The Obama Presidency’s Legacy:

Was Obama a good president? Or a lousy one? He’s slightly better than Bush, but one could hope for a lot more when it comes to the leader of the most powerful nation on earth. Here I detail exactly what he has done so far, and explain the myths that the mainstream media likes to shroud him with.

Here’s how the mainstream spins Obama, outside of obviously-rancid FOX news anyway: he tripled the stock market, cut unemployment in half, ended two wars, cut the uninsured rate in half, brought gas down and cut Bush’s deficit by two thirds. Oh, and he caught Bin Laden. These figures certainly sound impressive, but as always they are provided without much…. context. Numbers, politics and statistics can be twisted to mean the opposite of what the everyday person on the street would call truthful, as you are well aware.

Let us examine these claims properly.

he tripled the stock market

This one is probably the easiest to…. contextualize, by asking just one good question: Who has this benefited?

Sky-rocketing income inequality and wage stagnation has meant that the majority of working Americans are in trouble. On the other side, passive income from increases in the stock market has also benefited the uber rich in a sort of a double-whammy.

Then we need to ask, what was done to prop up the stock market? Well, one reason would be that companies are borrowing large wads of money at record-low rates to…. buy back their own stocks. Nope, not invest in the economy. Not generate new ideas, products or jobs… They just borrowed the FED’s monetary stimulus, which is funded by the US tax-payer FYI, to pump up their own share valuations. This makes companies look like they have far better earnings per share than they really do, making them look better than they really are.

This just means that the wealthy have benefited the most from the boom from stock prices… for now, and that they plan on cashing out real soon; preferably by off-loading their shares onto you.

cut unemployment in half

Another easy one. Come to think of it, maybe all of these are easy to disprove. Anyway, guess what else is down? From the FED’s own data, participation rate is at decades-lows. The lowest since the 1970s, in fact, and in those days people were able to survive on a single-income. With dual-income households the norm these days…. Guess what that means for the average person?

In case you don’t understand why this is so, imagine a pitcher full of…. coins? Each coin represents a working person or one who is looking for a job. 7 coins represent people who are looking for work. The unemployment rate goes down when people find work; instead of 7 coins in the pitcher representing those who are looking for a job, we now have 6 because one lucky fella found a job.

There’s actually a much easier way of reducing unemployment: by emptying the pitcher. If nobody is looking for work, there’s no unemployment either. Easy, especially when you get to skew your own numbers, as Keith Hall (former head of the Bureau of Labour Statistics) will tell you.

ended two wars

Really? Well, this one needs a bit of a time-line: Withdrawal from Iraq occurred in Dec 2011 (FYI, Bush signed for the return of the troops; Obama was merely carrying out the former war-monger’s last wishes). In march that year though, Obama chose to lead the charge in starting an entirely different war in Libya, one that ended quickly after Qaddafi was assassinated. The results, however, will contribute to the rise of ISIS which would “accidentally” lead to a swift US return.

According to Global Research: He had essentially reduced one of the most prosperous countries in Africa to a hell-hole; Western embassies have all left, the South of the country has become a haven for terrorists, and the Northern coast a center of human trafficking. In the West of the country, Islamist-allied militias took over control of the capital Tripoli and other cities and set up their own government, chasing away a parliament that was elected over the summer.

On the other side, in the East of the Country, the “legitimate” government dominated by anti-Islamist politicians, exiled 1,200 kilometers away in Tobruk, no longer governs anything.

Funny how all that talk about democracy and freeing the Libyan people ended soon after Qaddafi died. Apart from bombing the crap out of that country, the US did not contribute much to any rebuilding effort.

Then we have Syria, where the US has been openly arming “moderate” rebels. Moderate rebels who keep accidentally defecting to ISIS. Because let’s face it, battle-hardened rapists and child-murderers are just that much better at destroying Syria than the original moderates were.

cut the uninsured rate in half

Well, this one at least seems true. But it is not without potential criticisms: premiums are on their way up, with some premiums higher by 40%.  And what of the increased competition from a so-called healthcare exchange?  Well, it must be very competitive to have just two or three mega-companies “competing” for your dollar, because Obamacare has caused the already meager 5 companies to merge into 3. OOPS, COMPLETELY ACCIDENTAL, HE MEANT WELL. Sigh, some people.

brought gas down and….

This one doesn’t even need explanation: Obama had nothing to do with the cost decline; it was Saudi Arabia that decided to keep prices down. Some contend that Obama had them do this to penalize Russia, but this suppression of prices has an equally negative impact on shale.

cut Bush’s deficit by two thirds.

Seriously? It’s not hard to claim a deficit reduction when you only look at the deficit at the end of Bush’s reign. And besides, aren’t those extremely expensive wars ended? And the debt has doubled since; it had also doubled under Bush the War Chicken, and that was in a period of war. With deficits down though, one can be certain that the next president will be itching to declare open war again. Who cares if the debt keeps tripling, as long as the deficit is down at the end of his term right???

During the Bush administration, debt as a percentage of GDP went from about 55 percent to about 68 percent. As of 2014, it’s shot up to 103.2 percent, according to the Tax Policy Center

Oh, and he caught Bin Laden.

He caught America’s most wanted man, but never had to produce any evidence of his capture? Could’ve kept an ear or something. Huh, and it seems that the Pakistanis were the ones who really caught him.  Seal Team 6 was merely a planned execution, at best.

Bonus!

Also, thanks to Obama, we have the specter of the impending Trans Pacific Partnership or TPP, a deal that is completely secret save leaked documents that prove that generic drugs will be crushed and an international court will get to vote in favor of corporate profits whenever our governments try to help the people (which is rare enough as it is). Yay.

Bonus 2!

Can anyone say police brutality? militarization of the police and wanton police brutality/ murders have been on the rise lately. Might be a coincidence, but might as well think about that in context with the sky-rocketing wealth inequality that was mentioned earlier.

He did legalize Weed tho.

Well, this one is a great thing; one hopes that the wasteful War on Drugs is finally over, and people who have used this relatively harmless plant( compared to smoking and alcohol) are no longer incarcerated or separated from their kids. The medical uses of this plant has helped many people already.

Conclusion. 

In conclusion, Obama hasn’t really contributed much to America or the world. The best thing I can say about him is that at least he did not cause the deaths of over a million people as Bush had in Iraq… Yet.

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