The Obama Legacy Deserves To Be Destroyed
It’s strange that a president who had such a transformative effect on our national discourse will leave such a negligible policy legacy. But Barack Obama, whose imperial term changed the way Americans interact and in some ways paved the way for the Trump presidency, is now watching his much-celebrated and mythologized two-term legacy be systematically demolished. This, in many ways, tells us that American governance still works.
When Donald Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the Iran deal, he could do so without much difficulty because the agreement hinged on presidential fiat rather than national consensus. But Obama’s appeasement of Iran was only one in a string of unilateral norm-busting projects that deserve to be dismantled.
You’ll remember the panic-stricken coverage we endured when the United States withdrew from the faux international Paris climate agreement last year. It’s true that the deal was oversold as a matter of policy (by both parties for political reasons), but it was symbolic of how the Obama administration concerned itself more with international consensus than domestic compromise. We know this because the president would never have won ratification for a deal remotely similar to the one he entered — nor did he attempt to. Obama, despite the hagiographic framing of his scandal-ridden presidency, had about as much interest in genuine concession as his political adversaries did.
Obama allies at home incessantly pointed to poll numbers as a justification for his executive abuse, mostly because the only polls that really mattered, congressional elections, continued to soundly reject his agenda. The defense rested on the idea that the Republican-led Congress had failed to “do its job” and act on issues Democrats had deemed vital. But Congress, of course, “acted” all the time by checking the president’s ambitions. This was not only well within its purview, but in many ways the reason the electorate handed the GOP Congress in the first place.
Even if you substantively supported Obama’s actions — as I do on legalizing the children of illegal immigrants, for instance — the reasoning that girded these supposedly temporary executive decisions was soon revealed to be abusive. In 2012, Obama told the nation that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which by any standard was a stand-in for legislation, was merely “ a temporary stopgap measure .” By the time Trump overturned it, the measure represented “ who we are as a people .” That’s because by “temporary” Obama always meant “until Democrats can make it permanent through the courts or electoral victories.”
Even when implementing laws Congress could pass, Obama and his allies relied on coercing participation through mandates. But when it became inconvenient, they began arbitrarily implementing parts laws. Administrative discretion became administrative abuse. When the president decided the Obamacare’s employment mandate was politically inconvenient, for example, he simply skipped it for expediency.
be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law unless liberals tell us it’s super important.” Yet, shortly after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration realized it would need more subsidies and asked for an appropriation from Congress.
When Congress, then teeming with politicians elected on the promise of overturning Obamacare, refused, Obama Treasury Secretary Jack Lew ordered the administration to begin making “cost-sharing reduction” payments anyway without any public legal justification. Obama created a $7 billion per year appropriation for insurance companies participating in the supposedly self-sufficient and competitive state health-care exchanges. Not a single liberal pundit that I know of concerned himself with this norm-breaking.
One federal court found the Obamacare subsidy unconstitutional, and the case is working towards the Supreme Court. But, then again, no administration in memory was stopped more often by courts , often by unanimous SCOTUS decisions. Whether it was ignoring the Senate in making appointments or claiming to rewrite employment law, Obama tried to function without constitutional restraints.
None of this even breaches the unprecedented regulatory regime Obama built to circumvent the legislative branch. Even The New York Times characterized his governing as “ bureaucratic bulldozing, rather than legislative transparency. ”
Fortunately, it is also unsustainable. As we now see, this kind of governance not only corrodes constitutional order but undermines stability as new presidents busy themselves overturning the executive actions and international agreements enacted by the previous administration. While most Americans aren’t sticklers for process, it seems they are content with destroying legacies built on the rickety foundation of unilateralism for political reasons.
That’s fine, too. It means that if Trump engages in similar legislative efforts through the executive office, his agenda will also be dismantled one day. That’s as it should be.
http://thefederalist.com/2018/05/10/obama-legacy-deserves-destroyed/
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“Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not, and a way that Bill Clinton did not.”.....Barak Obama. In that quote Obama is praising a President which would be his ideological opposite. He praised him for doing something he intended to do - change the trajectory of America, but instead of to the right, Obama would change it to the left. The American people didn't want it and voted accordingly. Obama would later say "I've got a pen, and I've got a phone. And I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions". Those kind of "administrative actions would be easy to strike down later.
