Because of no right to own firearms...

[RetiredGySgt]

LOL 35 years I guess Obama and Clinton don't count right?

So you use that as an excuse to allow Trump to get away with completely wrecking America? Making America Great Again does NOT mean tearing it down to the scrap heap.

But I guess you can stomach anything these days.

Funny from where I sit he is HELPING America and doing a much better job then Obama ever did.

I know you don't see it this way but Obama was blocked on doing some really good things by the "NO" of Congress. He could have done a lot better if Congress wasn't placing so many roadblocks. He tried to use Executive Orders as much as he could to counter it but there is only so much President can do with an Executive order. The last 2 years of his office, Washington DC, more or less, could have hung out a sign, "Gone to Lunch" and no one would have noticed.

And yet the first 2 years he accomplished NOTHING.

With a hostile Congress a President can do very little.

The first 2 years Obama had a DEMOCRATIC CONTROLLED CONGRESS.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

LOL 35 years I guess Obama and Clinton don't count right?

So you use that as an excuse to allow Trump to get away with completely wrecking America? Making America Great Again does NOT mean tearing it down to the scrap heap.

But I guess you can stomach anything these days.

Funny from where I sit he is HELPING America and doing a much better job then Obama ever did.

I know you don't see it this way but Obama was blocked on doing some really good things by the "NO" of Congress. He could have done a lot better if Congress wasn't placing so many roadblocks. He tried to use Executive Orders as much as he could to counter it but there is only so much President can do with an Executive order. The last 2 years of his office, Washington DC, more or less, could have hung out a sign, "Gone to Lunch" and no one would have noticed.

And yet the first 2 years he accomplished NOTHING.

With a hostile Congress a President can do very little.

Explain How Bush got stuff done his last 2 years when the dems controlled the House? Or during 2 of his first 4 years when the dems controlled the senate?

 

[francoHFW]

Actually when someone runs unopposed that just means no one else wants the position. You should talk to your friends and neighbors maybe one of them can run. My problem is that the incumbent keeps winning, he is more a democrat then a republican.

That sounds good if it were practiced. But the last time I attended a local Republican Convention, the "Ushers" had lists. Those on the list were seated in the front where they could be called on to be heard. It was the who's who list of Republicans. Everyone else was open seated well beyond the ability to be heard or noticed and were ignored. I ended up in the nose bleed section even though I got there early and there were many seats near the front 15 rows that were open. I noticed that one of the legal candidates was not far from where I sat. He was sent to the nose bleed section. What they have shown is that it does no good to run an opposition candidate since that candidate will not get the support of the ones that are in the first 15 rows and those are the only ones that count. I found that as highly disrespectful to our Political process. The thing was rigged from the start so that only the candidates pre chose had any chance at all. In fact, chance had nothing to do with it. The game is rigged.

The GOP is a lying thieving rigged mess, totally bought by the NRA defense corporations Big Oil big Pharma you name it. We need Democrats in control desperately so we can catch back up 2 the rest of the modern world. Healthcare living wage daycare parental leave vacations cheap college and and Training infrastructure. After 35 years of GOP dominance we are a mess.

LOL 35 years I guess Obama and Clinton don't count right?

They were unable to get past GOP obstruction... We still have tax rates and policy very very similar to Reagan's, just worse now. Our middle class and infrastructure continue to go 2 hell, super duper... The GOP does not believe that elections matter, unless they get elected. They need 51 votes to cut taxes and services Etc, Democrats need 60 votes to pass reform.

Well except Obama had 2 years of Democrats controlling both houses.

He had 60 votes in the senate for about 40 days in session and all spent on ACA. You are duped again. As if he passed anything and you think his policies did something he couldn't pass Anything...

 

[francoHFW]

So you use that as an excuse to allow Trump to get away with completely wrecking America? Making America Great Again does NOT mean tearing it down to the scrap heap.

But I guess you can stomach anything these days.

Funny from where I sit he is HELPING America and doing a much better job then Obama ever did.

I know you don't see it this way but Obama was blocked on doing some really good things by the "NO" of Congress. He could have done a lot better if Congress wasn't placing so many roadblocks. He tried to use Executive Orders as much as he could to counter it but there is only so much President can do with an Executive order. The last 2 years of his office, Washington DC, more or less, could have hung out a sign, "Gone to Lunch" and no one would have noticed.

And yet the first 2 years he accomplished NOTHING.

With a hostile Congress a President can do very little.

Explain How Bush got stuff done his last 2 years when the dems controlled the House? Or during 2 of his first 4 years when the dems controlled the senate?

Like what? The whole country was screwed by that time... After he allowed 9/11 through sheer incompetence he had the votes to screw things up totally Iraq real estate bubble.... GOP is a brainwashed mess.

