The Obama Presidency, Alix Meyer Flashcards
(119 cards)
1
Q
Obama’s presidency
A
- extremely recent history
- limited bibliographical ressources
- risk of lacking critical distance
2
Q
Definition of presidency (Webster)
A
The term during which a president holds office.
3
Q
Executive branch
A
- Article 2 of US Constitution
- the President must make sure “laws are faithfully executed”
- Commander-in-Chief: he leads the US military
- dominant force in foreign policy: ability to sign treaties and appoint ambassadors
- plenary power beyond the US border
- domestic front: Congress is in charge of legislation. The President can propose new bills
- veto power
- President at the helm of a vast administration that is working under his leadership
4
Q
Obama’s racial identity was…
A
- key to his electorate appeal
- an essential factor in the resistance he had to face
5
Q
Dreams of my father
Importance of the father figure
A
- complicated relationship
- contributed to the complexifying the construction of his identity as a black kid raised by a white mother
6
Q
His youth
A
- atypical story part of his political identity
- personification of the post-racial cosmopolitan USA
- he went back to his roots to explain his own behaviour as president, especially around the issue of race
7
Q
Occidental College in LA
2 formative years
A
- mingled with with politically engaged AA students
- campaign against South African Apartheid
8
Q
Columbia to…
A
major political science (2 years)
9
Q
Graduation and job
A
- 1983
- took a corporate job in New York City
10
Q
Arrival at Chicago
A
- 1985, saw a job posting = community organizer, black
- Chicago mayor: Harold Washington, first AA mayor of
- Chicago (David Axelrod worked for him)
- Obama moved to the Altgeld Gardens Housing Projects (South Side, economically disadvantaged community)
- Joined Trinity United Church of Christ (spiritual quest)
11
Q
Obama’s job as a community organizer in Chicago
A
- helped the community to work collectively to advocate and achieve better living conditions
- he had to raise their political awareness in order to mobilize and put pressure on the authorities so they could start servicing their needs
12
Q
1986
A
- went to Harvard
- to get a law degree
- convinced he could be more effective if he was able to defend people’s interests
- elected president of the Lew review (first AA)
- reputation for bringing diverse people together
13
Q
Obama, 1996
A
- he ran for a seat in the Illinois State Senate
- he served from 1997 to 2004
14
Q
Obama, 2004
A
- elected US Senator from Illinois
- brought together a diverse coalition of voters (Black, Latino, white upscale voters, more traditional voters from Southern Illinois and progressives drawn by his personality, rhetoric, but mostly by his opposition to the Iraq War)
- wealthy donors allowed him to get campaign commercials
- won by 70%
- first AA to represent the State
15
Q
Obama, DNC, 2004
A
- chosen by Kerry campaign for the keynote speech
- symbol of a renewed party
16
Q
Obama, February 2007
A
- launched his campaign
- Springfield, Illinois
- “House Divided”
17
Q
End of Bush’s term
A
- accumulation of diasppointments
- outrageous scandals
- GOP reeling
18
Q
2008 Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton
A
- clear undisputed front runner
- she had the support of investors from Wall Street
19
Q
2008 Democratic primary, Three way contest
A
- John Edwards (12%)
- Hillary Clinton (37%)
- Barack Obama (18%)
(February 2007) - all agreed to bring policy changes in Washington
- all criticized the Bush administration
- only Obama was opposed to the Iraq War
20
Q
2002, Iraq War
A
- Colin Powell
- Secretary of State
- argued before the UNSC that Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction
- October: the Senate authorized Bush to use military power
- 77 senators voted YEA (Edwards and Clinton)
- October, Obama took part in an anti-war demonstration that would become important years later
21
Q
Obama’s 2008 message
A
- his oratory catapulted him to stardom
- help from Favreau’s team (= “the mind reader”)
- Obama’s pitch: the only one to unite a fractured country
- wanted to appeal to Democrats and Republicans = America
- tried not to vilify the other side: Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way Nixon and Clinton didn’t