What is left of the Obama legacy?
A deeply flawed & expensive national heath care system.
A lot of leftwing activist judges, which caused Harry Reid to change the Senate Rules to confirm.
A foreign policy malaise
A very divided nation
Very good article that speaks to the truth. The Republicans were doing their job by attempting to stop this worthless stooge from destroying the country. Absolutely the worst president in the history of the USA. Sorry for the excessive spacing,
Yes, the Trump administration is nothing but a long list of cartoonish moments while President Obama's legacy will be written by actual Presidential historians who recognize the incredible job he did in the face of such bigotry and hate. The fact that some dumb shits refuse to acknowledge anything positive about Obama's two terms says far more about them than it does about him.
You're right, he was a horrible monster that destroyed 'Murica'. /sarc
You must really miss losing 800k jobs a month, the DJIA at historical lows, two wars, negative GDP numbers, a housing market destroyed and our centuries old allies hating us, etc... Ah yes, the good ole days, right?
You mean when he followed US law and asked congress to authorize military action which Republicans then sabotaged and refused to act because they are weak little female dogs begging for money from the RNC for their re-elections instead of caring what the American people or President want? And Mitch had already told them “If he (Obama) was for it, we had to be against it.”.
The President postponed the vote on a military strike against Syria, in order to give diplomacy a chance. (Because the Russians had intervened in Syria, striking an agreement to have chemical weapons removed?)
Re: your top image (Pew Research) --
The same is posted by Occupy Democrats and another anti-Trump group on Facebook. They all carry the date of July 15, 2017. It seems that they are comparing an unknown time during Obama's 2 terms to Trump's 6.5 month of his first term. See Google Images for proof.
"Obama Seeks Approval by Congress for Strike in Syria"
It was only after Congress refused to do their job that the President decided to give Russia a chance at diplomacy.
If that is so, they weren't really historians, but leftists like Obama
His legacy.....dividing the American people!
That's going under the flawed assumption that he left any meaningful legacy to begin with, because he did not!
The only people that were divided were those who had a problem with race. Apparently, some people cannot imagine the POTUS being anything but a white man.
Those same people are opposed to the idea of making all races equal, unlikes conservatives who only offer lip service to equal rights for all races, creeds and sex or gender.
Your opinion that we don't agree on.
Still playing the race card?
The GOP did what they were elected to do after democrats passed there horrendous ACA. 500 million to develop a failed web page? Everything about the ACA has been a failure.
Obama's only legacy will be as the shittiest President ever and that will far out shine his color.
please explain exactly what he did in detail to divide the American people.
Well.......for one thing he's black! How much more divisive than that could he possibly be? No wonder white conservatives are trying to burn his legacy to the ground.
I'd also like to know what the right thinks trump is doing to unite us. He is way more divisive and his rhetoric is disgusting.
And that is the only reason he was elected. No experience or qualifications. Even Sarah Palin had been a mayor and then a governor.
The left doesn't see it because it is there norm, Group Identity politics is a way to a means for them. Everyone has to have a label.
A1 answer, yes he did!
That would be the deeply race based Obama and his DA.
Apparently, some people cannot imagine the POTUS being anything but a white man.
Charging race again? White America elected him!
Those same people are opposed to the idea of making all races equal,
You have equality, what you want is special rights for minorities. Enough of you and your attempt to turn this into a race debate, Stick to the article or I'll ask the moderator to remove your comments
How about commenting on every minute racial incident that took place in his 8 years in office
Enough of your calling everyone a racist! Either stay on topic or take it elswhere
There must be a reason why white conservatives are so delighted to see the racist King of the Birthers trying to destroy Obama's legacy.
Far more qualified than the moron in the WH now. What were HIS qualifications? How to file for bankruptcy?
Since when it is a Senator worthless taker?
What qualifications does Trump have? He racist trust fund baby who is an expert in bankruptcy, sexual assault, and lying.
