Obama hasn’t been perfect, but contrary to the right wing narrative, he’s accomplished a lot in his first year despite facing extraordinary challenges from his first day in office. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Here's a (partial) list collected from various sources:

1. Banned the use of torture and the ordered the closing of Guantánamo, bringing us back in line with the Geneva Conventions.

2. Reversed Bush’s funding cutoff to family planning organizations overseas, saving millions of lives with the stroke of a pen.

3. Gave a green light to the California car-emissions standards that Bush had been blocking for six years, enabling them to set their own standards.

4. Signed the stimulus bill, a $787 billion accomplishment designed to help turn around the economic slowdown caused by 8 years of fiscal mismanagement.

5. Formally announced America’s withdrawal from Iraq.

6. Erased Bush’s decision to restrict federal funding for stem-cell research, increasing federal support for new stem-cell and biomedical research, including new funding for science and research labs.

7. Forced Chrysler and GM into bankruptcy, allowing them to restructure their failing companies with the protection of the federal government.

8. In June, Obama reset the tone of our relations with the entire Arab world with a single speech — an accomplishment that the Bush administration failed to achieve despite a series of desperate PR moves (anyone remember Charlotte Beers?) and a "public diplomacy" budget of $1 billion a year.

9. Also in June, Obama unveiled the "Cash for Clunkers" program, reanimating the corpse of our car industry — leading, for example, to the billion-dollar profit that Ford recently announced.

10. He’s now a month or two from accomplishing the awesome and seemingly impossible task that eluded mighty presidents like FDR, LBJ, and WJC — health-care reform.

11. Ended the previous practice of forbidding Medicare from negotiating with drug manufacturers for cheaper drugs; the federal government is now realizing hundreds of millions in savings and lower drug costs for seniors.

12. Has, with Bush's help, it must be said, stopped the financial collapse,
revived the credit markets, and nudged the economy toward 3.5 percent growth in the last quarter.

13. Increasing pay and benefits for military personnel

14. Improved housing for military personnel

15. Ended the previous policy of offering tax benefits to corporations who outsource American jobs; the new policy promotes in-sourcing to bring jobs back

16. Ended the previous practice of protecting credit card companies; in place of it are new consumer protections from credit card industry's predatory practices

17. Ordered all federal agencies to undertake a study and make recommendations for ways to cut spending

18. Ordered a review of all federal operations to identify and cut wasteful spending and practices

19. Instituted enforcement for equal pay for women (Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay)

20. Families of fallen soldiers have expenses covered to be on hand when the body arrives at Dover AFB

21. Ended media blackout on war casualties; reporting full information

22. Ended media blackout on covering the return of fallen soldiers to Dover AFB; the media is now permitted to do so pending adherence to respectful rules and approval of fallen soldier's family

23. The White House and federal government are respecting the Freedom of Information Act

24. Instructed all federal agencies to promote openness and transparency as much as possible

25. Limits on lobbyist's access to the White House

26. Limits on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration

27. Ended the previous stop-loss policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan longer than their enlistment date

28. Phasing out the expensive F-22 war plane and other outdated weapons systems, which weren't even used or needed in Iraq/Afghanistan

29. States are permitted to enact federal fuel efficiency standards above federal standards

30. Increased infrastructure spending (roads, bridges, power plants) after years of neglect

31. Funds for high-speed, broadband Internet access to K-12 schools

32. New funds for school construction

33. Housing rescue plan

34. The public can meet with federal housing insurers to refinance (the new plan can be completed in one day) a mortgage if they are having trouble paying

35. US financial and banking rescue plan

36. The secret detention facilities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere are being closed

37. Ordered release of torture memos

38. Push for charter schools

39. $28 billion in tax cuts

40. End of the “war on medical marijuana” – leading to relief for thousands of cancer patients.

41. Better body armor is now being provided to our troops

42. The missile defense program is being cut by $1.4 billion in 2010

43. Restarted the nuclear nonproliferation talks and building back up the nuclear inspection infrastructure/protocols

44. Reengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect the Antarctic

45. Reengaged in the agreements/talks on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions

46. Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any president in his first six months in office

47. Successful release of US captain held by Somali pirates; authorized the SEALS to do their job

48. US Navy increasing patrols off Somali coast

49. Attractive tax write-offs for those who buy hybrid automobiles

50. Cash for clunkers program offers vouchers to trade in fuel inefficient, polluting old cars for new cars; stimulated auto sales