- campaign centered on hope, better future and change
- he wanted to be a transformative figure
- first AA President would bring change
- appeals to bipartisanship- economic populist message: repeal of the Bush tax cuts for the very wealthy)
- progressive = healthcare
- “Change we can believe in”
22
Q
Difference between a primary and a causus and goal
A
- primary organized by states using secret ballots
- causus organized by parties and the vote doesn’t have to be secret or in ballots (tend to benefit the candidates who have the best ground operation)
- goal: to get the majority of the more of 4000 delegutes (800 “superdeleguates: party leaders, Congressmembers)
23
Q
Democratic primaries, 2008
A
- Clinton supposed to get the superdeleguates votes
- but boost for Obama when Ted Kennedy (Mass Senator) endorsed him in January
- then endorsement from Kerry
- Clinton was the lead until May
24
Q
First caucus, Iowa
A
- importance of Iowa: first to hold its caucus for both parties
- “first in the nation”: lot of media attention
- advantage for Obama: next door to his home state Illinois
- resultats: Obama 38%, Edwards 29.8%, Clinton 29.5%
- tremendous shot of confidence for Obama
25
Race in the Democratic primaries
- Ben Smith, journalist, accused Obama of "playing on the race card"
- Bill Clinton: Obama's victory only based on his race + Geraldine Feeraro (support of Hillary Clinton)
- South Carolina: overwhelming support from black voters
26
Reverend Jeremiah Wright, March 2008
- recording of his old sermons
- controversy on 9/11 and America's militaristic foreign policy
- "A More Perfect Union" speech in Philadelphia (landmark and successful)
27
June 7th, 2008
Clinton officially surrendered and endorsed Obama
28
August 28th, 2008
- DNC in Denver
| - Joe Biden vice-presidential nominee
29
Obama for America
- campaign organisation created in 2007
- special social network MyBarackOmaba.org, YouTube channel, instant messaging, sophisticated targeting
- to assemble the largest mailing list of potential supporters
- reasons why Democratic voters turned out in historic numbers: magnetic presence of Obama, the hard work of volunteers
- support from young and minorities
30
The General Election, 2008
- against John McCain
- financial crisis helped Obama to get elected
- McCain's vice-presidential nominee: Sarah Palin
- McCain ahead of Obama in September
- Obama took back the polls until Election Day
- 10 million more votes and 365 electoral votes
- impressive victory
- majority in the suburbs
- victory speech in Chicago
31
McCain's choice for vice-president: Sarah Palin
- Governor of Alaska
- hit with the Republican base
- but inexperienced and series of gaffes
32
Obama Administration, 2008
- political editor Vaughn Ververs "team of rivals"
- Biden: former rival for the Democratic nomination
- Clinton: Secretary of State
- Bob Gates: Secretary of Defense (kept in his post)
- Lawrence Summers: National Economic Council
- Obama people: Favreau, Axelrod
- Rahm Emmanuel: Chief of Staff
- Timothy Geithner: Secretary of Treasury
33
The financial crisis, 2006-2008
- housing market had been overheating for a decade
- more and more Americans borrowed more money to buy a home
- borrowers who didn't meet the traditional criteria for a regular mortgage got a "subprime mortgage"
- with more potential buyers, house prices started to soar
- burst in 2006 when property values started to decline-
catastrophic for borrowers who owing more money to the bank
- most of them chose to default on their debt and back the keys: banks with growing number of houses with declining values
- January 2008, US economy officially in recession
- end of 2008: loss of 1.5 million jobs
- comparison between Obama and FD Roosevelt (Time Magazine COver: the New Deal)
34
Position of the Democratic Party after 2008 General Election
- strong in Congress
- House majority: 256
- Speaker: Nancy Pelosi
- Senate majority. Harry Reid Senate leader
35
Filibuster
To adopt legislation the Senate majority party must be able to count on 60 votes.
36
Stimulus
- when Obama became president, crisis from Wall Street to Main Street
- February 2009: ARRA
37
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
- $787 billion package
- 1/3 tax cuts
- 1/3 people in need
- 1/3 investments (transports, education, technology, health...)