The PPACA (Obamacare) was not about healthcare, it was about health insurance. And, it didn't make the health insurance plans affordable and did not put in any sort of limits on nor did it standardize actual health care costs. In fact, it did the opposite to health insurance than what was promised. Affordable plans that had $0 deductibles and low OOP were scrapped in favor of plans that covered everything even if it wasn't applicable to a person, for instance pregnancy coverage for a male, and had deductibles of $1500 or more and $5000 OOP and premiums that started at several hundred dollars a month. How is that affordable?
The ACA is NOT insurance...
The GOP refused to work on bipartisan solutions to those problems preferring to try to repeal the law 60+ times instead of addressing the high costs of coverage, treatment and medications.
We could have had single payer or the public option but the GOP preferred to organize a 9-month temper tantrum with TEAparty mobs instead of being rational adults due to the fact that they were more interested in protecting their corporate donors instead of working for what is in the best interest of the American people.
ACA has allowed my daughter to purchase insurance that cannot deny coverage of the treatment she needs to stay alive because of pre-existing condition. YOU may not think that is important but I do.
That seems to be overall attitude of most of the Conservatives, even those who profess to being devout Christians. Their attitude is, "I've got mine, and to Hell with everyone else." By eliminating the pre-condition acceptance that will put children like your Daughter and many others who might die without the care they need, they could care less. Their attitude is if it is not one of their own children, who cares?
Like the selfish, egotistical Trump they worship, with his "Me, Me Me," attitude, they have no real interest in the sufferings of others. If they did, they would not agree to do away with that acceptance.
I am sure that Jesus is so proud of their inhumane attitude toward the sick and those in need of the care required to allow them to live.
What is in the best interests of the American people is to charge a modest amount for things like bandages, drugs, etc. instead of each hospital making up different cost schemes for each of those things. It shouldn't cost tens of thousands of dollars for a hospital room every night, when hotels can provide a room for just a $139 a night. Let me tell you about just one of the bills I saw back in 2002 or 2003 when I was going through cancer, if I remember it correctly. The room and board was $30,000 a night, and I alternated between being there 3 days or 5 days every 3 weeks depending on the type of chemotherapy being administered. And, that is only what is now called Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College, PA and used to be Centre Community Hospital. The other hospital I stayed at and had several surgeries at during that period was Hershey Medical Center, where I had my left knee replaced and the tumor removed in Oct 2002 along with having a hematoma removed along with a permanent Vena Cava filter inserted. Then, in Oct 2003, I had my leg amputated at Hershey Medical Center. Luckily, at the time, I was on my family's farm's insurance which had a $0 deductible. I have since been reduced to using Medicare for my insurance needs; because I cannot afford any other insurance due to only being on Social Security and unemployment with my wife being unable to work.
The ONLY thing that was good about the PPACA is the rule about pre-existing conditions. But, you do not eliminate plans to create a complete coverage plan. What needed to be done is that all plans from all insurers should be offered in EVERY state, not just one state or another. That is common sense, not single payer.
Well said. I love the cons argument that they don't want to pay for someone else's health care, but are more than willing to watch their president burn through 100 million a year playing golf.
Why didn't the democrats do that? They had a super majority when they passed it
Millions now feel that way. How about controlling the costs?
"If you like your health-care plan, you'll be able to keep your health-care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what."
"If you like your current insurance, you keep that insurance. Period, end of story."
"And if you like your insurance plan, you will keep it. No one will be able to take that away from you. It hasn't happened yet. It won't happen in the future."
Ah yes, it seems like yesterday.
Funny how it wasn't until we "passed it beyond the fog of controversy" that we saw what really was in the PPACA and it turned out to be everything the opponents to the PPACA said was in the plan not what supporters like Pelosi, Reid, Obama, et al said was in the PPACA. No one except those that got on Medicaid actually saved money on the approved plans, 80% of people lost the insurance and doctors they had and liked, and costs skyrocketed. The basic idea of insurance is that to get a good affordable plan, you go with coverage that works for your personal situation that has a low premium, low deductible, and low OOP. Most people shoot for a $500 or less deductible on their car insurance as that means the insurance actually covers something, the same holds true with health insurance. A $1500 deductible means that the insurance doesn't kick in for months for most people and that the insurance companies are getting almost all profit until your insurance kicks in. Until the deductible is filled, you are paying OOP for the negotiated price for whatever procedure, doctor, or medications you are getting; which is usually at the REAL price for the above not the inflated price that is charged for people out-of-network or uninsured. This is why I keep saying that the PPACA was an insurance bailout instead of an actual healthcare law.