 

[francoHFW]

So you use that as an excuse to allow Trump to get away with completely wrecking America? Making America Great Again does NOT mean tearing it down to the scrap heap.

But I guess you can stomach anything these days.

Funny from where I sit he is HELPING America and doing a much better job then Obama ever did.

I know you don't see it this way but Obama was blocked on doing some really good things by the "NO" of Congress. He could have done a lot better if Congress wasn't placing so many roadblocks. He tried to use Executive Orders as much as he could to counter it but there is only so much President can do with an Executive order. The last 2 years of his office, Washington DC, more or less, could have hung out a sign, "Gone to Lunch" and no one would have noticed.

And yet the first 2 years he accomplished NOTHING.

With a hostile Congress a President can do very little.

The first 2 years Obama had a DEMOCRATIC CONTROLLED CONGRESS.

B******* he did super duper... He had control from seven seven 2009 until February 4th 2010. Altogether 40 some days with 60 votes in the Senate. You are duped again totally as always...

 

[francoHFW]

Actually when someone runs unopposed that just means no one else wants the position. You should talk to your friends and neighbors maybe one of them can run. My problem is that the incumbent keeps winning, he is more a democrat then a republican.

That sounds good if it were practiced. But the last time I attended a local Republican Convention, the "Ushers" had lists. Those on the list were seated in the front where they could be called on to be heard. It was the who's who list of Republicans. Everyone else was open seated well beyond the ability to be heard or noticed and were ignored. I ended up in the nose bleed section even though I got there early and there were many seats near the front 15 rows that were open. I noticed that one of the legal candidates was not far from where I sat. He was sent to the nose bleed section. What they have shown is that it does no good to run an opposition candidate since that candidate will not get the support of the ones that are in the first 15 rows and those are the only ones that count. I found that as highly disrespectful to our Political process. The thing was rigged from the start so that only the candidates pre chose had any chance at all. In fact, chance had nothing to do with it. The game is rigged.

The GOP is a lying thieving rigged mess, totally bought by the NRA defense corporations Big Oil big Pharma you name it. We need Democrats in control desperately so we can catch back up 2 the rest of the modern world. Healthcare living wage daycare parental leave vacations cheap college and and Training infrastructure. After 35 years of GOP dominance we are a mess.

LOL 35 years I guess Obama and Clinton don't count right?

They were unable to get past GOP obstruction... We still have tax rates and policy very very similar to Reagan's, just worse now. Our middle class and infrastructure continue to go 2 hell, super duper... The GOP does not believe that elections matter, unless they get elected. They need 51 votes to cut taxes and services Etc, Democrats need 60 votes to pass reform.

Well except Obama had 2 years of Democrats controlling both houses.

40 days in session... Al Franken until Scott Brown minus Ted Kennedy being on his Deathbed...

 

[francoHFW]

And all the respected media and newspapers around the world who all think the GOP is an insane disgrace..

I think you need to seperate the term GOP from Trumpites. I am closer to a GOP than a Dem but am closer to a Dem than a Trumpite. Most Americans have a bit of both the GOP and the Dem in them. But the problem is, the fringe of both have seized control. While the Trumpites seem to control the GOP right now out of fear, we have a chance to change to Dem party to what it once was but even that is looking a bit slim. When the Bernies have as much power in the Dems or more as the the Jim Wests or the Bidens then the Dems are broke and controlled by the extremists on the left much like the GOP is currently controlled by the extremists on the right. I may have to join the Dems just to have an input into their presidential picks since there really is a choice there.

But in the GOP, there is no choice at all. In fact, looking at the GOP ballot I was sent, almost all of it was Unopposed for almost all offices. That's not a choice at all. Someone or only a few people have made a decision that only those are the ones that should be our "Representatives". In fact, they don't represent the Public, they represent only the few. When that changes then I might come back to the GOP.

Actually when someone runs unopposed that just means no one else wants the position. You should talk to your friends and neighbors maybe one of them can run. My problem is that the incumbent keeps winning, he is more a democrat then a republican.

That sounds good if it were practiced. But the last time I attended a local Republican Convention, the "Ushers" had lists. Those on the list were seated in the front where they could be called on to be heard. It was the who's who list of Republicans. Everyone else was open seated well beyond the ability to be heard or noticed and were ignored. I ended up in the nose bleed section even though I got there early and there were many seats near the front 15 rows that were open. I noticed that one of the legal candidates was not far from where I sat. He was sent to the nose bleed section. What they have shown is that it does no good to run an opposition candidate since that candidate will not get the support of the ones that are in the first 15 rows and those are the only ones that count. I found that as highly disrespectful to our Political process. The thing was rigged from the start so that only the candidates pre chose had any chance at all. In fact, chance had nothing to do with it. The game is rigged.

