Yes, I know this list may offend, if not shock other people, as I have contributed to the Patch Network as a long-time detractor of the Obama Administration.
Frankly, there are some things, if not many, to be thankful for which have occurred during President Obama's fraught and frightful tenure.
1. President Obama issued waivers for No Child Left Behind, a bureaucratic nightmare which is leaving more children behind despite the federal program's intent to expand accountable public education for all Americans. One of President Bush's worst legacies as NCLB, and whether out of partisanship or principle, Obama has compromised the program.
2. In connection with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, President Obama offered "Race to the Top" for state governments to compete for federal aid, provided that the several states integrated comprehensive education reforms.
3. He has faithfully and forcefully enforced our nation's immigration laws, to the extent that he has deported more illegal immigrants than every President from Dwight David Eisenhower to George W. Bush
4. Against his own liberal convictions, he was forced to compromise and enforce the first comprehensive cuts to the federal budget in modern American History. His cuts began with the 2011 debt ceiling deal, which gave way to the Super Committee, and then the sequester cuts. Despite his pleading against the comprehensive reductions, which were supposed to be painful, their effect on the economy was actually negligible.
5. As part of the last-minute fiscal cliff debacle-deal in 2012, President Obama preserved the Bush II tax cuts from 2001 and 2003 for 99% of all Americans, permanently. Not only did President Obama maintain one of the strongest legacies of President Bush, he has further undermined the long-standing progressive agenda of progressive tax rates to fund an expansive welfare state.
6. President Obama's insistence on a health insurance mandates and Medicare subsidies of statewide and national healthcare exchanges have exposed the failed core of socialized programs which attempt to manage one-sixth of a nation's economy. Inadvertently, President Obama's progressive posture may spell the death of liberalism as a serious political philosophy for decades to come.
7. According to MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan, President Obama reintroduced deficit reduction as a compelling concern: a Republican talking point. He also appointed fourteen fiscal conservatives, including fiscal-leaning Democrats, on his Presidential debt commission.
8. Before the British Petroleum crisis (which he helped to some degree to clean up), President Obama did acquiesce on off-shore oil drilling. California Governor Jerry Brown should take up this talking point, too.
9. President Obama backed off from closing down Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. His attempt to close down the detention center for international terrorists demonstrate that political pragmatism will force the most ideological of politicians to make logical decisions in the better interests of the country.
10. And to round off this Thanksgiving list: President Obama pushed away Cap-and-Trade, ended job-killing regulations from the EPA which would have harmed this nation's recovery. During his administration, drone interventions have increased to neutralized terrorist cells. Under his watch, United States special forces took down Osama bin Laden and his Yemeni surrogate Anwar al-Awlaki. The terrorists can run, but they cannot hide!
Thank you, President Obama. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
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