The current backlash against President Obama, brought on by the attempt to pass health care reform, has obscured the legislative record of the past eight months. I took it upon myself to do a little research into the bills produced by congress and passed by the president since his inauguration, as well as the executive orders and other presidential actions that have had a major effect on millions of people.
I’m limiting this post to a list of bills signed into law. I will do a separate post on executive actions and on the specific provisions within the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which contains a laundry list of helpful legislation for the American people.
The dates given are the dates the president signed the bill into law. There’s also a link to more detailed information about the legislation. If I’ve left out anything, please add to the comment section. (This is my first post, so please excuse any format glitches.)
——————————————————————
June 24, 2009
Cash for clunkers auto industry stimulus — Car Allowance Rebate System (C.A.R.S.)
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2009/06/president-obama-signs-cash-for-clunkers-car-allowance-rebate-system.html
June 22, 2009
Bans cigarette advertising to children, brings tobacco under FDA regulation — The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009
http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2009/06/23/the-family-smoking-prevention-and-tobacco-control-act/
May 22, 2009
Credit card holders’ Bill of Rights — Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009
http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/2009/04/30/the-credit-cardholders-bill-of-rights-act-of-2009/
May 22, 2009
Reduce waste and inefficiencies in defense projects — Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009
http://www.mckennalong.com/news-advisories-2148.html
May 20, 2009
Help to homeowners whose loans are “underwater” and other consumer protections — Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009
http://dodd.senate.gov/?q=node/4981
May 20, 2009
Expand the DOJ’s authority to prosecute crimes involving mortgage fraud, commodities fraud, and fraud involving assistance provided during the recent economic crisis — Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009
http://www.lawupdates.com/summary/house_passes_pres._obama_signs_into_law_anti-financial_fraud_act/
April 21, 2009
Education awards and expanded opportunities for national service — Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act of 2009
http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/newsroom/releases_detail.asp?tbl_pr_id=1283
March 30, 2009
Largest wilderness protection and conservation legislation in a generation — Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009
http://www.blm.gov/id/st/en/prog/blm_special_areas/owyhee_initiative.html
March 30, 2009
Research initiative for persons with paralysis and spinal cord injuries — Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act of 2009
http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/03-30-2009/0004997130&EDATE=
February 4, 2009
Extends health care coverage to all children — State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
http://children.webmd.com/news/20090204/obama-signs-kids-health-insurance-bill
January 29, 2009
Pay equity – Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009
http://www.eeoc.gov/epa/ledbetter.html
Very impressive. I knew that he had done more in just a few short months than Georgie had ever dreamed of or considered doing. Personally I feel that these lists deserve to be front page news but your MSM are just so weak and misled that they have lost the skills to report good news and prefer to sit in the pockets of balmy sponsors and their respective network’s honchos.
Infuriating and very sad.
That’s why I’m putting these lists together. I plan to email them to various places, including so called progressive blogs and media that seem to have lost all perspective. And I’ll certainly post them to Huffy.
Wonderful idea nellie. Kudos to you!
Great list Nellie with and assist by AdLib.
Add to it increased transparency like divulging White House visitors. Drastically reducing the number of lobbyists and industry insiders in his administration to 10 form dozens and dozens under Bush.
Just appointing an independent AG is a huge change back to where things should be in this case.
Those things come under executive orders and other presidential actions (as does much of AdLib’s list). I’m going to do a separate post for those items. They’re also critically important. They include things like stem cell research, lifting the gag orders on clinics, and opening travel to Cuba.
To compliment your list (and dovetail with it since some of the items you list are here too), here is a list from PoliFact of campaign promises documented as already kept by Pres. Obama:
No. 15: Create a foreclosure prevention fund for homeowners
No. 33: Establish a credit card bill of rights
No. 36: Expand loan programs for small businesses
No. 40: Extend and index the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch
No. 58: Expand eligibility for State Children’s Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP)
No. 76: Expand funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners
No. 77: Increase funding to expand community based prevention programs
No. 88: Sign the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
No. 125: Direct military leaders to end war in Iraq
No. 134: Send two additional brigades to Afghanistan
No. 174: Give a speech at a major Islamic forum in the first 100 days of his administration
No. 222: Grant Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba
No. 224: Restore funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program
No. 225: Establish an Energy Partnership for the Americas
No. 239: Release presidential records
No. 241: Require new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliation or contributions.
No. 278: Remove more brush, small trees and vegetation that fuel wildfires
No. 290: Push for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors
No. 307: Create a White House Office on Urban Policy
No. 327: Support increased funding for the NEA
No. 332: Add another Space Shuttle flight
No. 334: Use the private sector to improve spaceflight
No. 345: Enhance earth mapping
No. 346: Appoint an assistant to the president for science and technology policy
No. 356: Establish special crime programs for the New Orleans area
No. 359: Rebuild schools in New Orleans
No. 371: Fund a major expansion of AmeriCorps
No. 391: Appoint the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer
No. 411: Work to overturn Ledbetter vs. Goodyear
No. 421: Appoint an American Indian policy adviser
No. 427: Ban lobbyist gifts to executive employees
No. 452: Weatherize 1 million homes per year
No. 458: Invest in all types of alternative energy
No. 459: Enact tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars
No. 480: Support high-speed rail
No. 483: Invest in public transportation
No. 498: Provide grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes
No. 503: Appoint at least one Republican to the cabinet
No. 507: Extend unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspend taxes on these benefits
No. 513: Reverse restrictions on stem cell research
At that site you can also see the status of most other campaign promises Pres. Obama made.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/
Compared to George “America Should Not Be In The Business of Nation Building” and “I’m going to return decency and honor to the White House” Bush, I’d say Pres. Obama is doing pretty damn good so far.
He’s made a strategic mistake by staying so far detached from the Health Care bill and putting bipartisanship ahead of principle but I think he gets it now.
If he delivers the knockout speech he needs to on Health Care and gets it passed with a strong public option, Dems will be re-energized about Obama again, his ratings will climb and we can finally focus on all the other important issues that have taken a backseat until Health Care reform is passed.
Great list. I will keep this. It angers me when people lose sight of how much this president has done. The backlash really ticks me off.
Me too, however, I’m getting a bit seasick from the backlash (or whiplash) coming from the Obama Admin.
Check out my new post, even as of today, they announced publicly that they are not insisting on a public plan.
Is this just a clever chess move or is the one absolute that would provide true reform on the chopping block?
At this point, I just don’t know.
I don’t think any of us will know until we have a bill. And that’s going to be a few weeks away. Congress is in control of this thing, and congress, overall, wants a public plan. So who knows.
P.S. This is what I considered “major” legislation only. It doesn’t include the innumerable administrative bills passed by the president each day that help grease the wheels of our government machinery.