be some asinine electric car that won't carry a load of lumber or enough luggage for your family to take a vacation....and it will cost $10,000 to $15,000 more than you wan to pay for a small, useless vehicle. I run a business using my vehicle. I can't buy an Obama vehicle that will meet my needs. Thus...the end result will be more and more people holding on to older and older cars, keeping them running. So, in effect, Obama, instead of instituting a rational CAFE policy, in which the required increases keep pace with innovation, he will jump us to some asinine, practically unobtainable extreme, forcing people to keep their older cars because they can't afford new cars. The end result: MORE emissions, not less, because older, less efficient cars will stay on the road.

What else has Obama accomplsihed....Hmmm....we are still in Iraq.....and they had a shit-load of bombs go off in various cities today....so no peace in Iraq. My brother deploys to Afghanistan for a year in the next two months....so that war is going strong. Oh yeah....he STARTED a new war in Libya!!! That's good, right???? Er.....and....uh....welll....uh....WHAt are we dong there???

Let's see....the Obama Adminstration refused to prosecute the Black Panthers for voter intimidation! Yay....oh....er....that's bad too...his AG said they won't prosecute black-on-white crimes.....maybe that isn't good.

Well, hell, I guess he has taken a lot of good vacations and improved his golf games. And...oh yeah....he spent $2.1 Million for a couple of buses that he is going to use for his next Presidential Campaign...which is a blatant violation of the law....but he'll get away with it.


Yeah...Obama has done a LOT of good for the country. All of those fucking morons that disagree with him, that hate him, that disapprove of him....they are just stupid. they aren't nearly as smart as YOU are.....<rolls eyes....>

Well, SOME of your assumptions are right :P

I am a grad student, and I worked my ass of to get there. I worked full time during undergrad at a shitty major restaurant to pay the bills, so I know just how much the corporations care about their employees... not a whit.

Is my intellect superior? Sure. That's just a fact: I'm above average. Not bragging, but you did ask :P That doesn't mean I disregard the opinions of others. I learned a long time ago that being smart is only one part of what you need to be successful in life.

But I'll thank you not to put words in my mouth about how I feel about those who disapprove of Obama. Calling people stupid because they disagree with you seems to be your preferred tactic (recent Rommel post, and a million others besides), not mine.

Now for some counterpoint, since you've dedicated the rest of your post to actual debate points....

"Because when I became unemployed..." If you have to worry about putting braces on your kids teeth, then you are not the one I want to raise taxes on. Say whatever you want about Obamacare, bringing ANY form of health insurance to those who can't afford it is a good thing. Obamacare isn't the ideal solution, but its another step in the right direction: acknowledging that healthcare is a fundamental right of every American citizen. Many conservatives won't agree with that, because if they do they would be forced to explain why their party hasn't done a whole lot to advance it. Your feelings?

"CAFE standards..." don't know anything about it. It sounds like the new standards are unmeetable by the deadline? Is that what you're saying?

"What else has Obama accomplished..." check the link, it really answers exactly that question. I don't blame Obama for not "wrapping up" the war in Iraq, no more than I blame GW. I disagree with the invasion, but now that we are there we need to do it right and finish the job.

"...Started a new war in Libya..." A few missiles do not a war make. But that's semantics. The people there are already rebelling, right? Aren't we just helping them out a bit? I know it's been longstanding American foreign policy to oust democratically elected leaders and replace them with stable pro-USA dictators (see virtually all of S. America), so maybe it's time we went the other way.

"Black Panthers..." He shouldn't have dismissed the injunction. Still, grand scheme, I'm sure you'll agree that's pretty minor.

"Vacations...." how many? How long? Again, not really worth the effort, is it?

I think that the mistake that many conservatives make is to assumption that every liberal is a communist at heart. That isn't true. I love conservatism, to a point, and I think once every American has a reasonable home that they own, affordable education for their children, healthcare, insurance on their assets, and maybe the occasional something extra, you can be as conservative as you want. Do you agree that these necessities should be the right of every full time employed or retired citizen?