51. Announced plans to purchase fuel efficient American-made fleet for the federal government

52. Expanded the SCHIP program to cover health care for 4 million more children

53. Signed national service legislation; expanded national youth service program

54. Instituted a new policy on Cuba, allowing Cuban families to return home to visit loved ones

55. Ended the previous policy of not regulating and labeling carbon dioxide emissions

56. Expanding vaccination programs

57. Immediate and efficient response to the floods in North Dakota and other natural disasters

58. Closed offshore tax safe havens

59. Negotiated deal with Swiss banks to permit US government to gain access to records of tax evaders and criminals

60. Energy producing plants must begin preparing to produce 15% of their energy from renewable sources

61. Initiating a new policy to promote federal hiring of military spouses

62. Improved conditions at Walter Reed Military Hospital and other military hospitals

63. Increasing student loans

64. Increasing opportunities in AmeriCorps program

65. Sent envoys to Middle East and other parts of the world that had been neglected for years; reengaging in multilateral and bilateral talks and diplomacy

66. Established a new cyber security office

67. Beginning the process of reforming and restructuring the military 20 years after the Cold War to a more modern fighting force; this includes new procurement policies, increasing size of military, new technology and cyber units and operations, etc.

68. Ended previous policy of awarding no-bid defense contracts

69. Ordered a review of hurricane and natural disaster preparedness

70. Established a National Performance Officer charged with saving the federal government money and making federal operations more efficient

71. Students struggling to make college loan payments can have their loans
refinanced

72. Improving benefits for veterans

73. Many more press conferences and town halls and much more media access than previous administration

74. Instituted a new focus on mortgage fraud

75. The FDA is now regulating tobacco

76. Ended previous policy of cutting the FDA and circumventing FDA rules

77. Ended previous practice of having White House aides rewrite scientific and environmental rules, regulations, and reports

78. Authorized discussions with North Korea and private mission by Pres. Bill Clinton to secure the release of two Americans held in prisons

79. Authorized discussions with Myanmar and mission by Sen. Jim Web to secure the release of an American held captive

80. Making more loans available to small businesses

81. Established independent commission to make recommendations on slowing the costs of Medicare

82. Appointment of first Latina to the Supreme Court

83. Authorized construction/opening of additional health centers to care for veterans

84. Limited salaries of senior White House aides; cut to $100,000

85. Renewed loan guarantees for Israel

86. Changed the failing/status quo military command in Afghanistan

87. Deployed additional troops to Afghanistan

88. New Afghan War policy that limits aerial bombing and prioritizes aid,
development of infrastructure, diplomacy, and good government practices by Afghans

89. Announced the long-term development of a national energy grid with renewable sources and cleaner, efficient energy production

90. Returned money authorized for refurbishment of White House offices and private living quarters

91. Paid for redecoration of White House living quarters out of his own pocket

92. Held first Seder in White House

93. Attempting to reform the nation's healthcare system which is the most expensive in the world yet leaves almost 50 million without health insurance and millions more under insured

94. Has put the ball in play for comprehensive immigration reform

95. Has announced his intention to push for energy reform

96. Has announced his intention to push for education reform

And here's a link to a list of campaign promises and whether he's kept/broken them or whether they're in progress/stalled: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/

I know it’s been awhile since I’ve posted, been massively busy with school and trying to get the other site up and running. But I’m back, for now!

With the revelation that McCain has traded in his maverick badge for a rubber stamp, and will be allowing the torture to continue, I thought it would be a good time to write something.

The bad news is that Mr. Bush, as he made clear yesterday, intends to continue using the CIA to secretly detain and abuse certain terrorist suspects. He will do so by issuing his own interpretation of the Geneva Conventions in an executive order and by relying on questionable Justice Department opinions that authorize such practices as exposing prisoners to hypothermia and prolonged sleep deprivation. Under the compromise agreed to yesterday, Congress would recognize his authority to take these steps and prevent prisoners from appealing them to U.S. courts. The bill would also immunize CIA personel from prosecution for all but the most serious abuses and protect those who in the past violated U.S. law against war crimes.

It really bothers me that these people will simply be suspects. What happened to a uniquely American principle of “Innocent until proven guilty”? If we’re so sure these people are terrorists, why are we afraid to try them in a full and open court — whether military or civilian?

Why do we feel the need to deny them access to evidence, and allow things like hearsay and other things that we’d NEVER approve of being used against our soldiers in order to attempt to get a conviction?

I’m also incredibly dissapointed in McCain, who I believe for purely political reasons, has been abandoning more and more his principles in hopes of increasing his support amongst neocons who generally find him too “liberal”. I don’t believe for a second he actually thinks this upholds Geneva, or that torture is an acceptable method, morally or practically, of obtaining reliable intelligence information from prisoners. However, with the White House being willing to brand those who oppose them as wanting to protect the rights of terrorists more than the lives of Americans, it’s not suprising he was willing to fold like a house of cards.

