Hot Topic (8/13): Obama's "to-do list largely undone"?

[Cafe GroupAdmin]

 

Analysis: To-do list largely undone

By ANDREW TAYLOR (AP)

WASHINGTON — Midway through their first year in power, President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress can point to early signs the nation is beginning to shake off its worst recession in seven decades.

Yet there are glaring holes in their to-do list. The biggest and most difficult priorities had not been accomplished as Obama reached the six-month mark, ending the normal honeymoon period most new presidents enjoy.

While Obama and fellow Democrats did enact the $787 billion economic stimulus, much remains undone:

_Health care. An expansion of coverage for most of the estimated 48 million people without it has failed to pass either the House or Senate despite a now-expired Obama deadline.

_Global warming. His initiative squeaked through the House, opening major rifts in the party. It arrived in the Senate as a dead letter.

_Financial overhaul. Now on the back burner are a rewrite of lending and investing laws and a restructuring of government regulations. The goal is to prevent a repeat of last year's financial and credit market collapses.

Obama and the Democrats did push through a massive package of tax cuts, benefit increases and job-producing public works projects to help alleviate the recession. They expanded health coverage to millions more children, clamped down on cigarette producers and placed the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court.

They bought some good will by offering as much as $3 billion in government rebates of $3,500 and $4,500 for people to trade in old gas guzzlers for new cars or trucks that get better mileage.

Democrats are confident their health care overhaul will pass by year's end. But it has lost the aura of inevitability that surrounded it in the spring. It passed one House committee only after moderate "Blue Dog" Democrats prevailed upon House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to postpone a full House vote until the fall.

Many of them felt stung by their politically scorching votes to tackle global warming by raising people's electric bills, despite mounting evidence the Senate probably won't vote on it this year.

The House Appropriations Committee chairman, Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., acknowledged recently the early vote on global warming made it more difficult to keep pace on health care.

Polls show voters are losing faith in Obama's $787 billion economic recovery bill and increasingly worried about the government's mushrooming debt.

The president's overall approval rating is solid, in the mid-50s in most polls, including a 55 percent rating in an AP-Gfk poll conducted July 16-20. But it has slipped from the levels that for a time kept Republicans from criticizing Obama directly. Now the gloves are off, and the tone in Washington is as partisan as ever.

Pollster Andrew Kohut of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press says despite that slip, the ground hasn't fallen out from under him.

"Most importantly, the more general questions about confidence in him show no erosion," Kohut said. "People still think that he's going to fix the economy."

A president's signature accomplishment typically occurs in his first year in office, before the August congressional recess. It was tax cuts for President Ronald Reagan and President George W. Bush, and deficit reduction for President Bill Clinton though health care changes proved elusive.

Obama's top accomplishment clearly is the $787 billion measure blending federal spending and tax cuts to try to revive the economy. It was initially popular in public surveys, but 58 percent of those polled in the mid-July AP-Gfk poll said they were not confident it is helping the economy. Only 9 percent said were very confident that it is.

"We're pointed in the right direction," Obama said Friday as new unemployment figures showed a slight dip in the jobless rate, even as the economy shed 247,000 jobs in July. "We're losing jobs at less than half the rate we were when I took office."

Lawmakers will return in September for a 3 1/2-month sprint. To do: a health care bill that Obama and Democrats can claim victory on; the dozen appropriations bills that so far feature double-digit spending increases for 2010; and legislation to bolster regulation of the financial system.

The Senate, or at least some of its committees, may take a stab at global warming.

Still looming are annual budget deficits projected to stay above $600 billion in the coming decade. The eye-popping $1.8 trillion or more deficit expected for the current year is weighing down Obama's agenda — and also his standing with voters, especially with independents.

If and when he does tackle the deficit, he'll be hard-pressed to keep his promise not to raise taxes on couples making less than $250,000.

Even as Obama's popularity slips slightly and approval ratings for Democrats in Congress remain low, the GOP numbers are even worse. Chances of a political tsunami like that when Republicans swept Democrats from control of Congress in 1994 seem unlikely.

