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“Thanks, Democrats!”

The mid-term election this year is an utter failure — a perfect example of what not to do. Our Democratic candidates have turned into a party of followers, and no one wants to follow a follower. Yet right in front of their noses is one of the best leaders that has graced the Oval Office since the birth of our government. 

Yes. Our Commander-in-Chief a magnificent leader that every Democratic candidate should be supporting and tooting their horn about. President Obama has done, or tried, more for the people of this country than most of the prior presidents.

As you have noticed, the Republican Party is now a group of very loud whiners and criers, and their tantrum-style tactics are succeeding not unlike how Chinese Water Torture succeeds. The party’s constant “drip-drip” of hate-speech and vitriol wears people down, including the Democratic candidates. Rather than stepping up, being the leaders we need, and praising all the accomplishments that our Democratic President has done, many of the Democratic candidates have chosen to hide their heads in the sand and shy away from any presidential association. This action is NOT leadership quality. People do not follow someone who has no spine.

Imagine, if every candidate had been trumpeting all the triumphs of Obama and his administration, as well as focusing on what could have been done if the Republican Party had not blocked nearly all of (or has it been all of them?) Obama’s bills and motions. I am willing to bet there wouldn’t be any problem keeping the Senate in two days and actually increase the possibility of taking the House. At least make the Republican Party sweat.

These same sniveling, spineless jellyfish are trying to feign disassociation from the President due to the drop in his approval ratings. The Catch-22 in all this is that these same people have ironically assisted in the drop of Obama’s ratings. If the Dem’s had been supportive and pro-Obama from the get-go of this mid-term election, then his approval ratings would not be suffering as they are now.

Grow a pair, Dem’s, step up to the plate, and cry out the praises of what our 44th President has done for this country. Show some pride in Obama. Explain that a vote for them is a vote for Obama rather than a vote for the lesser of two evils. Although I do not like nor agree with hate-speech tactics, the country desperately needs to know and understand what would have been possible if the Republican Party had not been so anti-Obama, only focused on making him a “one-term president.”

Below is a short list of many of Obama’s triumphs, which every Democratic candidate should be emphasizing every time they open their mouths. Naturally, there are many which are not perfect, but they’re a start. A perfect example, the Affordable Care Act. It has provided over 10 MILLION people with insurance. Although there is much room for improvement, the ACA is a thousand times better than than not having been implemented at all. The ACA gave me affordable insurance (NO subsidies as my income is well above the maximum amount) which is half of what I was quoted by the same insurance carrier prior to the implementation of the ACA. Imagine, now, if the Republican Party had been a group of mature adults and everyone sat around the “round table” and hashed out the problems with the purpose and goal in mind to fix them and improve upon the Act.

Unfortunately, this will not happen.

In closing, I would like to say, with all seriousness and no sarcasm…

…Thank you, Obama!

NOTE: While going through the list below and checking the URL’s to make sure they were all still working, I noticed that a significant percentage of these accomplishments were prior to the mid-term election in November 2010. Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate thus opening the door for all the improvements done. When Republicans regained control of the House in November 2010, all they have done is block nearly everything Obama and his administration has put forth. This is extremely important. Imagine what will happen if the Republicans gain control of the Senate in a couple days…..

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Click HERE if you would like to download a pdf list of 263 accomplishments from Obama. Sure, some you may not feel are for the positive, and there are a few I’m not fond of, but Obama has been focused on what is best overall for the people of this country and not for the corporations who want to run the country — and very nearly are.

Prevented a Bush Depression and Improved the Economy

Created a climate in which there have been 55 consecutive months of job growth, totaling more than 10 million jobs, which is roughly 10,000,000 more jobs than Bush created in eight years. This is also the longest stretch of private-sector job growth in US history.

Oversaw the creation of more jobs in 2010 alone than Bush did in eight years.

Led the country to 64 consecutive months of economic expansion, eclipsing Saint Reagan’s record, by far.

Under Obama, the stock market has reached record highs, restoring most of the economic losses felt during the Bush Recession, when it reached record lows, adjusted for inflation.

Oversaw a reduction in the dollar amount of the federal budget deficit by two-thirds since taking office.

Increased infrastructure spending after years of neglect. (However, losing the House in the 2010 mid-term squashed most of Obama’s infrastructure plans which would have put millions of people back to work.)

