Barack Obama · Campaign Promises · Elections

240 Fact-Checked Promises President Obama Has Kept

by Samuel Warde No Comments

Barack Obama

President Obama’s record of keeping his campaign promises is incredible despite Republican efforts to thwart his every effort to lead the country.

Who can forget Republican Senator and current Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell telling the National Journal‘s Major Garrett on Oct. 29, 2010: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

Pulitzer Prize winning Politifact has been monitoring over 500 campaign promises that Barack Obama made during his 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns.

The Obameter, as Politifact calls the project, initially rates the promises as “Stalled,” “In the Works,” and “Not Rated Yet” and once they determine “the action is complete” they update the rating to “Promise Kept,” “Compromise” and “Promise Broken.”

So far the fact-checking organization has determined that 241 of those promises were fulfilled (Promise Kept), 137 resulted in a compromise, 119 were broken, 7 are currently stalled, 27 are in the works, and 2 have not been rated yet.

The Promise Kept portion of the project is 13 pages long and includes the list below along with links to an article on their site detailing each promise that has been kept by Pres. Obama.

We took the liberty of removing one item from the list, Get his daughters a puppy, reducing the total to 240, as we consider this promise to be personal and not related to his duties as the head of the Executive Branch of government.

Below is the current list of promises kept by Pres. Obama as reflected in the Obameter.

You can also access the data using the following links:

So, without any further ado, here is the list:

  1. Extend child tax credits and marriage-penalty fixes
  2. Create an Advanced Manufacturing Fund to invest in peer-reviewed manufacturing processes
  3. Create an international tax haven watch list
  4. Increase minority access to capital
  5. Require economic justification for tax changes
  6. Implement “Women Owned Business” contracting program
  7. Change standards for determining broadband access
  8. Create a consumer-friendly credit card rating system
  9. Establish a credit card bill of rights
  10. Expand loan programs for small businesses
  11. Extend the Bush tax cuts for lower incomes
  12. Phase out exemptions and deductions for higher earners
  13. Extend and index the 2007 Alternative Minimum Tax patch
  14. Close the “doughnut hole” in Medicare prescription drug plan
  15. Provide easy-to-understand comparisons of the Medicare prescription drug plans
  16. Expand the Senior Corps volunteer program
  17. Require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions
  18. Give tax credits to those who need help to pay health premiums
  19. Require large employers to contribute to a national health plan
  20. Require children to have health insurance coverage
  21. Expand eligibility for Medicaid
  22. Expand eligibility for State Children’s Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP)
  23. Phase in requirements for health information technology
  24. Require health plans to disclose how much of the premium goes to patient care
  25. Establish an independent health institute to provide accurate and objective information
  26. Implement and fund proven health intervention programs
  27. In non-competitive markets, force insurers to pay out a reasonable share of their premiums for patient care
  28. Eliminate the higher subsidies to Medicare Advantage plans
  29. Work with schools to create more healthful environments for children
  30. Expand funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners
  31. Increase funding to expand community based prevention programs
  32. Improve recruitment of public health workers
  33. Modernize public health buildings
  34. Increase participation in cancer-related clinical trials
  35. Commission a study on students with disabilities and their transition to jobs or higher education
  36. Reinstate order to hire 100,000 more federal employees with disabilities within five years.
  37. Set goals and timetables for implementing Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act
  38. Create a best practices list for private businesses in accommodating workers with disabilities
  39. Launch educational initiative for employers on tax benefits of hiring employees with disabilities
  40. Increase the Veterans Administration budget to recruit and retain more mental health professionals
  41. Expand Veterans Centers in rural areas
  42. Fully fund the Veterans Administration
  43. Assure that the Veterans Administration budget is prepared as ‘must-pass’ legislation
  44. Expand the Veterans Administration’s number of “centers of excellence” in specialty care
  45. Expand housing vouchers program for homeless veterans
  46. Launch a supportive services-housing program for veterans to prevent homelessness
  47. Dedicate more resources to fight employment discrimination against military reservists
  48. Appoint a special adviser to the president on violence against women
  49. Fully fund the Violence Against Women Act
  50. Fully fund debt cancellation for heavily indebted poor countries
  51. Direct military leaders to end war in Iraq
  52. Begin removing combat brigades from Iraq
  53. No permanent bases in Iraq
  54. Provide $30 billion over 10 years to Israel
  55. Send two additional brigades to Afghanistan
  56. Increase the size of the Army and Marine Corps
  57. Increase special operations forces and civil affairs
  58. Create a military families advisory board
  59. Make military deployments predictable for troops and families
  60. End the “Stop-loss” program of forcing troops to stay in service beyond their expected commitments
  61. Make National Guard leader a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
  62. Equip troops to respond to new tactics
  63. Include humanitarian international missions in long-term budgeting
  64. Strengthen and expand military exchange programs with other countries
  65. Make greater investment in advanced military air technology
  66. End the abuse of supplemental budgets for war
  67. Increase non-military aid to Afghanistan by $1 billion
  68. Make U.S. military aid to Pakistan conditional on anti-terror efforts
  69. Better integrate efforts of federal agencies with the military through new Mobile Development Teams
  70. Open “America Houses” in Islamic cities around the globe
  71. Give a speech at a major Islamic forum in the first 100 days of his administration
  72. End the use of torture
  73. Allocate Homeland Security funding according to risk
  74. Create a real National Infrastructure Protection Plan
  75. Increase funding for local emergency planning“
  76. Phase out highly enriched uranium (HEU) from the civil sector
  77. Convene a summit on preventing nuclear terrorism
  78. Seek verifiable reductions in nuclear stockpiles
  79. Extend monitoring and verification provisions of the START I Treaty
  80. Stand down nuclear forces to be reduced under the Moscow Treaty
  81. Organize successful Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in 2010
  82. Appoint a White House Coordinator for Nuclear Security
  83. Expand federal bioforensics program for tracking biological weapons
  84. Initiate a grant and training program for law enforcement to deter cyber crime
  85. Work to persuade the European Union to end credit guarantees to Iran
  86. Improve relations with Turkey, and its relations with Iraqi Kurds
  87. Launch an international Add Value to Agriculture Initiative (AVTA)
  88. Work for the release of international dissidents
  89. Create a rapid response fund for emerging democracies
  90. Grant Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba
  91. Restore funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program
  92. Establish an Energy Partnership for the Americas
  93. Expand the Nurse-Family Partnership to all low-income, first-time mothers
  94. Centralize ethics and lobbying information for voters
  95. Require Cabinet officials to host Internet town hall meetings
  96. Release presidential records
  97. Require new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliation or contributions.
  98. Promote more pre-school education“
  99. Provide affordable, high-quality child care
  100. Reform No Child Left Behind
  101. Recruit math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession
  102. Address the dropout crisis by giving schools incentives for more dropout prevention
  103. Create a voluntary national performance assessment for educators
  104. Expand teacher mentoring programs and provide incentives for more planning time
  105. Promote innovative ways to reward good teachers
  106. Reduce subsidies to private student lenders and protect student borrowers
  107. Improve water quality
  108. Encourage water-conservation efforts in the West
  109. Increase funding for national parks and forests
  110. Increase funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund
  111. Partner with landowners to conserve private lands
  112. Encourage farmers to use more renewable energy and be more energy efficient
  113. Help students and their families become aware of college readiness
  114. Expand Pell grants for low-income students
  115. Create a community college partnership program