- No vote from Republicans in the House, 3 in Senate
- largest package in US History
38
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act results
- effective
- longest recession since Great Depression ended in June 2009
- unemployment rate continued to rise until fall 2009 (10% of workforce was looking for a job)
- after that peak, decrease until the end of Obama's two terms
39
Roosevelt and health care
Opted to leave health insurance out of his Social Security
40
Truman and healthcare
- proposed national health insurance
- but defeated by the American Medical Association (who warned "socialized medicine" as a communist plot that would ruin America)
41
Johnson and healthcare
- Great Society
- Medicare 15% (for seniors < 65)
- Medicaid 1 in 5 (for poor single mothers, disables, too young to work)
42
Carter and healthcare
His plans were rejected by the Democratic Congress for being too timid
43
Clinton and healthcare
- failed effort to create universal coverage
| - CHIP for the children of the lower middle-class
44
Healthcare in 2009
- 17% was not covered (45 million)
| - health companies could deny coverage
45
Stabilization Act, 1942
- tax-deductibility of employer-provided health insurance
| - 2009: 49% health insurance through their jobs
46
Hillary Clinton's plan for healthcare
- mandatory for everyone
- healthy people would pay for sick people and wait for their turn
- not well-received among politicians: anny state determined to reduce American freedom
47
The administration's work to pass ACA
- Democrats to support or at least not to oppose the reform
- deals with stakeholders
- Obama offered millions of new customers in exchange for support and cuts in medicare payments
- hospital lobbies agreed
48
Rahm Emmanuel and healthcare, July 2009
- he signed an agreement with pharmaceutical industry lobbyist Billy Tauzin
- Big Pharma agreed not to agitate against healthcare reform in exchange the government would agree to continue not negotiating the price of drugs that Medicare covered
49
ACA
- signed in March 2010
- Biden's "A big fucking deal."
- goals: expanding healthcare coverage
- for progressives: the bill did mandate every American to buy health insurance but it gave them a "public option"
- different plans from bronze to platinium
- value of the tax credits tied to the income
- 20 million still without coverage (parts of them were undocumented)
- united the opposition
- critcs: is the law constitutional by forcing Americans to buy a product?
- reached the Supreme Court in 2012
- long before the effects of the reforms would be felt
50
Difficulties to pass ACA
- Ted Kennedy died in August
- replaced by a Republican
- no more 60 seats at the Senate
51
ACA at the Supreme Court, 2012
- Nationl federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius
| - Chief Justice Roberts sided with the 4 Democratic judges
52
Medicaid program
- states could choose to participate or not
- states paid for a large share of Medicaid spending
- states were free to decide who as eligible
- important discrepancies from state to state
- in 2019, 14 states still refusing to expand Medicaid (too much money to qualify but too little to make private insurance affordable)
53
Healthcare.gov
- to help uninsured to find the right plan for them
| - it crashed: critics
54
Dood-Frank Act
- Wall Street Reform andf Consumer Protection Act
- Dodd: Senator
- Franck: Representative
- something was wrong with Wall Street but the financial industry is a major contributor to both parties and its views held sway on Capitol Hill
- passed in the House
- more ambitious in Senate
- conference between the two
- Obama signed the bill
- most comprehensive reform of Wall Street since the New Deal
55
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- 2011
- Elizabeth Warren
- new independent agency
- to defend the interests of consumers against banks
56
On banks, CBS, December 2009
- "I didn't run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers"
- after this, the financial industry contributed to Republican candidates as before
57
8 historic achievements of the 111th Congress (2009-2011)
- Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to close the gender gap
