I don’t think anyone, regardless of ideology, would pick the so-called stimulus. Advocates of small government say it was a waste of money based ondeeply flawed Keynesian theory. Posted on 12/20/2013 6:09:22 AM PST by Kaslin
After nearly five years in office, what’s President Obama’s most significant accomplishment?
This is a serious question, so no jokes about the Nobel Prize he received for not being Bush. And no partisan GOP answers about the 2010 election, either.
Put yourself in the position of a future historian and think about what you would put in a book to describe Obama’s biggest accomplishment.
I don’t think anyone, regardless of ideology, would pick the so-called stimulus. Advocates of small government say it was a waste of money based ondeeply flawed Keynesian theory.
Proponents of big government, by contrast, also aren’t big fans of the stimulus, though they’re dissatisfied because they think Obama should have wasted even more money.
Another potential answer is Obamacare. Libertarians and conservatives, needless to say, would say it was a significant accomplishment in the same sense that the Titanic had a significant maiden voyage.
Leftists, by contrast, obviously can’t be pleased by the way Obamacare is imploding in the short run, but they nonetheless may think that it will be worth it in the medium run because more people will be dependent on government (though they may regret their choice in the long run).
Killing Osama bin Laden is probably a good answer, but if terrorism and conflict with the Islamic world are still big issues in the future, then I suspect the achievements of Seal Team Six won’t be seen as making that much of a difference.
For what it’s worth, I think the change in public opinion may be the President’s most long-lasting and significant accomplishment. Take a look at these remarkable results just published by Gallup. A record share of the population now say that big government is the biggest threat to the nation’s future.
Wow. I’m tempted to say that this is strong evidence of the effectiveness of the Cato Institute (and there is independent data to support that position), but I feel compelled to admit that Obama also deserves a good bit of the credit.
Even more amazing, President Obama has done something that is probably beyond even the ability of Cato. He’s convinced partisan Democrats that big government is a serious threat. Look at how the numbers have dramatically changed since 2008.
What’s particularly amazing about the shift among Democrats isn’t that 56 percent now view big government as the major threat today, compared to 32 percent about five years ago. What’s shocking is that this change happened with a Democrat in the White House.
This is newsworthy because partisan Republicans and Democrats have a tendency to say things are good or bad depending on whether “their team” is in charge.
While these numbers are remarkable, I suppose it’s too early to say the growing concern about big government is the most significant accomplishment of the Obama presidency.
That being said, anxiety about big government may lead to big political changes in 2014 and 2016, and those political changes may then lead to big policy changes such as entitlement reform and tax reform.
And if that happens, then the shift in public opinion during the Obama years may turn out to be profoundly important. In other words, Obama may turn out to be another Herbert Hoover – a politician whose statist policies set the stage for dramatic changes in public policy.
And if that happens, Obama truly will deserve to be named “libertarian of the year.”
P.S. While big government is the biggest threat to the country’s future, big business and big labor can be very dangerous to liberty when they get in bed with big government.
breaking America
I think the greatest accomplishment he did for the country is that BASED upon Color he was elected, and people will for generations look to a persons IDEAS, and RECORD, and not to the rhetoric or color...that will be the milestone in the history books.
I think he DID play the race card to get elected when with slyly said, I DON’T LOOK LIKE THOSE OTHER GUYS PRINTED ON THE DOLLAR BILLS.
It is up to us to prevent him from doing so.
That arrogant pos is playing the race card all the time
He may be one of our greatest patriots.
First black president.
By far worst president.
Stop drinking the Kool-Aid
You said it.
Well we all know he’s tried in vain to usher in Gun Control. I got this in an email today and had to share:
In 1863 a Democrat shot and killed
Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States.
In 1881 a left wing radical Democrat shot James Garfield, President of the United States who later died from the wound.
In 1963 a radical left wing socialist shot and killed John F. Kennedy, President of the United States.
In 1975 a left wing radical Democrat fired shots at Gerald Ford, President of the United States.
In 1983 a registered Democrat shot and wounded Ronald Reagan, President of the United States.
In 1984 James Hubert, a disgruntled Democrat, shot and killed 22 people in a McDonalds restaurant.
In 1986 Patrick Sherrill, a disgruntled Democrat, shot and killed 15 people in an Oklahoma post office.
In 1990 James Pough, a disgruntled Democrat, shot and killed 10 people at a GMAC office.
In 1991 George Hennard, a disgruntled Democrat, shot and killed 23 people in a Luby’s cafeteria.
In 1995 James Daniel Simpson, a disgruntled Democrat, shot and killed 5 coworkers in a Texas laboratory.
In 1999 Larry Asbrook, a disgruntled Democrat, shot and killed 8 people at a church service.
In 2001 a left wing radical Democrat fired shots at the White House in a failed attempt to kill George W. Bush, President of the US.
In 2003 Douglas Williams, a disgruntled Democrat, shot and killed 7 people at a Lockheed Martin plant.
In 2007 a registered Democrat named Seung - Hui Cho, shot and killed 32 people in Virginia Tech.
In 2010 a mentally ill registered Democrat named Jared Lee Loughner, shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killed 6 others.
In 2011 a registered Democrat named James Holmes, went into a movie theater and shot and killed 12 people.
In 2012 Andrew Engeldinger, a disgruntled Democrat, shot and killed 7 people in Minneapolis.
In 2013 a registered Democrat named Adam Lanza, shot and killed 26 people in a school.
As recently as Sept 2013, an angry Democrat shot 12 at a Navy ship yard.
One could go on, but you get the point, even if the media does not. Clearly, there is a problem with Democrats and guns.
No NRA member, Tea Party member, or Republican conservatives were involved.
SOLUTION: It should be illegal for Democrats to own guns. Best idea I’ve heard to date.
Obama’s been so bad the GOP can’t even unify against him.
Roll out the Obamacare Nightmare,
The Libs are havin’ a barrel of FUN!
I get it. You may be correct. Of course he did’nt intend to be
patriotic but the end result might be the same.
This isn't actually his accomplishment, as much as it is the accomplishment of the American people to not discriminate on the basis of race, just as it was the accomplishment of the American people to not discrimination on the basis of Christian denomination in 1960.
By far worst president.
If I had to pick the worst President, I would pick Andrew Johnson; he so botched Reconstruction that the country had to live with the mess for at least the next century. At present, Obama is either #2 or #3; depending on what happens in the next three years, he may overtake James Buchanan, whose egregious errors paved the way for the Civil War--or not, though it isn't much comfort for the country to have been the third-worst rather then the second-worst.
Obama’s best protection is Joe Biden.
*to not discriminate*
Joe & Weepy. . . . . Have kept him alive. . . . .
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