It’s also really quite extrordinary that Bush feels America, as but one signatory to the Geneva Conventions, have some right to once again take unilateral action in interpreting them. Everyone knows that over the last few years our reputation in the world has sharply declined. European countries in particular have been unwilling to take a more active role in Iraq or stay strong and back up American foreign policy decisions.. and yet, instead of making an effort to bring them on board with our desire to have “clarification” (as if it’s needed) by say, holding an international summit with the rest of the signatories and coming to more strict conclusions about what Common Article 3 says, once again we brush them aside as though they’re somehow unworthy of active participation in something that will negatively impact captured soldiers for generations to come.

That arrogance, combined with yet another example of short sightedness on the part of the Bush Administration about the implications for soldiers on the battlefield who are captured is really the problem. Colin Powell and others feel we’re beginning to lose the moral high ground to continue this fight. To terrorists.. and unfortunately, I’m in agreement with them. While I do not equate ourselves morally with the terrorists, there is no good reason that America should even begin heading down that road.

I’m reminded of a quote that I feel puts succinctly why I feel the way I do about where Bush is dragging America:

“He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”

- Nietzsche

We would do well to think about the implications.

Senator Ted Stevens, the Republican Chairman of the Commerce Committee explains why we shouldn’t (audio link):

There’s one company now you can sign up and you can get a movie delivered to your house daily by delivery service. Okay. And currently it comes to your house, it gets put in the mail box when you get home and you change your order but you pay for that, right.

But this service isn’t going to go through the internet and what you do is you just go to a place on the internet and you order your movie and guess what you can order ten of them delivered to you and the delivery charge is free.

Ten of them streaming across that internet and what happens to your own personal internet?

I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o’clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why? Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially […]

The regulatory approach is wrong. Your approach is regulatory in the sense that it says “No one can charge anyone for massively invading this world of the internet”. No, I’m not finished. I want people to understand my position, I’m not going to take a lot of time. [?]

They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the internet. And again, the internet is not something you just dump something on. It’s not a truck.

It’s a series of tubes.

And if you don’t understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and its going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material.

Thanks for that succinct explaination, Mr. Stevens. I’ll sleep better knowing that the Commerce Committe and it’s tech-savvy Chairman are on the job, protecting us against the dangerous filling of the internet tubes.

An unfortunate reality of the Net Neutrality debate is the Telecom Industry spending millions of dollars on a misinformation campaign aimed at people who don’t have a basic understanding of how the internet works. Sadly, a large portion of that campaign is dedicated to lobbying Senators to support their cause.

I fully understand that no Senator is going to be an expert on every issue they vote on, but one would think that when it comes to key pieces of legislation that can have sweeping (and unintended) consequences, they would at least take the step of making sure their staffers gave them the cliff notes on what’s going on so they don’t sound like a fool.

If you cut through all of the nonsense and misinformation this isn’t about capacity, or even regulation. This is about VoIP companies like Vonage and Skype eating into profit margins, and the Telecom Industry wanting a piece of their action through what amounts to extortion, whlie trying to kill competition that they feel is using their infrastructure to compete with them.

However, this isn’t about pricing either. If they wanted to charge more for bandwidth, they could. Nothing is stopping them. They create their own pricing models, and companies which use more bandwidth such as Google or Microsoft pay a premium to ensure their sites run fast and keep up with demand.

The Telecom Industry however, doesn’t believe that’s enough. They want to be able to prioritize content; to have a tiered system where they decide which content is allowed into the fast lane, and which content is relegated to the slow one. To use a less technical analogy:

You buy a car (internet service) from the car dealership (your ISP). The car has a “top speed” of 65 mph. Except it will only allow you to do 65 mph on the way to the dealership and it’s subsidiaries — anywhere else, like the grocery store, blockbuster, etc., you can only go 45 mph.

That’s not the worst of it, though. Without protections that ensure all data is treated equally, these companies could censor websites they dont like, blocking access to competitors or websites that speak out on this very issue. That could mean the downfall of the Internet as a tool of political expression, and all but kill the rise of blogs. This isn’t speculation, companies have taken these actions when there is no protection in place.

They could even decide to turn the Internet’s format into something more akin to Cable or Satellite television, where you would be required to purchase packages to access “groups” of websites rather than being allowed to go to the websites you want to now, having the freedom of choice.

Now, one of the main arguements against legislation is that the ‘free market’ should decide. I like the free market. I think it’s a fantastic solution to a lot of problems, but not this one. Why? Because a free market doesn’t exist in the industry. The Telecom Industry owns the vast majority (98%) of the infrastructure, and virtually all of the last mile infrastructure (the lines that connect to your house, or your business).