- CHIP Reauthorization Act guaranteed existing beneficiaries wouldn't lose their coverage and opened the program to 4 million children
- Credit Card Act: to clamp down on credit card companies
- Helping Families Save Their Homes Act to provide debt relief to homeowners as well as students
- Fair Sentencing Act: civil rights victory. Harsher sentences for possession of crack cocaine (mainly black) than powder cocaine
- Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal Act
- 2 new demales justices on the Supreme Court replacing 2 white old men: Sonia Sotomayor (first Latina) and Elena Kagan
- New Start Tready signed with Medvedev
BUT
- progressives disappointed it didn't go far enough
- conservatives opposed them even when the Obama administration borrowed Republican ideas (partisanship difficult to overcome)
58
Ryan Lizza, The New Yorker, on Obama
- The Consequentialist
- someone who looks at a case-by-case basis
- someone who would judge the moral value of his actions
- weighs the different options based on the estimated consequences of action and inaction
+
- everybody got to defend their own arguments, and weighing the pros and cons and suing his own moral compass, Obama would decide
59
Dealing with the Bush legacy (Iraq)
- surge in + 20 000 troops to restore some order (strategy from Petraeus)
- as Senator he voted against
- as candidate he recognized the effectiveness
- November 2008, Status of Forces Agreement: the US pledged to leave within the next 3 years
- February 2009, he announced the new US strategy would be to end combat operations by August 31st 2010
- the deadline was met but 50 000 troops remained to help Iraqis manage the transition
- October 2011: last US soldiers would leave by the end of the year
- War over after 9 years
- 4500 soldiers died
60
From "war on terror" to "war on Al Qaeda"
- realistic approach
- Al Qaeda was the real threat since the American soil was targeted
- the "war on terror" didn't exist to Obama
- defeating Al Qaeda was relatively more achievable
- operations with specific achievable missions > idealogical zeal
61
Afghanistan war (and Pakistan)
- speech in Cairo "necessary war"
- February 2009: 17 000 more troops
- the Pentagon called for more
- December 2009: 30 000 additional troops
- General McChrystal
- promise of more foreign aid and new training to convince Afghanistan and Pakistan to turn against Al Qaeda
- Summer 2011: the number of US troops did start to come down
- 2014: Obama announced the last troops would leave before the end of the second term (promise not kept)
- When Trump sworn in: still 10 000 troops
62
The Arab Spring
- Obama's initial instinct: to stay on the sideline
- intervention counterproductive if the protesters were cast as pawns of the US in a region where many people saw it as the Great Satan
- Mubarak and Assas seen as forces of stability and regional partners in the fight against terorism
- any intervention could another Middle Eastern military quagmire
63
Syria and ISIS
- Assad's powerful friends: Turkey, Iran and Russia
- August 2011: Obama officially called Assas to step down
- Russia blocked the UN to take action (veto)
- Peshmerga fighting for their own independence in the
North (from Iraq, Syria and Turkey)
- atrocities against civilians, minorities ans western hostages
- American-trained Iraqi troops threatened to collapse
- US action became necessary
- - August 2013: use of sarin gas: red line stated a year before (1 400 civilians killed)
- failed deal with Putin which stated Assas would get rid of his chemical weapons
- September 2015: Russia started airstrikes against the Syrian rebels
- August 2014: beginning of a campaign of airstrikes in Iraq
- extanded to Syrian after Paris attacks
- ISIS never managed to strike the US but online propaganda that inspired 11 violent attacks in the US between 2014 and 2017
- Deadliest: June 2016, Omar Mateen, Pulse nighclub in Orlando (49 people died)
64
Russia and Ukraine
- war in Georgia 2008
- McCain argued for a forceful response
- Obama decided not to pursue the matter
- he counted on the election of Medvedev in 2008 to improve the relationship
- March 2009, CLinton and her Russian counterpart pushing a red button "overcharge" instead of "reset"