* * *

How do you feel about Obama's accomplishments during his first six months of office? 

Do you approve of his job performance? 

[stormcris]

I am not concerned at this time with his job performance, congress is a whole different situation. However, I am glad there are holes in his to do list. They need to slow down and read these bills and consider what they are doing. This whirl-wind frenzy to get all this in during such a short time frame is dangerous IMO. They are not reading what they are signing, and things are just getting rushed through. I would humbly request that they treat each of these bills as if their job depended on it because it is a lot of people lives they are affecting.

[mamaof2angles]

well considering what he was being handed from the former president, I am not suprised that he has not done all that much on his list.  Things take TIME and unforantly we live in QUICK FIX socitey. People are just going to have to put up with some things being put on the back burner and others not being worked on this year, OMG its called attempting to budget time and get the CRITCAL things done.

[sillyone]

 I didn't vote for Obama and so far I am not impress on what he has done... But it has taken us many pres and yrs to get us in the mess we are in so it may take many pres to get us out. At times it may have to get worse before it gets better.. i know a lot of ppl are saying how much worse do we have to go before it gets better.. I sure hope we do see a better, like now... I don't know how much more our family can handle this before we lose everything..

[izzybear0217]

I put other b/c I didn't vote at all. I'm not quite sure on how he is doing. Even if I don't like the job it is not my place to complain.

[sappharie]

Quoting mamaof2angles:

well considering what he was being handed from the former president, I am not suprised that he has not done all that much on his list.  Things take TIME and unforantly we live in QUICK FIX socitey. People are just going to have to put up with some things being put on the back burner and others not being worked on this year, OMG its called attempting to budget time and get the CRITCAL things done.

[Stefanie1085]

Quoting stormcris:

I am not concerned at this time with his job performance, congress is a whole different situation. However, I am glad there are holes in his to do list. They need to slow down and read these bills and consider what they are doing. This whirl-wind frenzy to get all this in during such a short time frame is dangerous IMO. They are not reading what they are signing, and things are just getting rushed through. I would humbly request that they treat each of these bills as if their job depended on it because it is a lot of people lives they are affecting.

Look! It can happen! We agree!!!!!

[tericared]

Quoting Stefanie1085:

Quoting stormcris:

I am not concerned at this time with his job performance, congress is a whole different situation. However, I am glad there are holes in his to do list. They need to slow down and read these bills and consider what they are doing. This whirl-wind frenzy to get all this in during such a short time frame is dangerous IMO. They are not reading what they are signing, and things are just getting rushed through. I would humbly request that they treat each of these bills as if their job depended on it because it is a lot of people lives they are affecting.

Look! It can happen! We agree!!!!!

this

[athenax3]

I couldn't vote, there is no option for "I voted for him and I don't know how I feel about what he's done yet" lol...I am concerned about the changes and proposals on the table, I am hopefully optimistic but sensibly concerned as well- I would very much like to see some progress in the areas such as the economy and healthcare, however, am not blind to the fact that we are on a precipice that should be navigated carefully. So, I voted for him, I don't regret it, and can't really evaluate at this point if he will go down in history as a great president, a passing one, or a total cluster- I just don't know yet.

[julie67]

I didn't vote for him.  He is a socialist.  He and the congress (both parties) are ruining this country.  I am grateful that the bad economy hasn't caused us too much trouble yet.  Though his stimulus package has put this country so deep in debt my great grandkids will be paying off the debt. 

[BunnyEars69]

Quoting mamaof2angles:

well considering what he was being handed from the former president, I am not suprised that he has not done all that much on his list.  Things take TIME and unforantly we live in QUICK FIX socitey. People are just going to have to put up with some things being put on the back burner and others not being worked on this year, OMG its called attempting to budget time and get the CRITCAL things done.

Ah ah ah. Since Obama has declared that he and his stimulus etc. have already started pullung this country forward (yeah right) people need to stop pulling Bush in as an excuse. That argument's getting pretty old.