The Obama Tally
The purpose of this page is to keep track of the Obama presidency and to keep a tally of what he accomplishes for good or ill.
January 2009
- Signed new ethics rules for the cabinet.
- Put a halt on all pending Bush projects until they can be fully reviewed.
- Ordered Gitmo closed.
- Banned torture.
- Closed secret CIA prisons.
- Revoked Bush order that hid records of former presidents.
- Executive order ending a ban on funding for groups that provide abortion counseling or services (introduced by Reagan in ’84).
- Convinced the Senate to postpone the analog to digital T.V. conversion until June 12. Failed to convince the house.
- Strengthened equal pay laws for women.
- Allowed the EPA to let states set more stringent air quality standards for vehicles if they are so inclined.
- Asked the military leadership to engage in additional planning necessary to execute a responsible military drawdown from Iraq.
February 2009
- Expanded SCHIP, a health insurance program for low-income children.
- Broke his promise that he would allow five days of public comment before signing bills (children’s health insurance, equal pay, stimulus).
- Passed stimulus. It looks like so little here, but this is the largest bill in history and more than most presidents accomplish in a whole term.
- $400 workers tax credit.
- Updated the Alternative Minimum Tax
- Allocated 2.5 billion to applied alternative energy projects (part of the stimulus).
- Instituted a payroll tax credit of $400 per worker (stimulus).
March 2009
April 2009
- Raised the tobacco tax by $0.62 a pack. It has been argued that this breaks his campaing promise not to raise taxes on those making less than $250,000 a year.