- 2013: Crimea annexed. No American retaliation because not part of NATO. McCain wanted a forceful response
- 2014: Ukraine invasion
- Obama decided to work with European leaders on economic sanction for Russia and an aid package for the Ukraine government
- 2016: Russia interfered in the presidential election
- clear preference for Trump / undermining Clinton
- Obama's response was discreet: economic sanctions with the planting of cyberwarfare capabilities that could cripple Russia
65
Israel and Palestine
| North Korea
- failure of a peace treaty
- economic sanctions
- temporary aid didn't succeed
=> limits of America's and the president's ability to shape global events
66
"The Obama Doctrine"
| Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic
- Obama disappointed with world leaders for failing to recognize that he was right and they were wrong
- Obama's hubris: detrimental to achieving his objectives at home in a system that required the president to cooperate and not lecture the other branches of government
67
Gridlock
To describe politics in the second phase
68
Democratic failure: Employee Free Choice Act
- Obama's campign buoyed by support from America's labor unions
- EFCA would have made it easier for workers to organize and get union representation
- context of economical crisis
- led by Miller (Rep California) and Ted Kennedy
- 4 Democratic against
- bill was never put up for a vote
- Obama blamed for not trying hard enough
69
Democratic failure: Global warming and "cap-and-trade"
- primaries: reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- 2007 "Cap-and-trade but allow companies to buy "polluting rights" from more virtuous ones
- bill introduced by McCain and Obama
- approach devised in the 1970s by conservative thinkers and embraced by Reagan
- the administration felt confident that Congress would pass it
70
Democratic failure: Global warming and American Energy and Security Act
- introduced in May 2009
- develop green energies
- cap-and-trade system
- it passed the House but 44 Democrats voted no because of the extractive industry in their states
- Republicans against an "energy tax"
- Senate: Graham (R) and Kerry worked together to ensure bipartisan support
- more natural gas production
- more nucelar energy support
- more offshore drilling permits
- in exchange for Republican support
- but explosion on Deepwater Horizon in 2010: most catastrophic oil spill in US History
- it failed in the US Senate
71
Democratic failure: Immigration reform
- 12 million undocumented contributing to the economy
- many had children (US citizens)
- deportation was thought immoral
- additional border security and more legal immigration to meet the demands from employers
- Democratic Party called for a "Comprehensive immigration reform"
- for more border security to reassure white voters
- an appealing path to citizenship to the Latino voters
- deadline: first year of the administration but not respected
- 4 years later: still nothing
- it failed
72
US citizenship
- birthright citizenship
| - 14th amendment
73
The Dream Act
- first introduced in 2001
- to give permanent residency to undocumented immigrants
- young children (brought to the US, didn't break the law)
- could complete high school but enormous challenges after (ineligible for reduced tuition or federal student loan program)
- not allowed to work
- could be deported at any time
- benefits to 2.1 million individuals
- had to have entered the US as minors
- have been living in the US for at least 5 years
- not engaged in any criminal activity
- be of "good character"
- pay a hefty "application fee"
- probationary period (2 years of higher education or service in the military) after which they could apply to become legal permanent residents
74
The DREAM Act: Obama on the failure
- 2012; Jorge Ramos, Spanigh TV channel
- asked Obama to justify his broken promise
- other emergencies (financial crisis)
- couldn't count on the Republican support
- limits of his office: "I'm not the heat of the legislative, I'm not the head of the judiciary"
75
Irony of Obama presidency (D/R)
- disappointed Democratic activits (lack of idealogical fervor)