Initiated a $15 billion plan designed to encourage increased lending to small businesses.

Along with Congressional Democrats, provided funding to states and the Department of Homeland Security to save thousands of police and firefighter jobs from being cut during the recession.

China’s largest manufacturer, Foxconn, is building a large plant in Pennsylvania rather than a US corporation building a plant in China.

Worked with Apple Computer to get them to build more product here, and the company is building two large plants to manufacture products here; one in Texas and one in Arizona.

Ordered all federal contractors to pay a minimum wage of $10.10 per hour, leading the way to a national increase.

Signed the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act, which closed many of the loopholes that allowed companies to send jobs overseas, and avoid paying US taxes by moving money offshore.

Enhanced Civil Rights and Anti-Discrimination

Changed his mind and publicly expressed support for same-sex marriage. (This is a perfect example of being a leader. Once Obama provided his support for same-sex marriage, laws began changing all over the country in support of equality for all. If Obama had not made this statement, we would not have seen near as many states make such changes.)

Repeal of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy.

Extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.

Changed HUD rules to prohibit gender and sexual orientation-based discrimination in housing

Issued a Presidential Memorandum reaffirming the rights of gay couples to make medical decisions for each other.

Signed the Democratic-sponsored Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which restored basic protections against pay discrimination for women and other workers. This was after the GOP blocked the bill in 2007. Only 5 Republican Senators voted for the bill.

Advocated that United Nations adopt a policy supporting gay rights worldwide.

Issued an order requiring hospitals to allow visitation by same-sex couples.

Obama’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission clarified and strengthened rules prohibiting discrimination against pregnant workers.

Banned all federal contractors from discriminating against gay workers.

Reformed student loan program, to make it possible for students to refinance at a lower rate.

Thanks to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, inflation in the healthcare sector dropped to its lowest point in 50 years.

Health Care

Ushered through and signed Affordable Care Act, which expanded health insurance coverage to at least 30 million more people, ended many common insurance company practices that are often detrimental to those with coverage. He also established healthcare.gov, so that taxpayers could keep up with developments.

Two weeks after taking office, signed Democratic-sponsored Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act, which increased the number of children covered by health insurance by 4 million.

Through ACA, allowed children to be covered under their parents’ policy until they turned 26.

Through the ACA, provided tax breaks to allow 3.5 million small business to provide health insurance to their employees, and 29 million people will receive tax breaks to help them afford health insurance.

Through the ACA, expanded Medicaid to those making up to 133% of the federal poverty level.

By 2014, the Affordable Care Act dropped the number of uninsured Americans by 22.3%, which amounts to more than 10.3 million people with insurance who didn’t have it before. Only 13.9% of Americans are uninsured, a drop from 18.9% in 2013.

Strengthened the Middle Class and Families, and Fought Poverty

Worked to provide affordable, high-quality child care to working families. http://bit.ly/fNfidS

Cracked down on companies that were previously denying sick pay, vacation and health insurance, and Social Security and Medicare tax payments through abuse of the employee classification of independent contractor.

Concrete Steps to Improve The Environment and Address Our Energy Needs

Doubling federal spending on clean energy research.

Pushed through a tax credit to help people buy plug-in hybrid cars.

Got BP to cough up $20 billion to establish Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, to reduce the need for taxpayer funds to be used for compensation and clean up. (Note: it took 20 years to get $1.3 billion for the Exxon Valdez spill. )

Became the first President to simply say “Climate Change is a fact,” and set up the first federal government protocols for dealing with the impacts of climate change.

Initiated Criminal and Civil inquiries into the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Increased funding for National Parks and Forests by 10%

Obama EPA ruled that excess CO2 is a pollutant.

And Did You Know?

Despite the characterizations of some, Obama’s success rate in winning congressional votes on issues was an unprecedented 96.7% for his first year in office. Though he is often cited as superior to Obama, President Lyndon Johnson’s success rate in 1965 was only 93%.

And of course…

Despite the odds, became the first black president and then, was reelected by a wide margin.

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Hat-tip to the website, “The PCTC (Please Cut the Crap) Blog: Common Sense Progressive Thought,” that compiled all these facts and provided the source links for each fact.