  116. Pursue a wildfire management plan
  117. Remove more brush, small trees and vegetation that fuel wildfires
  118. More controlled burns to reduce wildfires
  119. Increase funding for progams that conserve lands and habitat for select species such as the Osceola turkey
  120. Expand access to places to hunt and fish
  121. Push for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors
  122. Urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws
  123. Repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy
  124. Support repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
  125. Vigorously pursue hate crimes and civil rights abuses
  126. Restore funding to the EEOC and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
  127. Reform mandatory minimum sentences
  128. Encourage videotaping of interrogations in capital cases
  129. Push for a college football playoff system
  130. Create a White House Office on Urban Policy
  131. Fully fund the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
  132. Support regional innovation clusters
  133. Establish program to convert manufacturing centers into clean technology leaders
  134. Help low-income areas get phone and Internet service
  135. Create a Homeowner Obligation Made Explicit (HOME) score for mortgage comparisons
  136. Establish ‘Promise Neighborhoods’ for areas of concentrated poverty
  137. Invest in transitional jobs and career pathway programs
  138. Improve emergency response plans
  139. Cap interest rates on payday loans and improve disclosure
  140. Expand public/private partnerships between schools and arts organizations
  141. Create an artist corps for schools
  142. Champion the importance of arts education
  143. Support increased funding for the NEA
  144. Promote cultural diplomacy
  145. Add another Space Shuttle flight
  146. Use the private sector to improve spaceflight
  147. Work with international allies on space station
  148. Partner to enhance the potential of the International Space Station
  149. Use the International Space Station for fundamental biological and physical research
  150. Explore whether International Space Station can operate after 2016
  151. Conduct robust research and development on future space missions
  152. Increase spending to prepare for longer space missions
  153. Work toward deploying a global climate change research and monitoring system
  154. Improve climate change data records
  155. Enhance earth mapping
  156. Appoint an assistant to the president for science and technology policy
  157. Increase commercialization benefits from technology
  158. Offer prizes for advances in consumer technology
  159. Support commercial access to space
  160. Revise regulations for export of aerospace technology
  161. Establish school programs to highlight space and science achievements
  162. Encourage contests and programs to interest students in science
  163. Increase research opportunities for college students
  164. Establish special crime programs for the New Orleans area
  165. Shake loose federal money for rebuilding the Gulf Coast
  166. Rebuild hospitals in New Orleans
  167. Rebuild schools in New Orleans
  168. Provide incentives to draw employers into areas hardest-hit by Katrina
  169. Direct rebuilding efforts from the White House after a catastrophe
  170. Encourage community service through online outreach and social networking
  171. Create a Social Investment Fund Network
  172. Bolster the military’s ability to speak different languages
  173. Open new consulates “in the tough and hopeless corners of the world”
  174. Enact measures to prevent nuclear fuel from becoming nuclear bombs
  175. Accelerate the development of new medicines, vaccines, and production capabilities
  176. Prevent corporate cyber-espionage
  177. Toughen enforcement for Internet exploitation of children
  178. Appoint the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer
  179. Provide grants to early-career researchers
  180. Strengthen antitrust enforcement
  181. Protect American intellectual property abroad
  182. Reform the patent system
  183. Attract more students to science and math
  184. Increase efforts to reduce unintended pregnancy
  185. Create White House performance team and chief performance officer
  186. Attract more doctors to rural areas
  187. Create a rural revitalization program
  188. Work to overturn Ledbetter vs. Goodyear
  189. Send first-time nonviolent drug offenders to rehab if appropriate
  190. Strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
  191. Stop the development of new nuclear weapons
  192. Create a national declassification center
  193. Appoint an American Indian policy adviser
  194. Create new financial regulations
  195. Create a Presidential Early Learning Council
  196. Increase funding for land-grant colleges
  197. Ban lobbyist gifts to executive employees
  198. Create new criminal penalties for mortgage fraud
  199. Educate business about the benefits of flexible work schedules and telecommuting
  200. Create youth service corps
  201. Reduce dependence on foreign oil
  202. Require 10 percent renewable energy by 2012
  203. Release oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve
  204. Raise fuel economy standards
  205. Create clean coal partnerships
  206. Work to build natural gas pipeline from Alaska
  207. Invest in all types of alternative energy
  208. Enact tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars
  209. Ask people and businesses to conserve electricity
  210. Require more energy-efficient appliances
  211. Create a ‘Green Vet Initiative’ to promote environmental jobs for veterans
  212. Create job training programs for clean technologies
  213. Provide tax credits for automakers to build fuel-efficient cars
  214. Require states to provide incentives for utilities to reduce energy consumption
  215. Modernize the nation’s electricity grid and use “smart grid” practices
  216. Support funding and reform for Amtrak
  217. Support high-speed rail
  218. Support airline service in small towns
  219. Invest in public transportation
  220. Equalize tax breaks for driving and public transit
  221. Consider “smart growth” in transportation funding
  222. Will seek more accommodations of bicycles and pedestrians
  223. Help states and localities address sprawl
  224. Share enviromental technology with other countries
  225. Double federal spending for research on clean fuels
  226. Provide grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes
  227. Increase funding for the Environmental Protection Agency
  228. Appoint at least one Republican to the cabinet
  229. Fully fund federal contribution to the preservation of the Everglades
  230. Raise the small business investment expensing limit to $250,000 through the end of 2009
  231. Extend unemployment insurance benefits and temporarily suspend taxes on these benefits
  232. Support network neutrality on the Internet
  233. Reverse restrictions on stem cell research
  234. Ensure that stem cell research is conducted ethically and with vigorous oversight
  235. Reproductive health care will be “at the heart” of health care reform.
  236. If you don’t have insurance, or don’t like the insurance you have, you’ll be able to choose a new plan on a health insurance exchange
  237. We will kill bin Laden
  238. Offer states waivers to No Child Left Behind if they meet requirements
  239. Extend the American Opportunity Tax Credit
  240. Help restore Gulf Coast wetlands that protect against hurricanes

 

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