- outrage from conservatives who decried a communist takeover
76
Tea Party's creation
- 2009
- stimulus package: ire of conservatives
- CNBC, Rick Santelli ranting against the program aimed at helping homeowners who were struggling to meet their mortage payments
- the administration wasted billions of dollars for unworthy Americans and betraying the true spirit of the Founding Fathers
- to raise up against taxes as 1773 Boston Tea Party
- TEA = "Taxed Enough Already"
- racism towards Obama: against who he was and represented
- political scientists: TP afraid of change, wish to turn the clock back
- pushed the Republican party to the right
77
Birther movement (Birtherism)
- Obama not legitimate
- because born in Kenya
- produced a fake birth certificate
- secretely Muslim
- conspiracy theories taken up by people closer to the mainstream (Trump)
- 2008 campaign: McCain pushed back against a woman alleging Obama was an "Arab"
78
"Pledge to America", September 2010
- drafted by the Tea Party
| - vowed to repeal and replace the ACA
79
Dealing with the Bush legacy (tax-cut)
- Obama sought to extend a tax-cut for the middle-class introduced by Bush 7 years before which expired in December 2010
- higher tax for wealthy people would afford more ($250 000/year)
- passed in the House but Senate blocked it
- they would rather see everyone's taxes rise than scrapping the cuts for the wealthy
- campaign promise: not raising taxes on the middle-class
- he capitulated in exchange for an extension of unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed
- blackmail to Kerry who accued the Rep of holding the country hostage
80
Deficit (first term)
- ballooned
- 2008: 3.1% GDP
- 2009: 9.5% GDP
- 2010: 8.4% GDP
- 2011: 8.4% GDP
81
Public debt (first term)
- doubled
- 2008: 39.5%
- 2011: 65.8%
82
Budget (Article 1 Constitution)
- government cannot spend a dime without congressional approvement
- if Obama refused to give into their demands, they could refuse to pass the budget
- shutdown
83
Budget Control Act 2011
- greatest GOP success under Obama
- bipartisan effort
- to provide for budget control
84
American Taxpayer Relief Act 2013
- rised taxes on the very wealthy
85
Shutdown October 2013
- House voted dozens of times for a repeal of the ACA
- blocked by the Senate every time
- Senator Cruz wanted to defund Obamacare
- American public blamed Republicans
- 2 weeks of bad press and worsening polls for the GOP, the government reopened by a bipartisan vote and Obamacare was intact
- Harry Reid decided to wait the Republicans out
- it reduced US GDP and destroyed thousans of jobs
86
House Freedom Caucus
- January 2015
- 3 dozens of the most conservative Tea Party radicals
- next two years: thorn in the side of the Speaker
- refused to vote for any bill that didn't meet their high ideaological standars
- without their votes, the Republicans had no majority
- the empowered the Democratic minority
87
Speaker, September 2015
Boehner forced out and replaced by Paul Ryan.
88
Deficit (second term)
- climbed down
- 2013: 4.1% GDP
- 2016: 3.2%GDP
89
Most unproductive Congresses in modern American history
- 112th (2011-2012)
| - 113th (2013-2014)
90
Nuclear option
- parliamentary procedure that allows a majority of 51 votes in Senate
- 2014: Obama lost the Senators who supported him (6 years)
- February 2016, Justice Antonin Scalia died
- he chose to nominate Merrick Garland who was supposed to be a consensus pick
- the Senate refused
- the seat should be left open for the next president
- Trump chose Neil Gorsuch with the nuclear option
91
Guantanamo: broken promise
- still open in 2016
- 40 individuals
- finding another destination for these detainees was harder than Obama thought
- bipartisan unison to prevent the return of detainees
- ban on transfering or releasing detainees in the National Defense Authorization Act, 2015
92
The 2012 campaign
- not same enthusiasm as 2008
- Mitt Romney
- Obama - Biden ticket carried 332 electoral college votes
- hold on to the safe Democratic states and win the usual swing states (Ohio and Florida)
- lost North Carolina and Indiana
- Democratic minority in the House
93
Fundraiser, Obama, 2008
White working-class clinging to religion, guns and xenophobia.
