8 years of suffering under Barack Obama
The sentence I hear most from well-meaning, conservative friends since President Trump’s election is this: “We suffered 8 years under Barack Obama.” Fair enough. Let’s take a look. The day Obama took office, the Dow closed at 7,949 points. Eight years later, the Dow had almost tripled, closing at 21,414.
555-555-55555
JHayes@RationallyThinkingOutLoud.com
The only suffering under Obama was done by racists who had their noses rubbed in the FACT that not only was a black man superior – he was VASTLY superior. And then he got RE-elected, which is why, I’m CONVINCED, we are suffering through what I have chosen to call “BLACKLASH”. They have been driven so insane by their bitterness that they want to destroy something that was originally Republican & HELPS TWENTY-FIVE MILLION AMERICANS! It was their answer to Hillarycare. It was created by the conservative Heritage Foundation before it eventually BECAME OBAMACARE.
President Obama went high to make America obtain it’s during his AWWWWWWWESOME reign-only to have jackass 45 to his lowest-having his ignorant son to take his place sleeping with the enemy-but at least it was a woman😂
Perhaps a lesson or two in English prior to your next comment would be a helpful suggestion. I have no idea what the hell you just said.
WHAT????
‘…ignorant son to take his place sleeping with the enemy-but at least it was a woman😂’
So if his son had slept with a man – that would be bad?
Are you ignorant or a troll?
Explain:
??? I’m sure I’d agree if I could understand you.
The GOP did everything they can to block ACA because of Obama’s name on it. ACA was patterned after Romneycare which the GOP. When Romney ran for President, the GOP praised Romneycare to high heavens! And then Romney lost. ACA aka Romneycare aka Obamacare, is not perfect. Just like democracy, it is still evolving. Indeed, it needs to be fixed. Fine tuned, if you will. The GOP knows that. But, they would rather repeal and replace it. This was their goal the day ACA became law. Seven long years has already passed. Yet they couldn’t come up with a coherent plan. It will be a lot easier for them to repeal it. But, replace it? I don’t think so. There are a lot of beneficial provisions in the ACA that the GOP are aware of and are irreplaceable. GOP Governors have even adopted them in their healthcare programs. So why is the GOP so obsessed with “repeal and replace”? Why not fix ACA, instead, and put Trump’s name on it? Hello!!!
You are exactly correct!
The only way that Trump supporters can understand how we feel with such a clown in office is if Obama had actually been Jar Jar Bunks. THEN, they might have some idea…
Let’s look at those one at a time:
General Motors and Chrysler were on the brink of bankruptcy, with Ford not far behind, and their failure, along with their supply chains, would have meant the loss of millions of jobs. Obama pushed through a controversial, $8o billion bailout to save the car industry. The U.S. car industry survived, started making money again, and the entire $80 billion was paid back, with interest.
Did not have much choice but handle it, the economy was collapsing.
While we remain vulnerable to lone-wolf attacks, no foreign terrorist organization has successfully executed a mass attack here since 9/11.
Kudos on that one.
Obama ordered the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden.
He got lucky
He drew down the number of troops from 180,000 in Iraq and Afghanistan to just 15,000, and increased funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Great move. Could not negotiate a Status of Forces agreement with the US puppet president of Iraq and thus left the world wide open for the evolution of ISIS
He launched a program called Opening Doors which, since 2010, has led to a 47 percent decline in the number of homeless veterans.
Good stuff
He set a record 73 straight months of private-sector job growth.
the most anemic in US history
Due to Obama’s regulatory policies, greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 12%, production of renewable energy more than doubled, and our dependence on foreign oil was cut in half.
Any of those new companies make any money??
He signed The Lilly Ledbetter Act, making it easier for women to sue employers for unequal pay.
OK good
His Omnibus Public Lands Management Act designated more than 2 million acres as wilderness, creating thousands of miles of trails and protecting over 1,000 miles of rivers.
He reduced the federal deficit from 9.8 percent of GDP in 2009 to 3.2 percent in 2016.
Again, by and large a pathetic recovery
For all the inadequacies of the Affordable Care Act, we seem to have forgotten that, before the ACA, you could be denied coverage for a pre-existing condition and kids could not stay on their parents’ policies up to age 26.
This is a real pip. The pre-existing condition part is very good but do you remember how long kids could stay on their parents policies BEFORE the ACA? 25
Obama approved a $14.5 billion system to rebuild the levees in New Orleans.
Good old AcoE. How did that work out for New Orleans after the recent storms???