The GOP is a lying thieving rigged mess, totally bought by the NRA defense corporations Big Oil big Pharma you name it. We need Democrats in control desperately so we can catch back up 2 the rest of the modern world. Healthcare living wage daycare parental leave vacations cheap college and and Training infrastructure. After 35 years of GOP dominance we are a mess.

Hilary took control of the DNC and kept bernie from winning the primary....so spare us you BS about the NRA....you doofus.

More b*******propaganda super duper. DNC was no power and emails are total BS. Bernie said she won fair and square. The GOP is bought.

 

[francoHFW]

I think you need to seperate the term GOP from Trumpites. I am closer to a GOP than a Dem but am closer to a Dem than a Trumpite. Most Americans have a bit of both the GOP and the Dem in them. But the problem is, the fringe of both have seized control. While the Trumpites seem to control the GOP right now out of fear, we have a chance to change to Dem party to what it once was but even that is looking a bit slim. When the Bernies have as much power in the Dems or more as the the Jim Wests or the Bidens then the Dems are broke and controlled by the extremists on the left much like the GOP is currently controlled by the extremists on the right. I may have to join the Dems just to have an input into their presidential picks since there really is a choice there.

But in the GOP, there is no choice at all. In fact, looking at the GOP ballot I was sent, almost all of it was Unopposed for almost all offices. That's not a choice at all. Someone or only a few people have made a decision that only those are the ones that should be our "Representatives". In fact, they don't represent the Public, they represent only the few. When that changes then I might come back to the GOP.

Actually when someone runs unopposed that just means no one else wants the position. You should talk to your friends and neighbors maybe one of them can run. My problem is that the incumbent keeps winning, he is more a democrat then a republican.

That sounds good if it were practiced. But the last time I attended a local Republican Convention, the "Ushers" had lists. Those on the list were seated in the front where they could be called on to be heard. It was the who's who list of Republicans. Everyone else was open seated well beyond the ability to be heard or noticed and were ignored. I ended up in the nose bleed section even though I got there early and there were many seats near the front 15 rows that were open. I noticed that one of the legal candidates was not far from where I sat. He was sent to the nose bleed section. What they have shown is that it does no good to run an opposition candidate since that candidate will not get the support of the ones that are in the first 15 rows and those are the only ones that count. I found that as highly disrespectful to our Political process. The thing was rigged from the start so that only the candidates pre chose had any chance at all. In fact, chance had nothing to do with it. The game is rigged.

The GOP is a lying thieving rigged mess, totally bought by the NRA defense corporations Big Oil big Pharma you name it. We need Democrats in control desperately so we can catch back up 2 the rest of the modern world. Healthcare living wage daycare parental leave vacations cheap college and and Training infrastructure. After 35 years of GOP dominance we are a mess.

Hilary took control of the DNC and kept bernie from winning the primary....so spare us you BS about the NRA....you doofus.

And where in my comment did I say anything about the NRA. Damn, rabbit, you need to go back to hiding under that bed. The fact remains that the Bernie Dems are as bad as the Trumpets are and about as damaging. Hillary isn't any better. It's all a friggin mess right now and has been for the last couple of decades or more. And you keep making excuses for one side while excusing the other. No wonder it's so fouled up.

I suggest we try the Democrats sometime LOL. And not in the middle Of a corrupt GOP world depression...

 

[francoHFW]

The GOP is a lying thieving rigged mess, totally bought by the NRA defense corporations Big Oil big Pharma you name it. We need Democrats in control desperately so we can catch back up 2 the rest of the modern world. Healthcare living wage daycare parental leave vacations cheap college and and Training infrastructure. After 35 years of GOP dominance we are a mess.

LOL 35 years I guess Obama and Clinton don't count right?

So you use that as an excuse to allow Trump to get away with completely wrecking America? Making America Great Again does NOT mean tearing it down to the scrap heap.

But I guess you can stomach anything these days.

Funny from where I sit he is HELPING America and doing a much better job then Obama ever did.

I know you don't see it this way but Obama was blocked on doing some really good things by the "NO" of Congress. He could have done a lot better if Congress wasn't placing so many roadblocks. He tried to use Executive Orders as much as he could to counter it but there is only so much President can do with an Executive order. The last 2 years of his office, Washington DC, more or less, could have hung out a sign, "Gone to Lunch" and no one would have noticed.

And yet the first 2 years he accomplished NOTHING.

ACA the best social reform in 50 years that's all. And then total GOP obstruction duh. And you dupes think he had control for two years lol! You have another planet of crap... Open Borders Lock her up violence total garbage.

 

[francoHFW]

Actually when someone runs unopposed that just means no one else wants the position. You should talk to your friends and neighbors maybe one of them can run. My problem is that the incumbent keeps winning, he is more a democrat then a republican.

