. 3,680,000 private sector jobs created since the end of the Bush Great Recession
. He saved the economy from ruin (until the Tea Party took over Congress) with a stimulus that was as large as possible given the political realities
. Saved the US Auto Industry
. Health Care Reform
. Reduced military spending by $500,000,000,000
. Wall Street Reform
. Leaned on the banks to recover almost all “bailout money” with interest
. Saved the world from global financial collapse
. Ordered 65 executives who took bailout money to cut their own pay until they paid back all bailout money.
. Killed Osama Bin Laden
. Killed a whole generation of al Qaeda leaders
. Authorized and oversaw a secret mission by SEAL Team Six to rescue two hostages held by Somali pirates.
. Unified the world against Iran and brought unprecedented united international pressure against Iran's nuclear bomb potential
. More deportations per year than Bush
. Hired more border patrol agents than Bush
. Tax rates for average working families are the lowest since 1950.
. Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, cut taxes for 95% of America's working families.
. Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act;
. Expanded funding for the Violence Against Women Act.
. Repealed “Don’t ask don’t tell”
. Extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.
. Changed HUD rules to prohibit gender and sexual orientation-based discrimination in housing
. Publicly expressed support for the right to enter into a same-sex marriage.
. Implemented much of Dream Act via Executive Order
. Appointed two pro-choice women to the Supreme Court
. Ended the war in Iraq
. Established a date for transferring Afghanistan fighting to Afghanis.
. Toppled Gadhafi without an American casualty
. Fired the first salvo of the Arab Spring with his address in Cairo
. Helped to restore America's reputation around the world
. On his second day in office, he signed a detailed Executive Order that banned torture, reversed all Bush torture policies, and put the United States in compliance with the Geneva Convention.
. Increased veterans/benefits every year
. Ended the media blackout on coverage of the return of fallen soldiers.
. Signed the Democratic-sponsored Post-9/11 GI Bill, also known as GI Bill 2.0
. Invested in college students: 1) by repeatedly increased funding for student financial aid, and at the same time cut the banks completely out of the process. ref ref ref 2) by reforming student loan program, to make it possible for students to refinance at a lower rate. ref and 3) by overseeing an expansion of the Pell Grants program, to expand opportunity for low income students to go to college.
. Invested in primary education: Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act , invested heavily in elementary, secondary and post-secondary education.
. Also through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he put $5 billion into early education, including Head Start.
. Strengthened environmental protection via new laws and policies.
. Fast-tracked regulations to dramatically increase fuel efficiency standards
. Strengthened the bond between clean energy and commerce by overseeing establishment of an Energy Partnership for the Americas, to create more markets for American-made biofuels and green energy technologies. Oversaw the creation of an initiative that converts old factories and manufacturing centers into new clean technology centers.
. Pushed through a tax credit to help people buy plug-in hybrid cars.
. Obama EPA reversed a Bush-era decision to allow the largest mountaintop removal project in US history.
. Turned America toward native sources of renewal energy Ordered energy plants to prepare to produce at least 15% of all energy through renewable resources like wind and solar, by 2021. (As you can see, Republicans are trying hard to kill it.)
. Created a program to develop renewable energy projects on the waters of our Outer Continental Shelf that will produce electricity from wind, wave, and ocean currents.
. Bypassed Republican opposition in Congress and ordered EPA to begin regulating and measuring carbon emissions.
. Oversaw doubling federal spending on clean energy research.
. Reengaged in the climate change and greenhouse gas emissions agreements talks, and proposed one himself. He also addressed the U.N. Climate Change Conference, officially reversing the Bush era stance that climate change was a “hoax.”