# Assess Obama's first-year performance **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 15, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067 "2010-01-15T14:18:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/81 "2010-01-17T02:16:12Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Pretty much with **YogSosoth** here. > > [snip] > > From my center left position I am pleased indeed and see the displeasure of both political poles as a very strong endorsement that he is getting it just right! I expect to give him an A at term’s end if his prep work delivers as I expect it will. Couldn’t have said it better myself. Agreed right down the line. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/82 "2010-01-17T02:20:34Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > I think most of the folks disappointed in Obama are people who, during the Bush years, became accustomed to seeing the presidency as a place where a smug, dick-swinging ideologue could waltz in with a half-percent victory margin and treat it like an agenda-pushing mandate from Jesus himself. They felt that after suffering 8 years of that, it was their turn to pull some serious Che Guevara triumphalism. It’s wrong and it’s a bullshit cycle and I think Obama is wise not to play into that. Bingo! I think you’ve nailed why there’s a vocal vitriolic contingent among the far left who’ve been savaging President Obama almost as fiercely as the right-wingnuts. Hell, you’ve got a far-leftie like Jane Hamsher openly allying with Grover “Drown-the-government-in-a-bathtub” Norquist to attack him! ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/83 "2010-01-17T06:21:35Z")
> [@Daedelus](#): > > Looking at his administration, there are so many ex-Goldman Sachs people (Geithner, being the obvious example) swirling around and shuttling stimulus money towards those who caused the collapse in the first place. Huh? Geithner isn’t ex-Goldman Sachs. In fact I struggle to think of a senior person in Obama’s economics team who is ex-Goldman. And the stimulus money isn’t going to the banks; you are probably thinking of TARP. Obama just recently announced a fee on big banks to ensure that all the TARP money is paid back. Does that sound like someone who under the thumb of Wall Street? I expect the administration to get a lot tougher on banks in the run-up to the election. This is one area where good politics and good policy coincide. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/84 "2010-01-17T06:41:21Z")
> [@PrettyVacant](#): > > [‘Even Charles Manson could beat him now’](http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2010/jan/16/gary-younge-obama-first-year) > > It’s a comedy club at the local asylum, not a democractic nation. Thanks for posting this. I have to say that it’s very sloppily edited, though; for one thing, Prestonsburg is in Eastern KY, not Western. For another, the alcohol-free “bar” in question is called Bar None, not All Bar None. That’s right, the concept of Bar None was to be a sports bar in every respect except without any booze. I say “was” because it’s now closed. They say they’re just looking for a new location, but the location is hardly the biggest problem with the concept. It only lasted a few months. The owner was a 26-year-old former stripper who is one of the local teabaggers-in-chief, so Bar None was the epicenter of Lexington’s Tea Party movement. The owner made a name for herself by throwing a sustained shitfit against Obama’s address to schoolchildren, going so far as to organize a get-together at Gattitown for all the kids whose parents were pulling them out that day. She’s a joke, and she and her band of teabaggers have been made fun of before in the big media (namely a WSJ story a few weeks back). But she doesn’t seem to get that she’s being made fun of. ---
**Author:** ![Daedelus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Daedelus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daedelus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/85 "2010-01-17T15:46:29Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > Huh? Geithner isn’t ex-Goldman Sachs. In fact I struggle to think of a senior person in Obama’s economics team who is ex-Goldman. And the stimulus money isn’t going to the banks; you are probably thinking of TARP. Obama just recently announced a fee on big banks to ensure that all the TARP money is paid back. Does that sound like someone who under the thumb of Wall Street? I expect the administration to get a lot tougher on banks in the run-up to the election. This is one area where good politics and good policy coincide. I am mistaken; the connection of Geithner with Goldman Sachs is via Bob Rubin, and I was thinking about TARP. From what I understand, Mark Patterson was an ex-GS lobbyist who is now Geithner’s Chief of Staff, Gary Gensler, a former GS partner, now heads the CFTC, and Robert Hormats (ex-GS Vice Chairman) is the Undersecretary of Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs. Those are the most obvious connections between the Obama administration and Goldman Sachs. Regardless, I am not saying that Obama is merely a puppet of Wall Street. I just feel that his pledge towards transparency in government dealings, is falling flat in both the healthcare reform discussions and the incredibly shady dealings with Goldman Sachs and the entire AIG fiasco. I believe there is still time for him to live up to creating a more transparent administration, but he has not gotten off to a good start thus far. ---
**Author:** ![Honesty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f04885/32.png) [@Honesty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honesty)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/86 "2010-01-17T15:56:54Z")
Compared to Bush, I’d give him an A++. Otherwise, I’d him a solid B. ---
**Author:** ![Defero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@Defero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defero)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/87 "2010-01-18T11:01:05Z")
F. But there was no surprise there. He was an obvious fraud. He was pimped into office and he’ll be cashed out by the very same pimps pretty soon too. I don’t call him Obama. I prefer Bush-III. Except Bush was honest about being war-mongering crook. So as much as I hate Bush (and boy do I ever) I hate Obama slightly more. The Dem and Rep parties are unsalvageable. Time to pursue a ruthless policy of issue-based anti-incumbency, peace activism, bank protests and above all voting exclusively for independents where neither the Rep or Dem is getting the idea that the constituents outrank the stupid party. The party system has had it and it’s becoming pretty easy for everyone to see this. Pull out. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/88 "2010-01-18T12:28:58Z")
Well, I was about to criticize you for going way over the top, **Defero** , but you seem to be an equal opportunity cynic, so who am I to bitch about it. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/89 "2010-01-18T19:00:28Z")
