Obama's Legacy

[Dscans]

Someone started this thread w/r/t/ Bush at the end of his presidency on the old board. So what about Obama? What will be his legacy? Obamacare? Marriage equality? Killing Bin Laden? Drones? Singing Al Green songs?

I think the best thing he can say is that he left the economy in better condition than he received it. I wonder if people will look back at this the way some people look at FDR and see this as evidence of the bailout working.

[bart]

I think the best thing he can say is that he left the economy in better condition than he received it. I wonder if people will look back at this the way some people look at FDR and see this as evidence of the bailout working.

In that case it'd be mostly Bush's legacy.

[verb_to_trust]

Twitter

[4/5]

I think given the circumstances and constraints he's encountered he's actually done a pretty decent job.

[BurtReynolds]

Barrack HUSSEIN obummer: the first foreign born terrorist president.

[Rangi Guy]

He's a communist!

[E.H. Ruddock]

I thought he was generally disliked right now? No?

[LoathedVermin72]

Not saying it was because of him, but gay marriage was legalized under his administration. I think that's gonna be talked about (positively) a lot.

[4/5]

I thought he was generally disliked right now? No?

The last favorable/unfavorable split I saw was like 47/50.

[4/5]

Not saying it was because of him, but gay marriage was legalized under his administration. I think that's gonna be talked about (positively) a lot.

As we get further away and ACA gets tweaked and people start relying on it, provided it doesn't destroy our entire economy and maybe even the world, this will be a large part of his legacy, and it will probably be looked at pretty positively.

[Green Habit]

As of now, just the ACA. The two big questions for the future will be how his judicial appointments affect that branch of government, and if his executive policies will be able to set precedent even when the GOP takes over the White House.

[simple schoolboy]

Not saying it was because of him, but gay marriage was legalized under his administration. I think that's gonna be talked about (positively) a lot.

As we get further away and ACA gets tweaked and people start relying on it, provided it doesn't destroy our entire economy and maybe even the world, this will be a large part of his legacy, and it will probably be looked at pretty positively.

Do you even risk corridor, brah?

[Redemption]

Opening embassies in Cuba and Iran. And trade. That is very positive.

He got stuck with two wars that really were mismanaged from day one.....Had to send troops to Afghanistan...


i should clarify this part....He"had to" if he were to adhere to US foreign policy, to toe the line.

Last edited by Redemption on Wed September 30, 2015 5:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Electromatic]

With the ACA it should be very similar to FDR's new deal. FDR also had WW2 which significantly changed how history sees him, but Obama probably has accomplished the largest program of that type since the new deal. Depending on what side of the political fence you reside, you may think it for better or for worse, but I think he certainly accomplished in his 8 years all the major things he set out to do and some minor ones as well. Opening relations with Cuba is a big deal and it was about friggin time. I tend to view marriage equality as his too even though that was a supreme court battle. This Iran deal depending on what happens with it won't really show results until he leaves, and it really depends on how Iran behaves with it. He really didn't pay much mind to ISIS or the Arab Spring outside of whatever the arms movements were in Libya to Syrian rebels that led to the cluster fuck at Bengazi. Because he never really made a big public stand on any of these issues or tried to do much outside of American borders I don't think historians will pay much mind to that part of his presidency. The majority of his impact has been closer to home. He's had a pretty huge social impact of being the first African American president as well and he's probably brought the office into the 21st century with communication especially over the web (White House.gov petitions etc.)

Much like the new deal there's certainly some positives behind these social programs, and it also leaves us with a shitload of federal bureaucracy and waste and we still don't have an efficient health care system, but that wasn't really the goal. Everyone has the opportunity for managed care right now in some capacity. That's a big positive, I'm just not sure how we are ever going to get to a health care system that is efficient, affordable and high quality. It's sort of the same thing with transit here.

I think left leaning people will treat him sort of the way Republicans view Reagan and vice versa.