All this, even as our own Mitch McConnell famously asserted that his singular mission would be to block anything President Obama tried to do.
While Obama failed on his campaign pledge to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, that prison’s population decreased from 242 to around 50.
Dumbest idea I ever heard. Islamic terrorists are trying to kill us. Where would YOU like to keep prisoners of war – Illinois?
He expanded funding for embryonic stem cell research, supporting groundbreaking advancement in areas like spinal injury treatment and cancer.
Now THERE you have a winner!! Idiot social conservatives afraid of their own shadow.
Credit card companies can no longer charge hidden fees or raise interest rates without advance notice.
Let’s see if it lasts as long as the separation of commercial and investment banks did.
Most years, Obama threw a 4th of July party for military families. He held babies, played games with children, served barbecue, and led the singing of “Happy Birthday” to his daughter Malia, who was born on July 4.
Touching
Welfare spending is down: for every 100 poor families, just 24 receive cash assistance, compared with 64 in 1996.
Have to look that one up
Obama comforted families and communities following more than a dozen mass shootings. After Sandy Hook, he said, “The majority of those who died today were children, beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old.”
Goes with the job
Yet, he never took away anyone’s guns.
Not for lack of trying
He sang Amazing Grace, spontaneously, at the altar.
Hallelujah
He was the first president since Eisenhower to serve two terms without personal or political scandal.
Sneakier
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Oh yes – BEFORE he did a damned thing! Like Leaving Iraq to ISIS
Also add the worst consumer and business confidence in decades, business and jobs leaving the country at epic rates due to over regulation and taxation. AND MY BUSINESS WENT TO HELL IN A HAND BASKET.
My opinion is unchanged. If not the worst President surely the worst since Jimmy Carter, the peanut king.
Right on!
It’s a shame that some in this forum judge a president’s sucess with the very limited compass of whether or not their business was profitable. This seems very short sighted. First of all there are many factors that affect whether a business thrives or not. Just take a trip to the mall …are all those empty spaces and closed businesses failing because of Trump? No-they are failing due to changing times, Amazon, and the rise of internet shopping. Furthermore the stock market gains would suggest that businesses were doing just fine under Obama. The gains were slow but real, and not some get rich quick scheme that wouldn’t last. When you look at Obama’s body of work he was a very successful, dignified leader whose heart was in the right place and he was respected around the world for his vision and leadership. For me it takes a little more than cutting taxes and making sure the rich get richer to make a country great!
Well said
I agree. I think someone needs to start by being honest with themselves. Obama became President as the economic disaster was exploding -we know which party sowed the seeds of the disaster- so I know that some are blaming the effects of the economic meltdown on President Obama.
Wrong on the ACA and kids – the age was not 25, it was 19 (22 if they were in college).
As for the rest of your snark, let’s chat again after Trump gets done screwing us all – and I do mean all.
You will come to regret Trump – you obviously just don’t know it yet. He is an abomination and those of us who liked Obama still acknowledge his weaknesses at the same time we celebrate his strengths. Nobody is perfect – But Trump is actively trying to tear this country apart. Pop your popcorn and watch it happen – all because idiots like you thought Obama was bad and believed the Russian interference regarding Hillary.
I will place full blame for Trump’s destruction of the USA on folks like you.
John – In typical right-wing fashion, you’ve offered NOTHING but your opinion… as if somehow it’s supposed to carry ANY weight at all! Most businesses and corporations have been seeing record profits since Obama took office. The fact that yours didn’t says a lot more about your ability to successfully run a business that it does anything else. I too am a business owner and investor and have made more money in the last 8 years that in the previous 25… including the dot.com bubble of the late 90’s. It’s disappointing that most conservatives just cannot be intellectually honest. We would all have much more respect for you if you just told the truth. ANYONE that thinks that Trump is doing a better job is either a billionaire or a moron… so which one are you?
OH AND LET US NOT FOR GET THE SCANDLES OF THE OBAMA YEARS…..
1. IRS targets Obama’s enemies: The IRS targeted conservative and pro-Israel groups prior to the 2012 election. Questions are being raised about why this occurred, who ordered it, whether there was any White House involvement and whether there was an initial effort to hide who knew about the targeting and when.
2. Benghazi: This is actually three scandals in one: The failure of administration to protect the Benghazi mission; the changes made to the talking points in order to suggest the attack was motivated by an anti-Muslim video; and the refusal of the White House to say what President Obama did the night of the attack.
3. Keeping an eye on The Associated Press: The Justice Department performed a massive cull of Associated Press reporters’ phone records as part of a leak investigation.