That sounds good if it were practiced. But the last time I attended a local Republican Convention, the "Ushers" had lists. Those on the list were seated in the front where they could be called on to be heard. It was the who's who list of Republicans. Everyone else was open seated well beyond the ability to be heard or noticed and were ignored. I ended up in the nose bleed section even though I got there early and there were many seats near the front 15 rows that were open. I noticed that one of the legal candidates was not far from where I sat. He was sent to the nose bleed section. What they have shown is that it does no good to run an opposition candidate since that candidate will not get the support of the ones that are in the first 15 rows and those are the only ones that count. I found that as highly disrespectful to our Political process. The thing was rigged from the start so that only the candidates pre chose had any chance at all. In fact, chance had nothing to do with it. The game is rigged.

The GOP is a lying thieving rigged mess, totally bought by the NRA defense corporations Big Oil big Pharma you name it. We need Democrats in control desperately so we can catch back up 2 the rest of the modern world. Healthcare living wage daycare parental leave vacations cheap college and and Training infrastructure. After 35 years of GOP dominance we are a mess.

LOL 35 years I guess Obama and Clinton don't count right?

So you use that as an excuse to allow Trump to get away with completely wrecking America? Making America Great Again does NOT mean tearing it down to the scrap heap.

But I guess you can stomach anything these days.

Funny from where I sit he is HELPING America and doing a much better job then Obama ever did.

You sit on an imaginary planet... Not to worry the greedy idiot GOP billionaires will be fine.

 

[WheelieAddict]

The 2nd amendment isn't going away and it shouldn't for many good reasons. That said we need to try our best to stop crazies from having access. Part of that is tougher gun laws. Jared Loughner was denied ammo because he looked and acted like a psycho then simply walked somewhere else and bought a shitload. With his obvious mental issues he should never have had access to buy a gun. I don't know how you can prevent that without having tougher laws for gun ownership.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Really?

And you know that how oh, Great Karnak?

Tell you what put your hands on my wife and see if I'm willing. And you assume to know a lot about me don't you? You don't know shit about me

More than you will ever know, you sill rabbit.

You know people who want to call other names should learn to spell so they don't sound fucking stupid

Silly Rabbit, guns are for people that are willing to kill.

And I told you I have no problem pulling the trigger in self defense or the defense of my wife or my dogs I just won't defend you or anyone else who chooses to trust government law enforcement with their safety

It's a bit contradictory that you want to impose your will on people but you think people who respect your choices are Nazis

Pulling the trigger is not willing to kill. Unless you are willing to kill, guns are for killers, you silly rabbit.

Yeah Ok I'll shoot someone but I'm not willing to kill

Moron.

 

[Skull Pilot]

If it has been your job to make us feel unsafe, you have done a remarkable job. Lately, though, you have fallen down on that job as more and more people are no longer falling for the fear factor you keep peddling.
'
'

If you feel unsafe that's your problem and none of my doing

And it's you people that are selling fear that anyone who owns a gun will one day snap and go on a shooting spree

I have never said a gun is anything but a tool. A gun has no mysterious powers to make people kill others or commit suicide

The fact is in this country the cops have no obligation to come to your aid so you have to decide if you want the option to protect yourself or wait for the government to come to your aid.

I have also been quite clear on my stance on concealed carry.

My weapon is for self defense and the defense of my wife not defense of the public.

If you choose not to be armed I respect that choice hence I will not draw my weapon to defend anyone who chooses not to carry because it is your choice to trust government law enforcement with your personal safety. I will call the cops and an ambulance for you and hope your choice will not see you end up dead

Oh, how Gorebels of you.

Hey I'm not a cop and I don't want to be a cop

What's the matter anyway you don't like it when I respect your choices?

Well, Cupcake, you have already shown you have no respect for my opinion or me, for that matter. I think that a couple here know the answer that I would give but I want to hear your answer. Have you EVER killed anyone? If so, how did that make you feel? Expand on the answer. I have a album in my head I sometimes review at night.

So how many times have you had to ferociously defended your wife?
Zero?
Be afraid, be very afraid

Let me guess you're going to be the moron who says on the news. "Things like this don't happen here" when referring to your wife getting raped or murdered

Like I said it only takes once

Tell me do you just let your homeowner insurance lapse because your house won't burn down today?

 

[2aguy]

The 2nd amendment isn't going away and it shouldn't for many good reasons. That said we need to try our best to stop crazies from having access. Part of that is tougher gun laws. Jared Loughner was denied ammo because he looked and acted like a psycho then simply walked somewhere else and bought a shitload. With his obvious mental issues he should never have had access to buy a gun. I don't know how you can prevent that without having tougher laws for gun ownership.

