I’ve been meaning to do a positive piece about the good, progressive things that are going on in Washington, because I hear so many people make comments about how they’re disappointed about one thing or another. It’s easy to miss the good news because so few people write about it. So, below, I’m going to detail a partial list of positive accomplishments.
Here’s a list of the legislation Obama has already signed into law (click on the links to learn more about the legislation):
Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, Signed: Wednesday, April 21, 2009
Omnibus Public Lands Management Act (.pdf), Signed: Monday, March 30, 2009
Small Business Act Temporary Extension, Signed: Thursday, March 19, 2009
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Signed: Tuesday, February 17, 2009
DTV Delay Act, Signed: Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act, Signed: Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Signed: Thursday, January 29, 2009
You can look at a list of presidential executive orders that Obama has issued here. Some include the establishment of the White House Office of Urban Affairs, the White House Office Of Health Reform, the White House Council on Women and Girls, and Removing Barriers to Responsible Scientific Research Involving Human Stem Cells. Of course, on his second day in office he issued orders:
* Calling for the closure of the Guantanamo detention center within one year
* Creating a Special Task Force to review detainee policy going forward
* Ensuring lawful interrogations by requiring that all interrogations of detainees in armed conflict follow the Army Field Manual interrogation guidelines
Obama recently announced a goal of stripping abstinence-only funding from the federal budget.
President Barack Obama wants to eliminate more than $100 million in spending on abstinence-only education, directing the money instead to teen pregnancy-reduction programs that don’t take the no-sex approach.
Obama brought the big guns to stick up for SEIU members in California that provide at-home nursing care:
Reporting from Sacramento — The Obama administration is threatening to rescind billions of dollars in federal stimulus money if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers do not restore wage cuts to unionized home healthcare workers approved in February as part of the budget.
Schwarzenegger’s office was advised this week by federal health officials that the wage reduction, which will save California $74 million, violates provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Failure to revoke the scheduled wage cut before it takes effect July 1 could cost California $6.8 billion in stimulus money, according to state officials.
This weekend, Obama took on the credit-card companies with fairly tough language:
Americans know that they have a responsibility to live within their means and pay what they owe. But they also have a right to not get ripped off by the sudden rate hikes, unfair penalties, and hidden fees that have become all-too common in our credit card industry. You shouldn’t have to fear that any new credit card is going to come with strings attached, nor should you need a magnifying glass and a reference book to read a credit card application. And the abuses in our credit card industry have only multiplied in the midst of this recession, when Americans can least afford to bear an extra burden.
It is past time for rules that are fair and transparent. That is why I have called for a set of new principles to reform our credit card industry. Instead of an “anything goes” approach, we need strong and reliable protections for consumers. Instead of fine print that hides the truth, we need credit card forms and statements that have plain language in plain sight, and we need to give people the tools they need to find a credit card that meets their needs. And instead of abuse that goes unpunished, we need to strengthen monitoring, enforcement, and penalties for credit card companies that take advantage of ordinary Americans.
Last week, Obama announced his plan for Curbing Tax Havens and Removing Tax Incentives For Shifting Jobs Overseas, which included:
1) Replacing Tax Advantages for Creating Jobs Overseas With Incentives to Create Them at Home
* Reforming Deferral Rules to Curb A Tax Advantage for Investing and Reinvesting Overseas
* Closing Foreign Tax Credit Loopholes
* Using Savings To Make Permanent The Tax Credit for Investing in Research and Experimentation at Home2) Getting Tough on Overseas Tax Havens
* Eliminating Loopholes for “Disappearing” Offshore Subsidiaries
* Cracking Down on the Abuse of Tax Havens by Individuals
* Devoting New Resources for IRS Enforcement to Help Close the International Tax Gap
Last Thursday, Obama met with leaders from every major Good Government group to discuss transparency in the Recovery Act. Groups represented included: Democracy 21, Public Citizen, the Sunlight Foundation, OMB Watch, and the League of Women Voters.
Sam Stein put together a list for the 100 Days milestone of 10 acheivements you haven’t heard about. It included ‘$19 billion in the stimulus package to help implement an electronic medical record system’, approval of 2,500 highway projects, the creation of a $2,500 tax credit to help offset the cost of college tuition, ‘$2 billion in stimulus cash for advanced batteries systems’, $2 billion for Byrne Grants which funds anti-gang and anti-gun task forces, and more than two million acres of wilderness put under federal protection.
This is just a partial list. Don’t forget the release of the OLC memos or the promise to strengthen and comply with the Freedom of Information Act. Don’t forget that they’re setting up to declassify info that will kneecap Dick Cheney. Finally, don’t forget about the whole new tone of our foreign policy and the emphasis on diplomacy.