A Failed Presidency

Points to ponder for those who are still undecided on Election Day…

The presidency of Barack Obama has been one of the least successful in American history. Nearly every aspect of American life and government has gotten worse since Obama took office, making it difficult to understand why so many are willing to give him a second term. Here is a brief summary of some of the most important failings under Obama.

The Economy and Jobs

Obama has incurred more debt than any other president in history, including unprecedented spending after campaigning to cut the national deficit in half. He has been so fiscally irresponsible that he is the only president to have never presented a budget that Congress has approved. The obvious result of massive spending and lack of budgeting—inflation—has begun in the form of rising food and energy prices.

The “stimulus” of 2009 was supposed to keep unemployment below six percent. Instead, unemployment has lingered around eight percent throughout Obama’s term. The “stimulus” did nothing to curb unemployment, instead actually causing more damage to the economy.

Today, more Americans are on food stamps and living in poverty than ever before. And as Obama consistently lectured Americans that they must cut back and do more with less, he has enjoyed dozens of vacations and golf outings at taxpayer expense.

National Defense

In the Afghan War, Obama approved a watered-down troop surge, then announced a troop withdrawal before their objectives were met, thus undermining the U.S. war effort. Obama has also greatly increased the number of Predator and drone attacks, despite arguments that these do U.S. interests more harm than good through civilian casualties.

Americans applauded Obama’s decision to execute Osama bin Laden, but most forgot that Obama had pledged to detain bin Laden, not kill him, if given the opportunity. Obama also authorized the execution of Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen, without due process of law guaranteed by the Constitution. This makes every American potentially vulnerable to government execution through presidential decree.

With the U.S. already fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Obama extended the military even further by helping overthrow Libyan ruler Moammar Ghaddafi. But Obama didn’t act fast enough to prevent terrorists from attacking and killing four Americans in Libya this past September 11, even when repeated requests for help were made. We still have no answers as to why the military was ordered to stand down while the attack occurred.

Obama supported a revolution in Egypt that was co-opted by the Muslim Brotherhood, a terrorist organization sworn to destroy America and Israel. Obama also insulted America’s traditional ally, Israel, by demanding that Israelis give up defensible 1967 borders, even though Israel is surrounded by the sworn enemies of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran.

Obamacare

After pledging to focus “like a laser beam” on jobs, Obama spent nearly the entire first year of his presidency pushing health care reform through Congress. This culminated with the Affordable Care Act, the most intrusive law on individual liberty in American history. With the country already over $15 trillion in debt, this law promises to cost another $900 billion over 10 years.

The law levies a punitive tax on any citizen who does not purchase health insurance. More Americans will be insured than ever before, but there won’t be enough doctors to meet the demand. This will cause the same rationing that plagues all other countries with socialized medicine. Ultimately, government bureaucrats will decide whether you receive health care, and this reduces personal choices, health care accessibility, and individual freedom. This law must be repealed.

Various “Reforms”

Obama signed a financial reform law that allows the U.S. Treasury to bail out any firm deemed “too big to fail.” Yet the government entities most responsible for the housing crash—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—weren’t held accountable. The law also requires all bank loans to be reviewed by government bureaucrats, which bottlenecks the process and harms small business. Banking costs and debit card fees have risen as a result.

Obama also brags about how he “rescued” the auto industry, but bailing out General Motors and Chrysler equated to a $25 billion loss for taxpayers. And much of that money went to unions that heavily contribute to Obama’s campaigns while stealing the bondholders’ entire investment.

Regarding education, Obama claims to champion college students, but student loans and tuition costs have skyrocketed under his term. Obamacare not only put health care under government control, but student loans as well. It’s no coincidence that ever since government began involving itself in the student loan industry, costs have gone up and the quality of education has plummeted.

Food Control

Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010, a bipartisan law that puts stricter federal controls on farming. This law hurts small farmers because Big Agriculture can handle all the extra bureaucratic red tape imposed, but the small farmers can’t. Moreover, the FDA is authorized to scrutinize what family farms and small farmers produce and harvest.