We already have tough gun laws...what we don't have is long prison sentences for actual, repeat gun offenders. And mass shooters...? They kill fewer than 75 people a year .... if that......they aren't the issue. The gun free killing zone that democrats have created is the issue.

 

[Rustic]

That sounds good if it were practiced. But the last time I attended a local Republican Convention, the "Ushers" had lists. Those on the list were seated in the front where they could be called on to be heard. It was the who's who list of Republicans. Everyone else was open seated well beyond the ability to be heard or noticed and were ignored. I ended up in the nose bleed section even though I got there early and there were many seats near the front 15 rows that were open. I noticed that one of the legal candidates was not far from where I sat. He was sent to the nose bleed section. What they have shown is that it does no good to run an opposition candidate since that candidate will not get the support of the ones that are in the first 15 rows and those are the only ones that count. I found that as highly disrespectful to our Political process. The thing was rigged from the start so that only the candidates pre chose had any chance at all. In fact, chance had nothing to do with it. The game is rigged.

The GOP is a lying thieving rigged mess, totally bought by the NRA defense corporations Big Oil big Pharma you name it. We need Democrats in control desperately so we can catch back up 2 the rest of the modern world. Healthcare living wage daycare parental leave vacations cheap college and and Training infrastructure. After 35 years of GOP dominance we are a mess.

The Dems are no less broken. How else could the top 2 candidates be Bernie and Hillary. I support people like Jim Webb who has a long list of accomplishments and no skeletons in his closet. But people like him that would have cleaned Trumps clock never got the chance. The Dems are no less rigged.

Hillary was ruined by 25 years of total b*******character assassination that went nowhere in the real world, another GOP disgrace. Hillary would have cleaned his clock too except for Republican James Comey's Big Mouth and the Russians hacking emails that in actuality meant nothing. All of our gabfest media are a disgrace 2--no news just babbling, just not as bad as the GOP propaganda--Garbage and Hate...

Lol
Only a fool would support a Clinton

Then there were over 3 million more fools that supported Hillary than the fools that supported Trump. I guess you fall into the Trumpet fools category.

The electoral college determines presidential elections

 

[PoliticalChic]

The 2nd amendment isn't going away and it shouldn't for many good reasons. That said we need to try our best to stop crazies from having access. Part of that is tougher gun laws. Jared Loughner was denied ammo because he looked and acted like a psycho then simply walked somewhere else and bought a shitload. With his obvious mental issues he should never have had access to buy a gun. I don't know how you can prevent that without having tougher laws for gun ownership.

We already have tough gun laws...what we don't have is long prison sentences for actual, repeat gun offenders. And mass shooters...? They kill fewer than 75 people a year .... if that......they aren't the issue. The gun free killing zone that democrats have created is the issue.

Since even the Democrats/Liberals know that criminals will obey no laws, their real motto is "Disarm The Public."


The discussion should not be about guns, but why they fight to disarm the law abiding.

 

[dannyboys]

The LIBs/MSM have been promising a "Blue Wave" is going to turn out to be a very severe case of 'Blue-Balls'.

 

[Rustic]

The 2nd amendment isn't going away and it shouldn't for many good reasons. That said we need to try our best to stop crazies from having access. Part of that is tougher gun laws. Jared Loughner was denied ammo because he looked and acted like a psycho then simply walked somewhere else and bought a shitload. With his obvious mental issues he should never have had access to buy a gun. I don't know how you can prevent that without having tougher laws for gun ownership.

Your frivolous gun laws will stop no violence... in fact the opposite is true
Trump will be able to nominate two more justices for the Supreme Court to sure up the Second Amendment even more

 

[MordechaiGoodbud]

The cesspool that is Western Europe...

Home Secretary Sajid Javid reveals how he was a moped mugging victim as he launches battle to beat villains

Less than one in 20 street robberies are being solved by police | Daily Mail Online

The crime rate in Europe is much lower than it is in the U.S.

 

[Daryl Hunt]

So you use that as an excuse to allow Trump to get away with completely wrecking America? Making America Great Again does NOT mean tearing it down to the scrap heap.

But I guess you can stomach anything these days.

Funny from where I sit he is HELPING America and doing a much better job then Obama ever did.

I know you don't see it this way but Obama was blocked on doing some really good things by the "NO" of Congress. He could have done a lot better if Congress wasn't placing so many roadblocks. He tried to use Executive Orders as much as he could to counter it but there is only so much President can do with an Executive order. The last 2 years of his office, Washington DC, more or less, could have hung out a sign, "Gone to Lunch" and no one would have noticed.

And yet the first 2 years he accomplished NOTHING.

With a hostile Congress a President can do very little.

The first 2 years Obama had a DEMOCRATIC CONTROLLED CONGRESS.

Obama was sworn in in 2009. In 2010 The House was the Republicans while the Senate was the Dems.

