President Obama is by no means a perfect president. In fact many progressives and liberals are generally critical because in their eyes he has not gone far enough. The fact is he went far enough to get change few thought possible of this supposedly inexperienced president not ready for prime time.
If that is the case, America may do well hiring more rookies. Vox’s Dylan Matthews wrote an excellent article that framed President Obama’s accomplishments pretty well.
On Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act) Matthews wrote the following.
When you consider the law in the context of 100 years of progressive activism, and in the grand scheme of American history, it starts to look less like a moderate reform and more like an epochal achievement, on the order of FDR’s passage of Social Security, or LBJ’s Great Society programs. It is, to quote Harvard political scientist Theda Skocpol, “a century-defining accomplishment in the last industrial democracy to resist using national government to ensure access to health coverage for most citizens.” FDR failed, Truman failed, Nixon failed, Carter failed, Clinton failed — and Obama succeeded. He filled in the one big remaining gap in the American welfare state when all his forerunners couldn’t.
Hat tip to DailyKOS ericlewis0 for bringing the article into the fold. In fact ericlewis0 extracted the more substantive accomplishment in column form below.
- Stimulus bill
- Dodd-Frank Act
- Executive action to curb greenhouse gas emissions
- Executive action to protect 6 million undocumented immigrants from deportation.
- Ended ban on gays and lesbians serving in the military.
- Made it easier for women and minorities to fight wage discrimination
- Cut out private sector involvement in student loans
- Hiked top income tax rate
- Reopened relations with Cuba
- Iran Nuclear deal (tentative)
- Reprofessionalized the Department of Justice
- Refashioned National Labor Relations Board
- Refashioned the Wage & Hour Division of Labor Department
- Marriage Equality for all
It is clear that while President Ronald Reagan, the God of the Right inasmuch as they would consider him a liberal today, was transformative. He made as policy the economic of selfish vogue. President Obama has strategically started the undoing this with effective redistribution through taxation. Millions are justifiably getting benefits they were robbed of because of the evil of trickle-down economics and the defects in capitalism that have created an immoral income and wealth disparity. Even with headwinds not faced by Reagan, President Obama has outperformed Reagan, the conservative hero on just about every metric.
Matthews contrasted presidents and categorized President Obama as follows.
“When you add the ACA to the reforms in the stimulus package, Dodd-Frank, and his various climate initiatives,” Pierson (UC Berkeley) says, “I don’t think there is any doubt: On domestic issues Obama is the most consequential and successful Democratic president since LBJ. It isn’t close.” And LBJ’s presidency was so marred by the Vietnam War that he declined to seek a second term — there is no similar stain on Obama’s record.
You can generally divide American presidents into two camps: the mildly good or bad but ultimately forgettable (Clinton, Carter, Taft, Harrison), and the hugely consequential for good or ill (FDR, Lincoln, Nixon, Andrew Johnson). Whether you love or hate his record, there’s no question Obama is firmly in the latter camp.
For many liberals there are some concerns. Why is this President so adamant about yet another trade deal – specifically the Trans Pacific Partnership? Why is this President so drone happy? Is the alternative more perilous?
It’s about this time that many Presidents are attempting to firm-up their legacy. President Obama, this ‘inexperienced’ president used his first two years to define his legacy. For all practical purposes most of his administration thereafter has been used to ensure the glue dried. This week the glue is shown to be mostly dry. There are a few damp spots that could still dry, specifically a deal with Iran and the closure of Guantanamo.
The framework has been laid. It is up to a real elected liberal president to complete the job.