Dear President Obama,
You seem to be getting some heat right now for all of the things you have done wrong, haven't done yet, or haven't done quickly enough. So, i'd like to just give a quick Thank-You for everything that you & your administration HAVE done since 01/21/09 that I know would not have been done if things had gone differently on 11/04/08. A quick THANKS for the following:
* Starting to close down GITMO
* Allowing Caskets to be photographed when the return from Iraq with family approval
* Working on getting us the heck out of IRAQ by next year
* Not having us embroiled in a new war with Bomb-Bomb-Bomb-Bomb-Bombing Iran or N. Korea
* Filling the SCOTUS seat with Sotomayor instead of a 6th Right Wing Justice
* Having the guts to attempt to fix the financial welfare of our country without giving more tax cuts to the wealthy & corporations
* Not drilling in ANWAR as a knee jerk reaction
* Pushing like heck to actually get a new Healthcare plan for this country
* Getting Partner Benefits for GLBT Government Employees
* Getting Netanyahu to accepted a two state solution
* Inspiring the youth of Iran to revolutionize their own Government (still pending),
* Hezbollah lost in Lebanon,
* Getting France to rejoin NATO,
* Getting Russia to agree to cut nuclear weapons
* Lifting the ban on Stem Cell Research
* Banning Torture / Waterboarding
* Protecting Wilderness Areas
* Actually "talking" with dictators he doesn't like (Chavez) to negotiate
* High Speed Rail Plan
* Lily-Ledbetter Act,
* Supporting clean and alternative energy sources,
* Assisting the Auto companies, and keeping thousands of Union employees employed
* Increased funding for sciences and education
* Struck fear into Pirates Everywhere
* Created a foreclosure prevention fund for homeowners
* Established a credit card "bill of rights"
* Opened the White House as "The People's House" with Jazz Nights, Poetry Readings, etc.
* Expanded loan programs for small businesses
* Extended and index the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch
* Expanded eligibility for State Children's Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP)
* Expanded funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners
* Gave a speech at a major Islamic forum in the first 100 days of his administration
* Granted Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba
* Restored funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program
* Released presidential records
* Required new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliation or contributions
* Pushed for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors
* Created a White House Office on Urban Policy.
* Increased funding for the NEA
* Appointed an assistant to the president for science and technology policy
* Funded a major expansion of AmeriCorps
* Banned lobbyist gifts to executive employees
* Investment in all types of alternative energy
* Enacted tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars
* Provided grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes
* Extended unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspend taxes on these benefits
* Appointed more than 60 openly LGBT persons to positions in the executive branch
* Got his daughters a puppy & an awesome new swingset!
If you can do all of this (and much more that i've forgotten, i'm sure) in under 5 months.. I can only imagine what you will be able to do in the next 7 years, 7 months.
DU Friends - please post all other POSITIVE Obama initiatives below that i've forgotton... there are enough negative threads going right now - we can keep this one positive, right?
*** Edited to add a slew of great additions from many great DUers Posts Below ***