4. Rosengate: The Justice Department suggested that Fox News reporter James Rosen is a criminal for reporting about classified information and subsequently monitored his phones and emails.
5. Potential Holder perjury I: Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress he had never been associated with “potential prosecution” of a journalist for perjury when in fact he signed the affidavit that termed Rosen a potential criminal.
6. The ATF “Fast and Furious” scheme: Federal agencies allowed weapons from U.S. gun dealers to “walk” across the border into the hands of Mexican drug dealers. The ATF summarily lost track of scores of those weapons, many of which were used in crimes, including the December 2010 killing of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.
7. Potential Holder perjury II: Holder told Congress in May 2011 that he had just recently heard about the Fast and Furious gun walking scheme when there is evidence he may have known much earlier.
8. Sebelius demands payment: HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius solicited donations from companies HHS might regulate. The money would be used to help her sign up uninsured Americans for Obamacare.
9. The Pigford scandal: An Agriculture Department effort that started as an attempt to compensate black farmers who had been discriminated against by the agency but evolved into a gravy train delivering several billion dollars in cash to thousands of additional minority and female farmers who probably didn’t face discrimination.
There is absolutely nothing that happened during the Obama years that any conservative or far right individual can list or find through research that compares to the horrid trashing of our delicate “Democratic experiment” Trump has thrown our way. Heck everyone in Trumps world is in an “acting” position due to Trump’s fascination with dictators and authoritarian beliefs. Trump ran on law and order and is singlehandedly trying (with McConnell’s help) to blow through every legal safeguard America has. We are supposed to have 3 co-equal branches of government. Trump is merrily trying to make it one branch…just him. The Republican party has been devastated and only Trumpism remains. I wish a “normal” true Republican would primary Trump. I would happily vote for them. No matter what anyone says Trump is nowhere near being a “Ronald Regan.”
Regarding ANYTHING the democrats allegedly may have done wrong, well… take them to court, have a hundred more trials and congressional hearings if need be. The democrats will submit to a subpoena and answer questions and not scream “truth is not truth” like Trump sycophants have done.
Your response was so empty, lame, and just plain juvenile, I feel sorry for you.
I see why your business went to hell in a hand basket–look at it’s owner.
Spare me the BS about he had no choice. REPUBLICANS FOUGHT HIM AND SAID LET THEM FAIL. Seriously BIOYA.
Anemic economic growth?
YET YOU PROVIDE NO PROOF, Just the usual “I hate Obama and I don’t need any proof to make the following comments”. NONE at all. You say something? PROVE IT.
He GOT LUCKY? So dumbasses like you think he pointed to a spot on the map and said attack and he got lucky? MORON. That took a long time in the making to find the sonofbitch UBL. Unlike Bush who made of fun of looking for UBL under his desk THEN SAID HE DOESN’T THINK ABOUT HIM ANYMORE. Obama DID and listened to advisors and then with a coordinated amount of INTELLIGENCE (something you Trumpanzees prefer not to know about) and trained teams, we got him. Republicans were PISSED because it made Obama look good and you cons hated that too.
STUPID comment regarding withdrawal of troops. Typical rightwing morn. Bush had signed an agreement WITH IRAQ to pull troops out and Obama HONORED that agreement. ISIS was not because we pulled out of Iraq dumbass.
You are absolutely CLUELESS about how the rise of ISIS happened. Moronic statements like yours are damaging to the real truth.
See that is the problem with you cons…you prefer simplistic answers to complicated situations. So when it comes to having to actually research the real rise of ISIS and how it happened you morons prefer. “It’s Obama’s fault waaah”.
I’d go on but to you Trumanzee’s no facts will be enough but nothing you said has any truth to it. Not one bit.
Funny how you cons feed eaching nothingburgers and think you are getting fat.
There is a saying….”VOTE republican, it’s easier than thinking” And your postings prove it to a “T”.
Great rebuttal. I love how he conceded almost every point, gave no proof for the ones he didn’t, yet still concluded Obama was one of the “worst” presidents! Typical Fakes News brainwashing.
You know, posts like this are why I don’t participate in online discussions. The personal attacks do nothing to make the post clearer and immediately shut down communication. It’s the same on both liberal and conservative posts. We will listen only to the things we already agree with.