Yup.
No one except those that got on Medicaid actually saved money on the approved plans,
And Medicaid was expanded by 400%
80% of people lost the insurance and doctors they had and liked, and costs skyrocketed.
True, again
The problem became the people who benefited were now all in favor, thus the conflict for GOP Congressmen & Governors. In the end it came down to one revenge driven Senator.
If the Democrats had a supermajority in Congress we would have single payer. That didn't happen.
The GOP gained control of the House in 2010 and opposed anyone on partisan principles, even when their base supported the idea.
Vic, do you think Trump's legacy will last?
Almost all of what Trump has "achieved" has been by executive orders. When we get a Democratic president in office again, which will be fairly soon any way you look at it, he/she will reverse all Trump has done. Even the tax cut can be reversed if the Democrats get Congress.
The only thing history will remember Trump for is being a gargantuan asshole.
The next democrat president will come along and erase everything trump has done. Then we will see some REAL crying.
That's hard to say. But at least he undid a lot of shit
Almost all of what Trump has "achieved" has been by executive orders. When we get a Democratic president in office again, which will be fairly soon any way you look at it, he/she will reverse all Trump has done. Even the tax cut can be reversed if the Democrats get Congress.
True on the executive orders. Legislation is hard to change, that is more lasting. His judicial appointments will last for at least a generation. There is a lot more we don't know about yet, especially with immigration and foreign policy.
The only thing history will remember Trump for is being a gargantuan asshole.
I don't think any of us will live long enough to know who wins that title.
That's ok, if it happens it happens, but those judges will be in place for a long time
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Zero ranking Obama campaign or administration officials ever indicted for malfeasance in office...
Well, Don Trump certainly has blown one Obama legacy out of the water. Honesty in government.
Explain in detail if you can.
No need to. Zero ranking Obama campaign officials have ever been indicted for malfeasance in office.
Either rebut that fact which you cannot because none were ever indicted or else do concede my point...
They never got Owney Madden either
Thanks to the likes of Eric Holder, Loretta Lynch, James Comey, Andy McCabe, James Clapper & John Brennan
If you want your legacy, you can keep your legacy.
Good one Sunshine : ) thanks for the giggle!
Yeah, 8 years of of no scandals (except the imaginary ones created in the heads of TrumpsterDumpsterThumpers) and robust economic growth after pulling the country out of the barely second worst economic disaster in our entire history and the recovery of US prestige and respect around the world must be destroyed. The ooze of the Bush years were obviously too perfumey so we needed to go deeper into the cesspool and come up with TrumptyDumpty, the toddler rage clown of peak sleaze.
The IRS debacle was a bit scandalous .. Louis Lerner refused to testify before the oversight committee without immunity, it was not granted .. so she pled the 5th. Computer hard drives destroyed and missing... it is even claimed that Lerner's Blackberry was destroyed... sound familiar?
Guess the definition of scandal is subject to interpretation ... I will concede that there was NO sex scandal in the Obama Administration nor in the Nixon Administration for that matter... : )
You guys keep falling back on a Republican Bush appointed Lois Lerner who used key words to identify 501c4 violators, key words that included "progressive," "occupy," "Israel," "open source software," "medical marijuana" and "occupied territory advocacy". This was a total non-scandal but low information dumb shits bamboozled by the shiny objects flashed to them on Fox couldn't wrap their tiny minds around the facts.
Yeah okay.. whatever..
What difference does it make it Lerner was appointed by Bush or not .. I did not point out anything to do with supposed denial of various groups as non profits .. etc... I pointed out the destruction of federal property, as was similarly done in the H. email debacle. At least H. testified and answered questions, even if her memory failed her .. Lerner cloaked herself in the 5th ..
