This is a work in progress.
Barack Hussein Obama II was the 44th president of United States from 2009 to 2017. He was elected to be a state senator in Illinois in 1996. In 2004 he was elected to the US Senate in 2004.
Some have said rather then be the President of the United States, he strove to be President of the World, causing some of his policy’s to not help the citizen of the US.
Good Points
- As much as Republicans hate it. Obama Care, also known as the Affordable Care Act was a decent start to improving health care. Republicans talk of self reliance, yet they oppose the individual mandate which effectively requires people to purchase their own policy.
- About 9 months into his presidency, Obama was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people”. Some questioned it as it came so soon. It appears the Norwegian Nobel Prize committee was swayed by Obama’s vision of Hope and Change for the future and the committee hoped it would strengthen his presidency. Others stated, “The Nobel Committee’s failure in the the modern era has been rewarding those who wish for peace rather than those who accomplish it.” None the less, it is an honor to receive it. Nominations for the prize end on February 1st, so Obama was in office less then 12 days when he was nominated.
- Obama was definitely more, shall we say, “Presidential” in his behavior. While the occupant who followed may have some policy changes, he steps on himself quite often.
More disconcerting items:
From here on out items are listed that I found disconcerting.
A key point in understanding some of these is understanding the key phrase, “Strategic Patience“. This term came about in Obama’s dealing with North Korea. The Obama-era policy “suggested that the United States could afford to wait for North Korea to make its decision to denuclearize.”. The Obama administration stated that it would not return to a process which rewards North Korea for bad behavior. But if the bad behavior continues indefinitely, what have you gained?
Not engaging, strategically being passive, is not a conduit for change.
It’s always safer in the short term to do nothing. Unfortunately the Obama presidency was marked with a large number of in-actions.
2018
2018-Jul-18 – In South Africa Obama gives a speech reported by Time, where he states: I should add, by the way, right now I’m actually surprised by how much money I got, and let me tell you something: I don’t have half as much as most of these folks or a tenth or a hundredth. There’s only so much you can eat. There’s only so big a house you can have. There’s only so many nice trips you can take. I mean, it’s enough.
TMZ reports on an Escrow in Martha Vineyard house, 190901.
Town & Country reported on their DC home, 190419
.Note: Not really complaining about Obama’s lavish houses here. But, he has talked of the evils of trips, airconditioning, and large houses, and yet? ??
2017
2017-Jan-17 -Obama names Ben Rhodes to the Holocaust Memorial Council, a five year term. Ben Rhodes is Obama’s point man for the Iran nuclear deals and the U.N. resolution condemning Israel. (3 days before leaving office)
2017-Jan-16 – Obama releases $221 million to the Palestinian Authority. (5 days before leaving office)
2017-Jan-13 – Obama transfers 10 Guantanamo detainees to Oman. (7 days before leaving office)
2017-Jan-1 – Obama commuted Chelsea Mannings 35 years sentence. (19 days before leaving office) Chelsea Manning was the transgender solder who was convicted in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage Act and other offenses, after disclosing to WikiLeaks nearly 750,000 classified, or unclassified but sensitive, military and diplomatic documents. It is unknown and classified on the count of peoples whose lives were affected by this transgression.
2016
The video below shows the town hall where Obama made the utterance, “those jobs just aren’t gonna come back”.
2016-Jun – This was a blunt assessment that approaches Jimmy Carters “malaise” statement. At this point, 8 years into the administration, adding regulations every few weeks, new labor rules, Clean Power Plan, Obama Care, (all good feel, good stuff), but, business doesn’t know what’s next. Time to offshore your business production to reduce risk.
Foreign manufacturing means easier to deal with governments, employees are cheaper, and more amendable to working harder. During the 8 years companies moved capital and manufacturing offshore. And to reduce costs, trained offshore engineering talent that we now must compete with.
Yes the jobs will never come back. If you take a “laissez faire” attitude, coupled with “Strategic Patience”, the world will move away. It is critical to make the US a good place to do business. Obama let America down here.