Bill, you are certainly right about that! I was a Judge for High School Forensics and Debate competitions, in which contestants actually had to be able to support any statements that they made. Watching people just trading insults, and loosely throwing around terms such as “Treason”, “libtard,” “fascist,”and “Socialist” (that I doubt most of them could even define) makes me feel as though I am sitting in on a Kindergarten class! How about some thoughtful and constructive ideas on what changes might be beneficial to our country? Maybe check out other countries’ educational, penal, healthcare and educational systems? Go on Quora, (www.quora.com) a forum on which one can ask questions of, and exchange ideas and opinions with people from all over the world. ALWAYS Fact Check from multiple sources, such as Snopes, Fact Check.org, Politifact, Fact Check/Media etc.
And so they say obama was was a good old boy did nothing wrong helped the people and then he goes and gives away billions of dollars to a person like Soros and just why did he do this??????????????????????
April 04, 2018
Obama USAID Used U.S. Taxpayers’ Funds to Back Soros Group’s Effort to Give Albania’s Socialist Government ‘Full Control Over Judiciary’
(Washington, DC) — Judicial Watch obtained 32 pages of records showing the Obama administration sent U.S. taxpayers’ funds to a group backed by billionaire George Soros, which used the money to fund left-wing political activities in Albania, including working with the country’s socialist government to push for highly controversial judicial “reform.” The records also detail how the Soros operation helped the State Department review grant applications from other groups for taxpayer funding.
The records were obtained in a May 26, 2017, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) after both the State Department and USAID failed to respond to March 31, 2017, FOIA requests (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (No. 1:17-cv-01012)). Judicial Watch agreed to dismiss the lawsuit after it received the documents and payment of attorneys’ fees.
The new documents show USAID funds were funneled through that agency’s Civil Society Project to back Soros’s left-wing Open Society Foundations in Albania, particularly the Soros operation efforts to give the socialist government greater control of the judiciary. USAID reportedly gave $9 million in 2016 to the “Justice for All” campaign, which is overseen by Soros’s “East West Management Institute.”
In March 2017, a group of six U.S. Senators led by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) sent a letter to then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asking that he investigate charges that the U.S. government was using taxpayer funds to assist Soros in Albania. The letter said, “Foundation Open society-Albania and its experts, with funding from USAID, have created the controversial Strategy Document for Albanian Judicial Reform. Some leaders believe that these ‘reforms’ are ultimately aimed to give the Prime Minister and left-of-center government full control over the judiciary.” In the Albanian parliament, opposition leadershave labeled the Strategy “a Soros-sponsored reform.”
and we give Israel over 10.8 million a day—alrighty then
Children could only stay on parents policies until age 22 if in school – your 25 is wrong.
You also say that comforting families goes with the job – when does the man in there now start doing that.
Sneakier to not be in any scandals – prove that one – as we have a new one every day in this reality tv world.
As far as your business going to hell in a hand basket – are you doing better now that you can pollute the streams, the air, the land?
Did he ever personally attack the Constitution as “stupid laws” or American citizens doing their jobs?
How about the fact you wanted oil companies to make money – are you happy now? The pipelines that burst on a fairly regular basis, are those good for you?
Then we have the attacks on renewable energy.
Tax cuts – and tariffs – if you can’t do math to see they cancel out for all but the very rich – then I am sure you are happy at the attacks on schools.
Puerto Rico
3-D printed guns
“It’s not a gun issue, it’s a mental health issue” so let’s cut funding for mental health programs.
You are the very embodiment of profit over people and please let those people of color know their place…..
Killing Osama Bin Laden – he got ‘lucky’ – REALLY???
HOW DARE YOU!
You disrespect the US MILITARY, who fought and died, for Obama’s ‘luck’!
Why – to try and score empty political points?
I don’t care who the President is, I REFUSE to disrespect the Military.
My family have been, and continue to be, involved in Military Service since WWI – SCREW the serving President – show some RESPECT for the Military, who has continued to defend this Country, regardless of who The President is.
Here’s and idea: try being a True American, not a Traitor.
Not one of your rebuttals makes any sense. I think you are probably one of those racist that was mentioned in this article. I get that from your response “sneakier”. Your business “went to hell in a handbasket,” are you sure that was his fault. I kind of think that could have been yours. BTW if your kids stayed on your insurance at 25 you were some kind of rare exception. Most kids were off their parents insurance at 18. College had some baring on this but most kids were off their parents insurance at 18. This man took the country from what many called a depression back into prosperity and you call it a pathetic recovery. Your responses show me a true racist. You’ll deny and even get angry, but when presented with FACTS, your answers reveal RACISM! That’s what’s pathetic.
Maybe you are bad at business.
What was your business? Spraying pesticides, dumping caustic waste…? My business was lost when the bottom fell out new construction, during Bush admin, the same time I lost my entire 401, as did tens of thousands others, plus Americans lost $ billions of social security (stolen).