94
Same-sex marriage
- supported at the beginning of his career
- turned against when Senator in Illinois
- he wanted equality but not "marriage" (historical and symbolical)
- counted on the AA votes who tend to have conservative views on marriage
- changed in mind in 2012: followed the public opinion
- 2011: majority of Americans in favor
- 2015: states could not prevent same-sex marriage
95
Defense of Marriage Act, 1996
It defined "marriage" as a "union between one man and a woman"
96
United States v. Windsor, 2013
- Edith Windsor
- widow of Thea Spyer
- married in Canada
- marriage recognized in the state of NY
- but not valid under federal law
- Windsor had to pay federal estate taxes upon the death of her spouse
- wouldn't have been subjected to had her marriage been recognized
- violation of 5th amendment (right to equal protection under federal law)
- the Court agreed and struck down the Defense of Marriage Act
97
DACA
- June 2012
- Janet Napolitano (Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security)
- protected from deportation
- brought into the country before 16
- residing in the US for 5 years
- enrolled in school / graduated from high school / serving in the US army
- right side of the law
- no older than 30
- + $500 fee
=> DADAmented
- no legal status
- just a protection for 2 years
- November 2014: extended to 3 years
98
DAPA
- Deferred Action for Parents of Americans
- for undocumented parents of American citizens
- criminal background check
- fee
- apply for a work permit
99
DACA and DAPA
- 5 million undocumented could start coming out from the shadows
- presence legally recognized
- before 2012, GOP said nothing because they wanted to appeal to Latinos but Romney's defeat
- they sued US government
- Supreme Court in 2016
- Scalia died (only 8)
- June 2016, Supreme Court blocked DACA and DAPA
100
Deportation (first term)
- decrease in the number of apprehensions and deportations
| - decrease in the number of crossings
101
Immigration in 2014
- increase in the number of unaccompanied minors
| - Northern triangle (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador
102
Obama and deportation (two terms)
- 3 million removals
| - "the deporter-in-chief" from Janet Murguia (Latino advocacy group)
103
Refugees (two terms)
- increase
- Refugee Settlement Program
- sizeable portion of Syrians
- Republicans thought it was a dangerous policy in the conext of ISIS
104
Global warming, 2010
- executive power
- to impose new fuel efficiency standards on cars and trucks
- "all-of-the-above"strategy
- to promote both domestic fuel production and renewables
- he angered both environmentalists and the industry
105
Climate Plan Action, 2013
- reduction in CO2
106
CO2 emissions
- first term: CO emissions fell because of the economic recession
- and shift from coal to natural gas
107
Energy production, end of his two terms
- US biggest producer of oil and gas
| - but less polluting because decline of coal-powered plants
108
Clean Power Plan, 2015
- each state had individual targets to cut CO2 emissions from power plants
- goal: reduce powerplant emissions by more than 30% before 2030
109
Keystone XL Pipeline
- 2015:Obama rejected the construction of the last stretch
| - 2017: Trump took action intended to permit the completion
110
Global warming, last year in office
- issued a moratorium on new leases for coal mining
- protected millions of acres of public land from development
- signed the Paris agreement to reduce global emissions (not a treaty because it must be ratified by 2/3 of the Senate)
111
Criminal justice reform
- Eric Holder
- Federalism hampered the administration because policing and correctional system remain state prerogatives
- mass incarceration: vexing issues but not much he could do
- 2015: Obama first president to visit a federal prison
- part of his commitment to respond to the Black Lives Matter movement
- criminal justice impossible because of Republicans and strong devotion to law enforcement
112
Black Lives Matter, Trayvon Martin
- 2012
- 17 shot by neighborhood vigilante Zimmerman
- found not guilty
- start of #BlackLivesMatter
113
Black Lives Matter, Ferguson
- 2015
- Michael Brown shot and killed by police
- demonstrations
- Grand jury chose not to indict the officer
- Obama took the podium to call on both sides to keep calm
114
Granting clemency
- Article 2, section 2
| - granted clemency to 1927 inmates (8 years)
115
Imperial Presidency 2.0
- stretched the powers of his office // Bush
- signing statements to expand his presidential powers
- executive branch
116
Obama as Commander-in-Chief
- Bush's PATRIOT Act criticized by Senator Obama
- after Snowden's leaks, he signed into law the reauthorizations of the PATRIOT Act
- 2015: USA Freedoom Act that prolonged most of its dispositions
- Obama's "kill list" of targeted terrorists that he ordered to be assassinated
- war centralized in the White House ≠ Pentagon
117
Obama Diplomat-in-Chief (Iran)
- campaign, Senator Obama ready to meet the Iranian
- thought he could make a difference on the world's stage
- 2015: deal
- Iran agreed to reduce its existing stockpile of uranium
- in exchange the US, the UK, China, France, Germany and the EU would agree to lift the economic sanctions
118
Obama Diplomat-in-Chief (Cuba)
Normalized relationships with the Cuban government.
119
Obama Diplomat-in-Chief (Pacific)
- Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)
- to control China's expansion
- to promote commercial exchanges with countries that border the Pacific
- but did not include China
- to form a new economic bloc around it