During 2009 Obamacare was passed.

At no time did the Dems have a super majority. They should have for the first two years but it never worked out that way. Due to sickness, the delay of Franken and then Kennedy's Death, it kept them from the magic number of 59. At 58, the Reps did a lot of fillabustering.

Here is a partial list. His first two years is from 2009 to 2011. He had control of both houses for less than one year and NEVER had a super majority during that time. So the list was mostly from the first two years. After that, the party of "NO" went to work. and "NO" they did every chance they could.

1. Passed Health Care Reform: After five presidents over a century failed to create universal health insurance, signed the Affordable Care Act (2010). It will cover 32 million uninsured Americans beginning in 2014 and mandates a suite of experimental measures to cut health care cost growth, the number one cause of America’s long-term fiscal problems.

2. Passed the Stimulus: Signed $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009 to spur economic growth amid greatest recession since the Great Depression. Weeks after stimulus went into effect, unemployment claims began to subside. Twelve months later, the private sector began producing more jobs than it was losing, and it has continued to do so for twenty-three straight months, creating a total of nearly 3.7 million new private-sector jobs.

3. Passed Wall Street Reform: Signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (2010) to re-regulate the financial sector after its practices caused the Great Recession. The new law tightens capital requirements on large banks and other financial institutions, requires derivatives to be sold on clearinghouses and exchanges, mandates that large banks provide “living wills” to avoid chaotic bankruptcies, limits their ability to trade with customers’ money for their own profit, and creates the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (now headed by Richard Cordray) to crack down on abusive lending products and companies.

4. Ended the War in Iraq: Ordered all U.S. military forces out of the country. Last troops left on December 18, 2011.

5. Began Drawdown of War in Afghanistan: From a peak of 101,000 troops in June 2011, U.S. forces are now down to 91,000, with 23,000 slated to leave by the end of summer 2012. According to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, the combat mission there will be over by next year.

6. Eliminated Osama bin laden: In 2011, ordered special forces raid of secret compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in which the terrorist leader was killed and a trove of al-Qaeda documents was discovered.

7. Turned Around U.S. Auto Industry: In 2009, injected $62 billion in federal money (on top of $13.4 billion in loans from the Bush administration) into ailing GM and Chrysler in return for equity stakes and agreements for massive restructuring. Since bottoming out in 2009, the auto industry has added more than 100,000 jobs. In 2011, the Big Three automakers all gained market share for the first time in two decades. The government expects to lose $16 billion of its investment, less if the price of the GM stock it still owns increases.

8. Recapitalized Banks: In the midst of financial crisis, approved controversial Treasury Department plan to lure private capital into the country’s largest banks via “stress tests” of their balance sheets and a public-private fund to buy their “toxic” assets. Got banks back on their feet at essentially zero cost to the government.

9. Repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”: Ended 1990s-era restriction and formalized new policy allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military for the first time.

10. Toppled Moammar Gaddafi: In March 2011, joined a coalition of European and Arab governments in military action, including air power and naval blockade, against Gaddafi regime to defend Libyan civilians and support rebel troops. Gaddafi’s forty-two-year rule ended when the dictator was overthrown and killed by rebels on October 20, 2011. No American lives were lost.

11. Told Mubarak to Go: On February 1, 2011, publicly called on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to accept reform or step down, thus weakening the dictator’s position and putting America on the right side of the Arab Spring. Mubarak ended thirty-year rule when overthrown on February 11.

12. Reversed Bush Torture Policies: Two days after taking office, nullified Bush-era rulings that had allowed detainees in U.S. custody to undergo certain “enhanced” interrogation techniques considered inhumane under the Geneva Conventions. Also released the secret Bush legal rulings supporting the use of these techniques.

13. Improved America’s Image Abroad: With new policies, diplomacy, and rhetoric, reversed a sharp decline in world opinion toward the U.S. (and the corresponding loss of “soft power”) during the Bush years. From 2008 to 2011, favorable opinion toward the United States rose in ten of fifteen countries surveyed by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, with an average increase of 26 percent.

14. Kicked Banks Out of Federal Student Loan Program, Expanded Pell Grant Spending: As part of the 2010 health care reform bill, signed measure ending the wasteful decades-old practice of subsidizing banks to provide college loans. Starting July 2010 all students began getting their federal student loans directly from the federal government. Treasury will save $67 billion over ten years, $36 billion of which will go to expanding Pell Grants to lower-income students.

15. Created Race to the Top: With funds from stimulus, started $4.35 billion program of competitive grants to encourage and reward states for education reform.

16. Boosted Fuel Efficiency Standards: Released new fuel efficiency standards in 2011 that will nearly double the fuel economy for cars and trucks by 2025.