Mr. Scarritt, the 2 car companies were going down, there was opposition, he got it done, that does not qualify as suffering.
“He got lucky” [on Bin Laden raid]. He examined the facts, he took advice, he gave the go ahead. There is no indication that the current resident of the WH does either of the first two. Yes, luck prevails in almost all events, but he behaved rationally and there was a good outcome, again, not suffering.
Both Iraq and Afghanistan presidents wanted to put American forces under local command and answering to local law enforcement. Both were maintaining /building their power by taking an anti-American position. There was no way to keep Americans there in large numbers.
And the real issue with ISIS was his failure buck both the GOP and the Dem base and to follow Sec’y of State Clinton’s position to strongly support the Syrian rebels. Had he helped quickly end that conflict the chaos that allowed ISIS to form and gather strength would not have occurred.
By and large, the child was dropped at age 19, or when he or she finished college or no later than age 25. Now, there are no exceptions, the child can be carried until age 26. HUGE difference.
Guantanamo Bay, damn straight, bring them to Illinois. What are/were you and the Republicans afraid of? Do you really think the terrorists are going to mount a raid on a prison in the middle of a cornfield?
I’m sorry, Obama does something good, reducing suffering among we peons, and you dismiss it by complaining that Trump’s lackeys have undone it?
Welfare spending, I will make a large bet that the vast majority of that reduction was under Clinton.
“Goes with the job” Again, not suffering. President Clinton for all his shortcomings could make people believe that he understood their pain, Obama gave some fairly eloquent expression of that empathy. Current occupant? Throws rolls of paper towels and lies about how much he has done for people.
The worst recession since the Great Depression, world-wide, came within a hair of a complete financial system freeze-up. Half of his pre-2010 attempts to improve the economy were stopped by filibuster in the Senate, and then after 2010, all of them were stopped by the Tea Party in the House.
By contrast the current occupant has seen all economic indicators follow the same trajectories that they took during Obama’s terms.
Except the deficit, that has jumped.
(Okay, the deficit is not an economic indicator, but the line was just too good to leave it out :).)
“AND MY BUSINESS WENT TO HELL IN A HAND BASKET.”
Oh, now I see what the problem is, your business went down in massive global recession that put 100s of millions out of a job and sunk 100s of 1000s if not millions of other companies and you want somebody to blame. So sorry for wasting your time, continue in your pity party.
Sounds like you suck at business and kife
Kids could stay on to 25 only. If they were full time students!! Allowing them to stay on to 26 was a huge improvement. Our son graduated college at 22 and worked several jobs that offered NO insurance so we were able to keep him on until his career was more settled.
tRump is looking better and better every day now, right? How about those Kurds? Your bias runs deep my friend. Confirmation bias look it up. It affects us all. Dump Trump in 2020. Did you comment on the Dow tripling between 2009 and 2016?
The world would be so fortunate to have leaders of superior qualities such as Barack Obama demonstrated in his 16 years as President of the USA. Thank you for listing his accomplishments. Suggest to the NY Times that once a week these accomplishments are listed on their first page to remind those Repugs of their failures to the American people because of racism.
I believe President Obama was in office 8 years not 16 as stated.
It amuses me greatly to read comments on this kind of articles. They mostly show an amazingly narrow view on politics, full of personal bias and lack of ability to evaluate objectively. Oh, and the grammar, spelling and other nuances.
I’m a Rest Of The World citizen, and from my biased perspective your First Black President (why is that even a thing?) was not perfect at all, flawed even, and made mistakes like we all do. What he did do was give the Office stature, flair, and gained respect for the USA after the Bush era (and what a joke that era was). Your #44 was a Statesman. History is now dealing with your #45, and he does make your #44 look infinitely better! Don’t take my word for it though.
I agree with you.l live in PR and all U.S. presidents have been pretty consistent in treating PR as a bothersome colony populated by second class citizens, and only good for furthering U.S. interests and as a captive market. Obama was no exception, but he did have class and statesmanship. It was a pleasure to listen to him, whereas, I have to turn off the TV when #45 comes on. I just can’t stomach the lies and the rhetoric. It saddens me that so many people support him because it paints a very sorry picture of the U.S. psyche.
Apparently you did not care for my last comment, since you deleted it! So you just be that way! Do you Enjoy watching these people tearing into each other?
As the world knows, the U.S. Republicans cannot stand a successful Democrat.
May these lying, cheating, racist, worthless Republicans wallow in their misery.