It’s not as simple as new and pro-net-neutrality companies starting up, and creating new infrastructure. Not only would it take years, but in many cases the red tape and the lobby against competition (as can be seen with net neutrality) are strong enough to deny entry into the market at all.

The bottom line is that the Internet as we know it today is at risk of being destroyed in the name of corporate profit greed.

Get involved and make sure your Senators know where you stand on the issue.

A list of Senators and their positions can be found here. A call can be placed to the main switchboard ( 1-888-355-3588 ), and they’ll transfer you to any office you request, free of charge.

Hope everyone is enjoying the day and having a good time eating BBQ and such!

I’ll be watching fireworks downtown later tonight, assuming the rain heading this way doesn’t decide to ruin the night for the second year in a row :/

The big news of the day is of course the North Korean missile launches. I’m amazed at the amount of speculation on the television news stations about number of launches, whether or not it’s a certain type of missile, what the response is going to be, etc. What happened to news being informative instead of speculative?

One interesting note to point out is that while this Administration has employed what amounts to a failed tactic with North Korea (and has been since the policy shift away from one of engagement put in place by the Clinton Administration), they and the rest of the UN Security Council have been all too eager to address Iran and offer them many incentives, including a light water nuclear reactor.. something that was pulled off the table for North Korea.

Now I’m not saying that giving either Iran or North Korea nuclear technology is an especially good idea, but when the US decides to take a hardline stance against a pair of nations like North Korea and Iran, label them an “Axis of Evil”, and then one of those two nations (Iran) begins to see results in the form of these incentive packages after issuing harsh rhetoric and engaging in blatentely disregarding the will of not only the United States, but the International community, what did we expect was going to happen with North Korea?

Did we expect them not to take notice of the focus that’s been placed on Iran? Ignore the package of incentives that have been offered? Not take steps to bring itself to the forefront of international discussion in the hopes of getting what it wants the same way Iran has?

It seems an obvious and predictable outcome.

The House voting 232-187, yesterday approved a bill to end a 25-year-old moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling.

I think that the Congress working to lessen our dependence on foreign sources of energy is a good thing. Being reliant on foreign nations for something as vital as our energy needs is not a status quo we should seek to keep.

However, why is it that whenever this issue is brought up, the root cause of the problem is never addressed?

It’s one thing to discuss the negative impacts of relying on countries in an unstable reigon for oil and gas. It’s another to have the political will to stand up to the oil and gas lobby and take a stand on the real source of the problem: consumption.

I always hear talking heads on the right talk about how Democrats and other non-Republicans don’t want us to be energy independent because they tend to vote against things like ANWR and this, but I think that those type of solutions don’t actually solve anything in the long term.

Giving the oil companies access to places like ANWR and offshore sites simply fuels what is in President Bush’s words, an “addiction to oil”. The way you beat an addiction isn’t giving the addict access to more product. Rather, you wean them off it slowly while being careful not to permanently harm a system that’s been dependent on it for so long.

To that end, rather than taking up issues of such vital national importance as gay marriage and flag burning, why doesn’t the Congress discuss how to cut consumption in this country? Why don’t we fund more projects to that end rather than spending taxpayer dollars subsidizing an already insanely profitable industry?

For example, having a nationwide public transit infrastructure could cut down on consumption drastically, especially during the holidays. A record number of people will be travelling for the 4th of July, but not many of them will be using public transit. We don’t have a real nationwide rail system like Europe does, and the reason for that isn’t because we don’t have the means or access to the correct technology. Investment in such an industry would be good for the nation for many reasons, consumption and reducing pollution among them.

How about alternative fuels? Well, we’ve made some progress on getting these brought to the forefront of discussion about energy.. but there are still problems with the solutions being presented. We should be looking at ethanol from sugar cane (which is what Brazil uses, and they are on track to declare energy dependence within the next year or two), but instead we’ll be using corn which is much less effecient.

The fuel effeciency of our vehicles is another major factor thing that Congress has been completely silent on. For all of the rhetoric about wanting to make us energy independent, they haven’t taken what is perhaps the biggest step that they could take to see that goal become a reality. Why are we not making our cars more fuel effecient? More aerodynamic cars would be a simple step that could increase effeciency. A significant portion of a car’s consumption of gas goes to simply pushing it through wind resistance. A harder step would be requiring that we increase fuel economy standards and require that all vehicles on the road get better gas mileage.

Hopefully we’ll continue on the path of seeing energy effeciency, alternative fuels, and energy independence remain in the forefront of political discussion. With gas prices, I’m almost certain that will be the case. But along with that, hopefully we’ll begin to see politicians begin to address the real issue that can bring about the largest amount of positive change; consumption.