To each their own when interpreting scandal!
Thanks, but was the conversation not discussing 'scandals' of the Obama administration?
Still amazes me the difficulty there is in distinguish the difference between a private email account / personal computer and a private email server, there is a major difference between the two. Powell had a personal computer on a private phone line not a separate private email server in his basement for government business .. I will not sit and argue the differences ... yet suffice to say the differences are not subtle.
Trump to my knowledge does not use email .. it was Jeb Bush that had a personal server housed within a FL State building .. Bobby Jindal? Bush and Jindal were State elected officials, not Federal Government employees .. big difference there as well
So the republicans get a pass.....Even when I show that republicans have wiped out emails and hard drives, but,but, Hillary and her server....
So Hillary was not at the state department during Obama's term?
Emails and hard drives have been destroyed by republicans over the years.
Colin Powell used AOL....
Yeah except the 22 million emails were found.
They were not deleted off a home brew server then the server wiped clean to avoid accountability.
"humpty dumpty toddler rage" .....did you think this was so clever that you just had to post it?
The Obama legacy. McConnell and the GOP leaders meeting on day one to undermine and obstruct the new president.
Thus far the GOP has won. Gorsuch. DeVos. Pruitt. Carson. Bolton and Stormy.
Personally I did quite well while Obama was president. I retrained and secured new employment after my job ended during the recession the happened toward the end of Bush's term. My home value returned and even my retirement account came back. I just hope trump doesn't take us back to where we were before Obama. That would be nightmare for me because I dont know if I could rebuild my fortune again at my age.
I can say the same things about my portfolio during the Obama years 321steve ... so far with the recent stock market pull back I have faired quite well .. I do not want to be plunged into uncertainty again either...
There is nothing like an anecdotal story of one's life experience and the attributing it to the President. That is kind of the way it works. If there is suddenly a tech boom, the guy in the White House gets the credit. It's always been so and always will be, however many people had to either take part time work or they simply stopped looking for work.
True, But the president can and does do things that do directly effect the economy. Look at how trump works it. Its a real power the president has.
Just consider all the implications when a president asks for demaids or implements sanctions against another country, Many businesses change who and how they do business for just that act of the presidents alone.
Yes the president does have an influence on the economy even daily these days.
To varying degrees, that is true. In a comprehensive way Roosevelt & Reagan come to mind. On the other hand some are simply either lucky or unlucky. The American economy is the largest in the world.
Never fear, Obama's most significant legacy, the debt he ran up, will haunt Americans who haven't even been born.
I guess you forgot that we were in a recession? Remember losing all those jobs every month? The republican's trashed the economy, the dems, once again, got us out of the ditch and actually paid the bills. Nearly half of what was spent on Obama's watch was to fix the bush fuck-ups.
Don’t blame them for the recession Clinton caused.
The economy collapsed 7 YEARS into Bush's term. At what point does the GOP, (the party of, "personal responsibility"), accept responsibility?
7 years, and the GOP had a republican president and congress, and you are seriously blaming Clinton? Is the GOP so completely effed up that they could do nothing to stop it....for 7 fucking YEARS?
I guess the two unfunded wars, tax cuts for the rich and off the charts spending had absolutely NOTHING to do with it, right? And since you went down that road? Who was it that said, "debts don't matter"?
Darth Cheneyhawk....the idiot that shot his friend in the face.
It's amazing the fairy tales liberals believe. The recession was over before Obama served six months in office. Nothing he did had "got us out of the ditch", those macro economic policies were implemented in 2008.
What Obama did manage to do was oversee the worst recovery from a recession since World War 2. Typically, the sharper the recession, the stronger the recovery. Obama somehow mismanaged the economy into stagnation all the while borrowing almost as much money as every President from George Washington to George W. Bush combined.
Um, no, it wasn't...
1) But it WAS a recovery, and if you are going to slap donny on the back for the DJIA and the UE rate a month after he takes office, then you best be giving Obama some very high praise because he didn't take over as president of a country that was doing well.