17. Coordinated International Response to Financial Crisis: To keep world economy out of recession in 2009 and 2010, helped secure from G-20 nations more than $500 billion for the IMF to provide lines of credit and other support to emerging market countries, which kept them liquid and avoided crises with their currencies.

18. Passed Mini Stimuli: To help families hurt by the recession and spur the economy as stimulus spending declined, signed series of measures (July 22, 2010; December 17, 2010; December 23, 2011) to extend unemployment insurance and cut payroll taxes.

19. Began Asia “Pivot”: In 2011, reoriented American military and diplomatic priorities and focus from the Middle East and Europe to the Asian-Pacific region. Executed multipronged strategy of positively engaging China while reasserting U.S. leadership in the region by increasing American military presence and crafting new commercial, diplomatic, and military alliances with neighboring countries made uncomfortable by recent Chinese behavior.

20. Increased Support for Veterans: With so many soldiers coming home from Iraq and Iran with serious physical and mental health problems, yet facing long waits for services, increased 2010 Department of Veterans Affairs budget by 16 percent and 2011 budget by 10 percent. Also signed new GI bill offering $78 billion in tuition assistance over a decade, and provided multiple tax credits to encourage businesses to hire veterans.

21. Tightened Sanctions on Iran: In effort to deter Iran’s nuclear program, signed Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act (2010) to punish firms and individuals who aid Iran’s petroleum sector. In late 2011 and early 2012, coordinated with other major Western powers to impose sanctions aimed at Iran’s banks and with Japan, South Korea, and China to shift their oil purchases away from Iran.

22. Created Conditions to Begin Closing Dirtiest Power Plants: New EPA restrictions on mercury and toxic pollution, issued in December 2011, likely to lead to the closing of between sixty-eight and 231 of the nation’s oldest and dirtiest coal-fired power plants. Estimated cost to utilities: at least $11 billion by 2016. Estimated health benefits: $59 billion to $140 billion. Will also significantly reduce carbon emissions and, with other regulations, comprises what’s been called Obama’s “stealth climate policy.”

23. Passed Credit Card Reforms: Signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act (2009), which prohibits credit card companies from raising rates without advance notification, mandates a grace period on interest rate increases, and strictly limits overdraft and other fees.

24. Eliminated Catch-22 in Pay Equality Laws: Signed Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009, giving women who are paid less than men for the same work the right to sue their employers after they find out about the discrimination, even if that discrimination happened years ago. Under previous law, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the statute of limitations on such suits ran out 180 days after the alleged discrimination occurred, even if the victims never knew about it.

25. Protected Two Liberal Seats on the U.S. Supreme Court: Nominated and obtained confirmation for Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic and third woman to serve, in 2009; and Elena Kagan, the fourth woman to serve, in 2010. They replaced David Souter and John Paul Stevens, respectively.

26. Improved Food Safety System: In 2011, signed FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, which boosts the Food and Drug Administration’s budget by $1.4 billion and expands its regulatory responsibilities to include increasing number of food inspections, issuing direct food recalls, and reviewing the current food safety practices of countries importing products into America.

27. Achieved New START Treaty: Signed with Russia (2010) and won ratification in Congress (2011) of treaty that limits each country to 1,550 strategic warheads (down from 2,200) and 700 launchers (down from more than 1,400), and reestablished and strengthened a monitoring and transparency program that had lapsed in 2009, through which each country can monitor the other.

28. Expanded National Service: Signed Serve America Act in 2009, which authorized a tripling of the size of AmeriCorps. Program grew 13 percent to 85,000 members across the country by 2012, when new House GOP majority refused to appropriate more funds for further expansion.

29. Expanded Wilderness and Watershed Protection: Signed Omnibus Public Lands Management Act (2009), which designated more than 2 million acres as wilderness, created thousands of miles of recreational and historic trails, and protected more than 1,000 miles of rivers.

30. Gave the FDA Power to Regulate Tobacco: Signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (2009). Nine years in the making and long resisted by the tobacco industry, the law mandates that tobacco manufacturers disclose all ingredients, obtain FDA approval for new tobacco products, and expand the size and prominence of cigarette warning labels, and bans the sale of misleadingly labeled “light” cigarette brands and tobacco sponsorship of entertainment events.

31. Pushed Federal Agencies to Be Green Leaders: Issued executive order in 2009 requiring all federal agencies to make plans to soften their environmental impacts by 2020. Goals include 30 percent reduction in fleet gasoline use, 26 percent boost in water efficiency, and sustainability requirements for 95 percent of all federal contracts. Because federal government is the country’s single biggest purchaser of goods and services, likely to have ripple effects throughout the economy for years to come.

32. Passed Fair Sentencing Act: Signed 2010 legislation that reduces sentencing disparity between crack versus powder cocaine possessionfrom100 to1 to 18 to1.