**Gun Control** - A+ \*He signed a very pro-gun rights bill that the Brady bunch hated! \* **Gitmo is still open** - A+ _It’s been a year libbys. Why aren’t you screaming bloody murder over this?_ **Dems are losing Governorships & possibly a Senate seat** - A+ **Health Care** - Incomplete. _His attempt to socialize this country and ruin whats left of the economy has been turned into a watered down muck that even many of those who support national health care don’t like._ **Economy** - F— _National health care will be the final death blow to a bad economy he made worse. Tax increases are sure to come, the stimulus bill does nothing but increase our deficit and national debt, gas is almost $1.00 more than it was when he took office, unemployment is higher, and soon inflation will wipe out any value our dollar has left._ ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/90 "2010-01-18T19:44:13Z")
> [@Defero](#): > > . . . and he’ll be cashed out by the very same pimps pretty soon too. . . . You know something we don’t? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/91 "2010-01-19T02:02:30Z")
BTW: [Obama’s first-year approval ratings closely track Reagan’s, and for largely the same reasons.](http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_01/021968.php) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/92 "2010-01-19T10:43:44Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > **Gitmo is still open** - A+ _It’s been a year libbys. Why aren’t you screaming bloody murder over this?_ My name’s not “libby” but: Mostly at the moment I’m blaming the Congresspeople of either party who have been screaming like little girls at the thought of the Gitmo prisoners being moved to maximum security prisons in their states, as if the inmates are going to burst through the prison walls like radioactive supervillains and rampage across the countryside. Which is not to say that I’m excusing Obama entirely but geez Louise, these people are such wusses. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/93 "2010-01-19T16:36:32Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > My name’s not “libby” but: > > Mostly at the moment I’m blaming the Congresspeople of either party who have been screaming like little girls at the thought of the Gitmo prisoners being moved to maximum security prisons in their states, as if the inmates are going to burst through the prison walls like radioactive supervillains and rampage across the countryside. Which is not to say that I’m excusing Obama entirely but geez Louise, these people are such wusses. That is a cop out. When Bush was POTUS all I heard from the left was wailing and nashing about it, even after the Dems took control of Congress. Now that he’s gone so is the howling. Maybe an occasional OP-ED piece in a newspaper. As far as excusing B.O., when one is in charge everything is ones fault. It’s been an entire year, the place is still open. Where is all the screaming? I gave him an A+ for this because it exposes him and the left as phonies. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/94 "2010-01-19T17:08:38Z")
Ah yes. He is exposed. I expect him to step down in disgrace any day now. As a simple measure, when [this](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/177/close-the-guantanamo-bay-detention-center/) this goes back to “Stalled” (or worse, “Promise Broken”) you’ll bloody well hear from me. I want the place shut down, shut down properly, and without further dawdling. And it’s nice to hear members of the right-wing admitting that > [@](#): > > when one is in charge everything is ones fault again, after eight years of blaming the opposition for all that was wrong in America. I mean, not that I’m accusing them of being “phonies” or anything… ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/95 "2010-01-19T17:40:44Z")
I am quite _disappointed_ with Obama. However, when objectively assessing something, I’m not sure that expectations should play into it; after all, teachers don’t grade students on their achievement relative to their intelligence. Or, at least, they’re not supposed to. When I look at Obama in a vacuum - ie., without the background of the election campaign - I’m quite happy with him. He hasn’t accomplished much legislatively, but he’s saying most of the right things and he’s pushed through a healthcare bill that sucks but is still an improvement. He hasn’t invaded anyone, which is a drastic and welcome change from GWB; our global image appears to have made a rather nice recovery. He also probably saved us from a second Great Depression. I suppose that’s good, too. > [@](#): > > And what could Obama have done to warrant a D+ in gun control? I don’t recall him saying a thing about it. Well, he hasn’t issued firearms to third-graders, which any _decent_ President would have done. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/96 "2010-01-19T18:24:13Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > As a simple measure, when [this](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/177/close-the-guantanamo-bay-detention-center/) this goes back to “Stalled” (or worse, “Promise Broken”) you’ll bloody well hear from me. I want the place shut down, shut down properly, and without further dawdling. Complete [crock of shit](http://www.jest4u.com/images/image_c1.jpg). The Democrats run everything right now. Obama could have the place closed this afternoon. The fact of the matter is it’s no longer such a burning issue because it’s no longer something they can bitch about Bush about. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/97 "2010-01-19T19:36:26Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > The Democrats run everything right now. Obama could . . . **The second does not follow from the first,** however the second sentence is completed. We don’t have a parliamentary system here. Congress is still an independent branch and every member looks to how his decisions will play in his own next election, and some Democrats are Blue Dogs, conservative in their actual or purported ideology. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/98 "2010-01-19T20:24:46Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > **The second does not follow from the first,** however the second sentence is completed. We don’t have a parliamentary system here. Congress is still an independent branch and every member looks to how his decisions will play in his own next election, and some Democrats are Blue Dogs, conservative in their actual or purported ideology. Don’t hand me this gobbledygook. It’s crap and you know it. Congress could close it by allocating funds to move the detainees. Obama can order it closed by executive order. Neither is happening. These were the two entities that were bitching about it when Bush was President and now that it’s their ballgame it’s not as important to them. If it were the place would be closed by now. Why don’t you have some honor and admit this? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/99 "2010-01-19T21:03:11Z")
Right, because closing Gitmo _before_ you figure out where to put the prisoners would be a _brilliant_ idea. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067/100 "2010-01-19T21:07:41Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Right, because closing Gitmo _before_ you figure out where to put the prisoners would be a _brilliant_ idea. :rolleyes: It’s been an entire year. He/they have had an entire year. Why won’t your side be honest about this issue? Now that it’s not in Bush’s/Republicans hands it’s just not as important of an issue anymore, is it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assess-obamas-first-year-performance/525067.md?page=6)