Last edited by Electromatic on Tue August 25, 2015 5:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[surfndestroy]

With the ACA it should be very similar to FDR's new deal. FDR also had WW2 which significantly changed how history sees him, but Obama probably has accomplished for better or worse the largest program of that type since the new deal. Depending on what side of the political fence you reside, you may think it for better or for worse, but I think he certainly accomplished in his 8 years all the major things he set out to do and some minor ones as well. Opening relations with Cuba is a big deal and it was about friggin time. I tend to view marriage equality as his too even though that was a supreme court battle. This Iran deal depending on what happens with it won't really show results until he leaves, and it really depends on how Iran behaves with it. He really didn't pay much mind to ISIS or the Arab Spring outside of whatever the arms movements were in Libya to Syrian rebels that led to the cluster fuck at Bengazi. Because he never really made a big public stand on any of these issues or tried to do much outside of American borders I don't think historians will pay much mind to that part of his presidency. The majority of his impact has been closer to home. He's had a pretty huge social impact of being the first African American president as well and he's probably brought the office into the 21st century with communication especially over the web (White House.gov petitions etc.)

Much like the new deal there's certainly some positives behind these social programs, and it also leaves us with a shitload of federal bureaucracy and waste and we still don't have an efficient health care system, but that wasn't really the goal. Everyone has the opportunity for managed care right now in some capacity. That's a big positive, I'm just not sure how we are ever going to get to a health care system that is efficient, affordable and high quality. It's sort of the same thing with transit here.

I think left leaning people will treat him sort of the way Republicans view Reagan and vice versa.

I think ACA will be his lasting legacy. Gay marriage will be attributed to him but is really a supreme court thing, so maybe that belongs to Bush.
Anyone wishing for healthcare that is efficient, affordable and high quality I would tell them you get to choose two. Or a mix of the three with none of them actually achieved. Those are competing restraints that cannot all be true at any one time.

[Green Habit]

Gay marriage will be attributed to him but is really a supreme court thing, so maybe that belongs to Bush.

Both of Bush's appointees voted against it. If we're going to give presidents credit for SCOTUS choices, then this one goes to Obama, Clinton, and...Reagan!

[nyquillyn]

From my perspective, Obama's presidency has been a success.

+ The Great Recession didn't last nearly as long as most experts thought it would. Obama's economic policies have been largely successful. Unemployment is low. Wages are up. Job creation is through the roof. And our economy is larger now than before the financial crisis. The benefits of all those things have been slow to get to the middle class, but we are starting to see them now.

+ ACA has already made a decent impact. Premium growth is at the lowest is has been in decades and more people are getting covered than ever before. But it's impact is so heavily tied to what what the next president will do to it that it's way too early to see how it'll impact his legacy.

+ The Iran deal was as solid as it could have been. Iran gave up 2/3 of their centrifuges and like 95% of their enriched uranium. I think it's clearly a success.

+/- I personally don't give Obama much credit for gay marriage. He didn't officially change his stance until 2012 and ran several campaigns saying the typical "It's against my religious beliefs" bullshit. He only shifted when it was clear the majority of Americans didn't give a shit.

- I despise "signature" drone strikes.

[simple schoolboy]

From my perspective, Obama's presidency has been a success.

+ ACA has already made a decent impact. Premium growth is at the lowest is has been in decades and more people are getting covered than ever before. But it's impact is so heavily tied to what what the next president will do to it that it's way too early to see how it'll impact his legacy.

Again, when do the risk corridors expire? Its too early to say anything about premium growth because the insurers haven't had to be accurate about setting rates vs. their expenditures.

[nyquillyn]

From my perspective, Obama's presidency has been a success.

+ ACA has already made a decent impact. Premium growth is at the lowest is has been in decades and more people are getting covered than ever before. But it's impact is so heavily tied to what what the next president will do to it that it's way too early to see how it'll impact his legacy.

Again, when do the risk corridors expire? Its too early to say anything about premium growth because the insurers haven't had to be accurate about setting rates vs. their expenditures.

End of 2016.

Yeah, that's why I said it will be tied to what the next president will do. The corridors will have to be extended. If they just run out, it's a failure.

[simple schoolboy]

From my perspective, Obama's presidency has been a success.

+ ACA has already made a decent impact. Premium growth is at the lowest is has been in decades and more people are getting covered than ever before. But it's impact is so heavily tied to what what the next president will do to it that it's way too early to see how it'll impact his legacy.

Again, when do the risk corridors expire? Its too early to say anything about premium growth because the insurers haven't had to be accurate about setting rates vs. their expenditures.

End of 2016.

Yeah, that's why I said it will be tied to what the next president will do. The corridors will have to be extended. If they just run out, it's a failure.

What point do the risk corridors have other than obscuring the true cost? Why not expand the subsidies instead, so that at least the true cost is known.