2) We were recovering from a republican disaster, at least have the backbone to admit it.
Maybe would have been faster if mcconnell had not pledged to obstruct everything Obama wanted to do? Probably. Obama succeeded in spite of congress, not because of them.
Just remember, the opposite of CONgress, is PROgress. the 113th congress, (republican majority), was the least productive in this nations history, they literally did nothing but say, "no", to everything, no matter what it was.
OF course they didn't. Do you study economics at Dailykos U? Where do people come up with this?
Maybe would have been faster if mcconnell had not pledged to obstruct everything Obama wanted to do?
Obama and the Democrats exerted more control over Congress than any President since LBJ. He can't blame Mitch McConnell when he had a filibuster proof majority in the Senate.
It's not like 2009 was a long time ago. Sad how Democrats resort to rewriting history to excuse the failures of their god/President Obama.
he 113th congress, (republican majority), was the least productive in this nations history,
We are, of course, talking about the recession and it's immediate aftermath, not Obama's SECOND term.
I have been quail hunting and my best guess is Darth was tracking a quail and it flew into a field of fire that included Darth's friend and he pulled the trigger. Rookie mistake, (which is being polite, Darth is an effing moron).
If I did, I would be light years ahead of any degree from trump university. And they didn't? What happens when you decrease your income and increase spending? A 3rd grader could figure that one out. The economy collapses, which is exactly what happened.
Oh, you mean when the republicans took over congress? Yea, I did notice that. Weird huh? But hey, if that's what you need to examine to validate your rhetoric, feel free. It's like walking up to a car accident and finding a broken turn signal and exclaiming, "Well, here's your problem!!!".
That's some major revisionist history. The worst of it started just before the election. Don't you remember McCain suspending his campaign to try and help stop the bleeding?
Plus he was drunk. That's why the SS waited 18 hours before allowing the local cops to interview Darth "shooter" Cheney. Apparently Cheney never even apologized, although his "friend" did apologize for having his head in the way of Cheney's shot.
There a very brief filibuster proof majority in the Senate
Facts matter
Literally, no literate person in the world thinks that was caused the recession. You might as well blame the moon for the recession.
FFS take a look at what happened after the recession ended, spending increased with decreased income, yet the economy slowly grew.
Is this the part where you call BS on trump for claiming that the DJIA going up has nothing to do with him?
Why ? Who was in charge when it happened. ? Who had the power to make the changes to avoid it ? Who didn't ?
Does trump get the credit for this economy already on his watch... well yes he does according to many.
In so much then Bush did not stop what happened on his watch, so the responsible for allowing it to happen belongs to Bush.
LOL It's not like it all crashed soon after Bush took office either, it happened at the end of his term. yep, Bush's fault in my opinion. If you can blame it all on Clinton, Bush should have seen it coming and did what needed done to avoid it. He didn't.
what happens to rockets ?
They blow up. I'll take a slow steady up hill growth in our economy over a skyrocketing one anytime. What goes up usually comes down. The faster it accelerates the bigger the crash. Hold on... it's not over Time will tell which was better for the average American.
Does anyone remember how the crisis unfolded?
From an old website, frozen in time:
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2007
2008
What policies were put in place in 2008 that brought the US out of the Geo.W.Bush bank collapse and recession?
1.)
2.)
3.)
But...but...as we now know, based on his prior Doctor's won words, Trump either told him what to say, or wrote it himself in his Doctor's name.
It seemed pretty damn obvious to me at the time, doctors don't write crap like that. I've seen a lot of doctors reports and never saw anything ever written by any doctor like that BS "report" was.
It was obviously written by trump himself, it had his wordage all over it. DUuu ... how frickin stupid does this man really believe we all are ?
sad
50 years the only thing that will be left of Obama's legacy
will be a street named after him or a school named after him in some run down Democrat run city like Shitcago.
Why hasn't trump fixed it?
Not really just spewing facts.
What is Obama's great legacy? I seriously want to know. If his administration was so great why has everything crumbled apart or been erased the same way he dictated, with the stroke of a pen and a phone call.
Fuck Obama.
Please keep your fantasies to yourself.
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