2016-Mar-7 The Obama administration pays out the first $500M to the Climate Change Project created under the Paris Climate Agreement. All done under Executive Actions as it was not approved in the Senate. The US at this points still owes another $2.5 Billion to the fund. The month before, February, the US Supreme Court blocked his plan.
The money is to be used by poor and climate vulnerable for cleaner technology.
2016-Jan 22 & Feb 5 – Obama additionally send another $1.3B to Iran in cash for a total of $1.7B.
2016-Jan-21 – John Kerry (Secretary of State),states, “It’s likely that some of the billions of dollars in sanctions relief granted to Iran under a landmark nuclear deal will go to groups deemed to be terrorists.“. He also stated, “I think that some of it will end up in the hands of the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps) or of other entities, some of which are labeled terrorists,” Kerry said. “To some degree, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that every component of that can be prevented.”
Not big deal, unless you happen to live in Syria, Lebanon, or Israel.
2016-Jan-17 – Obama sends a C-130 with pallets of cash. Including euros, Swiss Francs and other currencies to Tehran. Total about $400M. This initial set of funds was contingent on the release of prisoners. US Courts have said American victims of Iranian Terrorism are presently owed about $55.6B. All 4 were released the same day.
2015-Jan-16 – Obama announces the lifting of the first set of sanctions against Iran.
2015
- 2015-Nov-18 – Obama, in the Philippines for the APEC summit. Called on China to stop their buildup in the South China Sea.
- 2015-Sep-25 – In response to Obama expressing concern about the South China Sea buildup, Xi Jinping replied, “Relevant construction activities that China are undertaking in the Nansha (Spratly) Islands do not target or impact any country, and China does not intend to pursue militarization.”
- 2015-Jul-19 – The Obama administration sends the comprehensive deal and supporting documents to Congress regarding the Iran Nuclear Deal, beginning the 60 day review period mandated by the Iran Nuclear Deal Review Act.
2014
20140725-Obama, after meeting with the Central American presidents, discusses asylum can’t be just bad neighborhoods and that it is in appropriate to be making the trek thru Mexico. He talks of how Refugee status is defined very narrowly.
The full text of his speech can be found here. But what is amazing is how close his views here mirror Donald Trumps view today(190716).
2014-Jul-12 – Obama declares a humanitarian crisis on the border. Depending on your party affiliation this crisis reappeared either in 2018, or in June of 2019.
2014-Mar – Chinese hackers gain access to the Office Of Personnel Management (OPM) security clearance database. The accessed database contained the records of up to 21.5 million citizens who had applied, received, or held a security clearance in the past. Applicants initially fill out a standard 136 page questionnaire termed an SF86. Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper stated, “You have to kind of salute the Chinese for what they did,”. Obama chose to follow his “Strategic Patience” policy.
2014-Mar-18 – Russia invades the Crimean peninsula, a part of Ukraine. The US is a signatory to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assistance. The memorandum states the US and Britain will protect Ukraine in exchange for the Ukraine giving up it’s nuclear armaments. President Obama help, blankets, and other miscellaneous supplies.
Obama’s Red Line statements, and resultant inaction, will cause problems in later administrations dealings with North Korea and Iran. Why give up your nuclear armament, if another country is going to walk over you, sad.
2013
TBD
2012
2012-Dec Obama fires General James Mattis for speaking bluntly abut Iraq and Syria. Mattis would later write a book, with the sentence, “Obama, Barack, strategic thinking lacking.”
Mattis writes; “Under our form of government, the President is our Commander in Chief and must be the sentinel for our nation’s future generations. This calls for a strategy both embraced by the American people and inclusive of our allies,” he writes. “We’ve fought wars that we should have avoided, and half-heartedly engaged in wars that needed to be won. But we can recover our strategic footing, if we don’t squander opportunities to strengthen the international order that is in the best interest of all nations seeking peace and stability on the world stage.”
Obama’s Red Line
2012-Aug- Obama, in discussing Syria states, “We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a RED LINE for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus. That would change my equation.” In this talk, he used “red line” twice. In an interview with the Atlantic, Obama gave several reasons for not enforcing the red line. 1) Not being sanctioned by Congress, 2) lack of support from the international community, 3) and maybe the intelligence was not 100% solid.