33. Trimmed and Reoriented Missile Defense: Cut the Reagan-era “Star Wars” missile defense budget, saving $1.4 billion in 2010, and canceled plans to station antiballistic missile systems in Poland and the Czech Republic in favor of sea-based defense plan focused on Iran and North Korea.

34. Began Post-Post-9/11 Military Builddown: After winning agreement from congressional Republicans and Democrats in summer 2011 budget deal to reduce projected defense spending by $450 billion, proposed new DoD budget this year with cuts of that size and a new national defense strategy that would shrink ground forces from 570,000 to 490,000 over the next ten years while increasing programs in intelligence gathering and cyberwarfare.

35. Let Space Shuttle Die and Killed Planned Moon Mission: Allowed the expensive ($1 billion per launch), badly designed, dangerous shuttle program to make its final launch on July 8, 2011. Cut off funding for even more bloated and problem-plagued Bush-era Constellation program to build moon base in favor of support for private-sector low-earth orbit ventures, research on new rocket technologies for long-distance manned flight missions, and unmanned space exploration, including the largest interplanetary rover ever launched, which will investigate Mars’s potential to support life.

36. Invested Heavily in Renewable Technology: As part of the 2009 stimulus, invested $90 billion, more than any previous administration, in research on smart grids, energy efficiency, electric cars, renewable electricity generation, cleaner coal, and biofuels.

37. Crafting Next-Generation School Tests: Devoted $330 million in stimulus money to pay two consortia of states and universities to create competing versions of new K-12 student performance tests based on latest psychometric research. New tests could transform the learning environment in vast majority of public school classrooms beginning in 2014.

38. Cracked Down on Bad For-Profit Colleges: In effort to fight predatory practices of some for-profit colleges, Department of Education issued “gainful employment” regulations in 2011 cutting off commercially focused schools from federal student aid funding if more than 35 percent of former students aren’t paying off their loans and/or if the average former student spends more than 12 percent of his or her total earnings servicing student loans.

39. Improved School Nutrition: In coordination with Michelle Obama, signed Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act in 2010 mandating $4.5 billion spending boost and higher nutritional and health standards for school lunches. New rules based on the law, released in January, double the amount of fruits and vegetables and require only whole grains in food served to students.

40. Expanded Hate Crimes Protections: Signed Hate Crimes Prevention Act (2009), which expands existing hate crime protections to include crimes based on a victim’s sexual orientation, gender, or disability, in addition to race, color, religion, or national origin.

41. Avoided Scandal: As of November 2011, served longer than any president in decades without a scandal, as measured by the appearance of the word “scandal” (or lack thereof) on the front page of the Washington Post.

42. Brokered Agreement for Speedy Compensation to Victims of Gulf Oil Spill: Though lacking statutory power to compel British Petroleum to act, used moral authority of his office to convince oil company to agree in 2010 to a $20 billion fund to compensate victims of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico; $6.5 billion already paid out without lawsuits. By comparison, it took nearly two decades for plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez Alaska oil spill case to receive $1.3 billion.

43. Created Recovery.gov: Web site run by independent board of inspectors general looking for fraud and abuse in stimulus spending, provides public with detailed information on every contract funded by $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Thanks partly to this transparency, board has uncovered very little fraud, and Web site has become national model: “The stimulus has done more to promote transparency at almost all levels of government than any piece of legislation in recent memory,” reports Governing magazine.

44. Pushed Broadband Coverage: Proposed and obtained in 2011 Federal Communications Commission approval for a shift of $8 billion in subsidies away from landlines and toward broadband Internet for lower-income rural families.

45. Expanded Health Coverage for Children: Signed 2009 Children’s Health Insurance Authorization Act, which allows the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to cover health care for 4 million more children, paid for by a tax increase on tobacco products.

46. Recognized the Dangers of Carbon Dioxide: In 2009, EPA declared carbon dioxide a pollutant, allowing the agency to regulate its production.

47. Expanded Stem Cell Research: In 2009, eliminated the Bush-era restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, which shows promise in treating spinal injuries, among many other areas.

48. Provided Payment to Wronged Minority Farmers: In 2009, signed Claims Resolution Act, which provided $4.6 billion in funding for a legal settlement with black and Native American farmers who the government cheated out of loans and natural resource royalties in years past.

49. Helped South Sudan Declare Independence: Helped South Sudan Declare Independence: Appointed two envoys to Sudan and personally attended a special UN meeting on the area. Through U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice, helped negotiate a peaceful split in 2011.

50. Killed the F-22: In 2009, ended further purchases of Lockheed Martin single-seat, twin-engine, fighter aircraft, which cost $358 million apiece. Though the military had 187 built, the plane has never flown a single combat mission. Eliminating it saved $4 billion.