President Obama has accomplished far more than most people realize in his six years in office.
Rolling Stone reported in October that “As Paul Krugman argues in his piece In Defense of Obama, this has not been a feel-good presidency. But it has been a consequential one. The policy victories Obama has delivered have been hard-fought, messy and politically fraught. The achievements may not be all that the president’s 2008 boosters hoped for, but change has come.”
Rolling Stone went on to list 55 figures detailing Obama’s first 6 years of progress. We are providing a few of our favorites, below, but be sure to check out Rolling Stone for the full list.
- Peak unemployment, October 2009: 10 percent
Unemployment rate now: 5.8 percent - Consecutive private sector job growth: 57 months [remember, December’s final figures are not yet out.]
Private sector jobs created: 10.9 million - Federal deficit, 2009: 9.8 percent of GDP
Deficit in 2014: 2.8 percent of GDP
Average under Ronald Reagan: 4.2 percent of GDP - Average tax rate for highest earners 2008: 28.1 percent
Average tax rate for highest earners 2013: 33.6 percent - Dow Jones close, inauguration day 2009: 7,949
Dow Jones Friday, January 2nd: 17,832.99 - Peak summertime solar power generation June 2008: 128 gigawatt hours
Peak summertime solar power generation June 2014: 2,061 gigawatt hours - Coal burned in electrical generation 2008: 1 billion short tons
Coal burned in electrical generation 2013: 858 million short tons
Reduction: 14.2 percent - Adults gaining insurance under first year of Obamacare: 10.3 million
As a percentage of the uninsured: 26 - Annual cost for birth control prior to Obamacare: Up to $600
Annual cost for birth control under Obamacare-compliant policies: $0
Prescriptions now required to obtain emergency contraception: 0 - Troops in Iraq, inauguration day 2009: 144,000
Troops in Iraq today: 1,600 - States with medical marijuana, 2009: 13
Jurisdictions with medical marijuana today: 23 states, plus Washington, D.C. - States where gay marriage was legal inauguration day 2009: Massachusetts, Connecticut
States where gay marriage is legal: 24, plus Washington, D.C. (soon to be 30 plus D.C., following Supreme Court refusal to intervene)
Samuel is a writer, social activist, and all-around troublemaker.
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