Obama believes that not only was 2015 a good year, but 2016 will be even better:
And it looks like Obama has reason to be happy. According to Real Clear Politics, Obama has broken the “second term curse”.
What’s the “second term curse”? When a president is reelected, they often have problems midway through their second term. Nixon was forced out of office. Reagan had the Iran-contra scandal. Clinton was impeached. And Dubya had a double: Hurricane Katrina and a quagmire in Iraq.
But Obama has so far avoided any scandal like his two-term predicessors, and with one year left to go has already racked up a number of wins. Most recently a budget deal with the Republicans, but before that leading the push for climate change accords, the nuclear deal with Iran, normalizing relations with Cuba, huge wins for gay rights, stopping federal raids on medical marijuana users, and rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline (which especially didn’t make sense with the current low oil prices).
There is also good news that (despite the best efforts of the GOP to sabotage the economy, like with government shutdowns and tax cuts for the wealthy) the economy has finally recovered from the Great Recession. The median annual household income has just surpassed levels it was at before the recession started in December 2007.
I can’t wait to see what he accomplishes in the new year.
UPDATE: Yet another win, at least according to Jeb Bush. Bush is attempting a twofer, blaming the rise of Donald Trump on Obama, saying on NPR:
He would not exist were it not for Barack Obama. He is the [antidote] in some people’s minds to the politically correct, divisive policies of Barack Obama.
I guess he has a point. If Obama weren’t president, the GOP would not have had anyone to blame everything on, spewing hatred and lies for so long that their base doesn’t seem to be able to recognize the truth anymore. Which opened the door for Trump. Thanks Obama!
5 Comments
Hey, let’s not forget Obama’s other major “achievement”. According to JEB!, it’s Trump. Now THAT’S (to paraphrase his Trumpness) really, really rich!
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/jeb-bush-blames-obama-rise-trump-n488426
On the other hand, Obama does have two problems through his second term; the Republican Senate and the Republican Chamber of Congress.
Thanks Ralph, I added the rise of Trump to Obama’s achievements.
Yudith, that didn’t stop him in 2015!
Thanks IK, for another year of insightful posts and lively debate. Looks like 2016 promises to be a humdinger of an election year and imagine some of your posts will practically write themselves.
Best wishes to all for a Happy and Healthy New Year!
Paraphrasing Chris Rock, if a Republican had been elected in 2008 and (a) turned the economy around, (b) killed Osama bin Laden, (c) reduced unemployment to less than 5% and (d) reduced the cost of a gallon of gas to $2, the GOP would already have added another head to Mount Rushmore AND put his (there were no women GOP candidates in 2008) head on the new dime!