Obama’s empty bluff cost America’s international reputation dearly. A year later Syria uses chemical weapons to kill 1,500 civilians. Obama does not react. Within one year, Russia took control of Crimea and then intervened decisively in Syria to save Assad. And Iran was able to, with more conviction, dictate the terms of the now defunct nuclear deal.
Vice President Joe Biden repeatedly warned Obama against drawing a red line on chemical weapons, fearing that it would one day have to be enforced. He argued passionately, “big nations don’t bluff.”
2012-Aug-23 – Obama’s administration quietly suspends sending Social Security “No-Match” letters to employers with employee names that don’t match the numbers on file. These had been routine for years as they had helped people fix clerical errors that could result in lower payments years out at retirement time. It also caused a flurry of illegal activity as SSN’s for children were sold as it would be 14-16 years before there would be a chance of detection.
- 2012-Aug-15 – President Obama directed the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to grant deferred action to qualified immigrant youth. Following this directive, DHS announced that U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Service (“USICS”) has begun accepting applications for DACA. This is a tougher issue as the children did no perpetrate the crime.
120326-Obama, with a Hot Mic, unbeknown to him, in Seoul, tells Russian President Medvedev to give him space until after the election in Nov. He asked for space from incoming President Vladimir Putin. Republicans were upset. But really just an example of diplomacy and politics. (cbs) .
2011
2011-Dec-14 – IRAQ Withdrawal; At the Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina. As the last of the American troops prepared to exit Iraq, he said the United States was leaving behind a “sovereign, stable and self-reliant” Iraq . ISIS soon filled the vacuum. Obama stated in the fall of 2012, “You know I say what I mean, and I mean what I say, I said I’d end the war in Iraq. I ended it.” General Mattis, General of CENTCOM stated, “Rhetoric doesn’t end conflicts.”
2011-Aug – Solyndra goes bankrupt leaving 1100 out of work. And taxpayers were obligated for $535M in loans. Not really Obama’s fault here, but there was pressure to keep the loans. America really should be producing a large percentage of it’s own solar cells. American’s need to know how to produce something… Ideally they would have tried to jump start 3-4 companies, and let two of them die.
2009
Barack's apology tour.
Much as been said about Barak Obama’s “Apology Tour”. This appears to have occurred from Apr-May/2009 at the start of his presidency.
- 2009-01-27 – “We Have Not Been Perfect”, apology to the Muslim world in an interview with Al Arabiya.
- 2009-04-02 – “Some Restoration of America’s Standing in the World”; Apology at the G-20 Summit of World Leaders.
- 2009-04-03 – “America Has Shown Arrogance”, to France and Europe at the Rhenus Sports Arena, Strasbourg, France.
- 2009-04-03 – “Sacrificing Your Values”; Apology for Guantanamo in France at the Rhenus Sports Arena, Strasbourg, France.
- 2009-04-06 – “Our Own Darker Periods in Our History”; Apology before the Turkish Parliament to the Turkish Parliament, Ankara, Turkey.
- 2009-04-16 – “The United States Has Not Pursued and Sustained Engagement with Our Neighbors”; Apology for U.S. Policy toward the Americas in an opinion editorial by President Obama: “Choosing a Better Future in the Americas,”
- 2009-04-17 – “At Times We Sought to Dictate Our Terms”; address to the Summit of the Americas opening ceremony, Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
- 2009-04-20 – “Potentially We’ve Made Some Mistakes”; In a speech to CIA employees, CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia,
- 2009-05-21 – “A Rallying Cry for Our Enemies”; Apology in a speech at the National Archives, Washington, D.C.
- 2009-05-21 – “We Went off Course”; Apology for the War on Terror at the speech at the National Archives, Washington, D.C.
2009-Jan – Barack Obama is inaugurated.
2008
2008-During a CNN debate with Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama answers a question on Immigration. If only Trump could speak so eloquently.