This grants the government power to regulate the people’s right to grow, trade, and transport food. Those not in compliance with federal guidelines can be fined or jailed. Some have called this “the most dangerous bill in the history of the United States” because it could be a slippery slope toward complete government control of the food supply. Incidentally, tyrants have traditionally maintained power by controlling the food supply.

Energy Control

Under Obama the EPA, a group of unelected bureaucrats that aren’t accountable to the people, are making the rules on how businesses can emit carbon from their factories and plants. All these regulations and requirements will only drive up costs, which businesses pass on to consumers in the form of higher prices and fewer jobs.

Solyndra was touted as the model for Obama’s “green energy” initiative. But Solyndra filed for bankruptcy, leaving 1,100 workers unemployed and taxpayers on the hook for over $500 million due to an Obama “stimulus” loan guarantee. The House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Washington Post have revealed that not only was this a bad investment, but it was rife with corruption.

When the BP oil spill began in the Gulf of Mexico, Obama initially chose golfing instead of addressing the problem. Then he overreacted by banning all offshore drilling, making the U.S. more dependent on foreign oil. On top of this, Obama rejected construction on the Keystone pipeline that could have created jobs in a struggling economy. Meanwhile, billions of taxpayer dollars have been given to Brazil and other countries to conduct their own offshore drilling, and gas prices have skyrocketed since Obama has taken office.

Illegal Immigration

Obama has deported more illegal immigrants than George W. Bush, and he has also increased funding for the drug wars along the American-Mexican border. However, Obama’s administration conducted “Operation Fast and Furious,” a program in which guns were sold to Mexican drug cartels that were later used to kill U.S. border agents. Documents have revealed that Justice Department officials knew about and supported this program. And despite increased funding, American and Mexican casualties in the drug wars exceed the U.S. casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

The administration has sued various states for trying to enforce federal illegal immigration laws since Obama refuses to do so. When Mexico complained about Arizona’s efforts to enforce federal laws, Obama sided with Mexico against his own country. And Obama has repeatedly opposed states’ efforts to address social and economic problems through reasonable immigration laws.

Moreover, Obama bypassed Congress to issue an executive order refusing to deport the children of illegal aliens. He has consistently supported amnesty for illegal aliens while making no significant move to secure the border. No comprehensive plan for border security has even been considered during Obama’s presidency.

Eroding Civil Liberties

Despite his criticisms of George W. Bush’s disregard for civil liberties, Obama has been even worse in this department. Under Obama, the TSA is forcing Americans to undergo intense groping and seizures in airports that violate the Fourth Amendment and resemble police state tactics. After railing against the Patriot Act, Obama approved an extension that allows for even more government surveillance than there was under Bush.

Obama also signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law, which is a bipartisan effort authorizing the military to indefinitely detain Americans suspected of terrorist activity. This makes all Americans vulnerable to military detention without habeas corpus or due process, violating the basic freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.

Broken Promises

For the sake of brevity, only a few examples are cited here. President Obama pledged not to use “signing statements” (i.e., announcements that he would not honor parts of a bill he signs into law), but he has routinely used them. Case in point: in April 2011, Obama announced he would not enforce the portion of the budget law that defunded his special advisors (i.e., “czars”).

Obama pledged to have no lobbyists in his administration; this pledge was broken in his first month in office and his administration is now teeming with lobbyists. As a senator, Obama criticized George W. Bush for raising the national debt $4 trillion in eight years, but Obama has raised it another $6 trillion in less than four years. And Obama has kept Guantanamo Bay open after pledging to close it on “day one” of his presidency.

Conclusion

This past week, Obama put aside campaign stops to direct federal relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Sandy and visit disaster areas in New Jersey. But he failed to even address the terrible suffering in New York City by those still without water and power. And during his term, Obama made no effort to visit the devastated sites of the Nashville flood, the Alabama tornado, or the Texas wildfires. Maybe this is because these other disasters didn’t give Obama an opportunity to pretend showing leadership a week before an election.

No president has ever consolidated so much power so quickly into the executive branch of government than Barack Obama. This centralization is a threat to our constitutional republic and our individual liberty. It sends us down the slippery slope toward tyranny, which will arrive on our shores like a thief in the night if we are not vigilant. It is up to the American people to stop it on Election Day.