Comments by "MrMJmusicLover" (@MrMJmusicLover) on "House approves additional Postal Service funding while Trump threatens veto" video.
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@chadleach6009 11. Reversed Bush Torture Policies
Two days after taking office, signed an executive order banning the so-called “enhanced interrogation” techniques used by the CIA under President Bush and considered inhumane under the Geneva Conventions. Also released the secret Bush administration legal opinions supporting the use of these techniques.
12. Established Rules to Limit Carbon Emissions from Power Plants
Finalized a “Clean Power Plan” in 2015 through new EPA regulations, setting the first-ever carbon pollution standards for existing power plants. When fully implemented in 2030, the new rules will result in a 32 percent reduction in carbon emissions compared to 2005.
13. Normalized Relations with Cuba
In 2014, took steps to open diplomatic and commercial ties with Cuba, ending the failed Cold War policy of isolation. In March 2016, direct mail flights to Cuba resumed for the first time in fifty years. American tourists may also now freely visit the country.
14. Put Medicare on Sounder Financial Footing
Slowed the growth of health care spending through cost-saving measures enacted as part of the ACA, ensuring the solvency of Medicare’s principal trust fund through 2028.
15. Protected DREAMers from Deportation
Took executive action in June 2012 to protect undocumented young people brought to the U.S. as children
(so-called DREAMers) from deportation and allow them to apply for work permits.
16. Established Net Neutrality
Directed the Federal Communications Commission to issue a rule classifying internet service providers as a public utility and forcing them to treat all web traffic the same, regardless of source. After years of litigation, a federal court upheld the FCC’s rule, meaning providers can’t favor certain websites or block others.
17. Protected Two Liberal Seats on the U.S. Supreme Court
Nominated and obtained confirmation for Sonia Sotomayor (the first Hispanic person and third woman to serve on the Court) in 2009 and Elena Kagan (the fourth woman) in 2010. They replaced David Souter and John Paul Stevens, respectively.
18. Boosted Fuel Efficiency Standards
Released new fuel efficiency standards in 2011 that will increase fuel economy to the equivalent of 54.5 miles per gallon for cars and light-duty trucks by model year 2025.
19. Kicked Banks Out of Federal Student Loan Program, Expanded Pell Grant Funding
As part of the 2010 health care reform bill, signed a measure ending the decades-old practice of subsidizing banks to provide college loans. As a result, all students began getting their federal student loans directly from the federal government. More than half of the savings ($36 billion over ten years) is dedicated to expanding Pell Grants to lower-income students.
20. Improved America’s Image Abroad
With new policies, diplomacy, and rhetoric, reversed a sharp decline in world opinion toward the U.S. (and the corresponding loss of “soft power”) during the Bush years. Favorable opinion toward the United States rose during Obama’s first term in ten of fifteen countries surveyed by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, with an average increase of 26 percent, and have stayed high ever since.
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@chadleach6009 31. Cut Veteran Homelessness by Half
In 2010, launched the nation’s first comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness, Opening Doors, which has led to a 47 percent decline in the number of homeless veterans since 2010 and aims to end youth homelessness by 2020.
32. Enacted Government Surveillance Reform
Signed the 2015 USA Freedom Act, which bans the governmental collection of bulk data, creates a special panel to provide technical and legal advice to the court administering the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and provides greater transparency for FISA court opinions. The ACLU noted that the legislation marked the first time since 1978 that Congress has “taken steps to restrict, rather than expand, its government surveillance authority.”
33. Expanded Overtime Pay
Updated a provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act to ensure overtime pay for employees making up to $47,476 a year, thereby expanding overtime protections to 4.2 million workers. The new rules were set to go into effect in December 2016, but were blocked in November by a federal judge in Texas.
34. Cracked Down on Bad For-Profit Colleges
Through the Department of Education, issued “gainful employment” regulations in 2011, cutting off commercially focused schools from federal student aid funding if more than 25 percent of former students aren’t paying off their loans or if former students spend more than 12 percent of their average total earnings servicing student loans. In June 2016, regulators voted to shut down the nation’s largest accreditor of for-profit colleges, cutting off federal aid to hundreds of for-profits.
35. Cut the Deficit
Reduced the federal deficit from 9.8 percent of GDP in 2009 to 3.2 percent in 2016, one benefit of a strengthening economy.
36. Created the College Scorecard
Through the Department of Education, developed a comprehensive database in 2015 that allows prospective college students to compare potential schools based on costs, graduation rates, debt, and post-college earnings.
37. Improved School Nutrition
Signed the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act in 2010, championed by Michelle Obama, mandating a $4.5 billion spending boost and higher nutritional standards for school lunches. New rules double the amount of fruits and vegetables, and require only whole grains, in foods served to students.
38. Expanded the Definition of Hate Crimes
Signed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, applying existing hate crime laws to crimes based on a victim’s sexual orientation, gender, or disability, in addition to race, religion, or national origin.
39. Recognized the Dangers of Carbon Dioxide
Through 2009 EPA regulations, declared carbon dioxide a pollutant, allowing the agency to regulate
its production.
40. Strengthened Women’s Right to Fair Pay
Signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009, giving women who are paid less than men for the same work the right to sue their employers after they find out about the discrimination, even if it happened years ago. Under previous law, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the statute of limitations on such suits ran out 180 days after the alleged discrimination occurred, even if the victims never knew about it.
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@chadleach6009 41. Secured the Removal of Chemical Weapons from Syria
Forced an agreement by Syrian leader Bashar Assad in 2013 to destroy the country’s stockpile of chemical weapons in accordance with the United Nations Chemical Weapons Convention. In 2016, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons confirmed the destruction of thousands of tons of mustard gas and other toxic chemicals. (There is evidence, however, that Assad has recently continued to use chlorine gas against rebels and civilians in Aleppo.)
42. Protected LGBTQ Americans From Employment Discrimination
Signed an executive order in 2014 prohibiting federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating against their workers on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
43. Reduced Discrimination Against Former Prisoners in Federal Hiring
Signed an executive order to “ban the box” in federal hiring and contracting. Government employers can’t ask about criminal records at the beginning of the application process, giving applicants with a criminal history a fairer shot.
44. Won Major Victories Against Housing and Mortgage Discrimination
Through the Justice Department, reached a record $335 million settlement against Countrywide Financial Corporation and a $175 million settlement against Wells Fargo for their practices of charging higher interest and fees to African American and Latino borrowers prior to the financial crisis, in addition to numerous other suits pursued on behalf of borrowers. In 2015, the administration successfully argued before the Supreme Court that victims of housing discrimination suing for bias only need to show “disparate impact,” not an intent to discriminate, to win their case.
45. Expanded Broadband Coverage
Obtained approval from the FCC to shift $8 billion in subsidies away from landlines and toward broadband
internet access for lower-income rural families. By 2016, 98 percent of Americans had access to fast 4G/LTE broadband.
46. Expanded Health Coverage for Children
Signed the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act in 2009, expanding the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to cover an additional four million children, paid for by a tax increase on tobacco products.
47. Improved Food Safety
Signed the 2011 FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, which increased the Food and Drug Administration’s budget by $1.4 billion and expanded its regulatory responsibilities to include increasing the number of food inspections, issuing direct food recalls, and reviewing the safety practices of countries exporting food products to the U.S.
48. Let the Space Shuttle Die and Killed the Planned Moon Mission
Allowed the expensive ($1 billion per launch), badly designed, and dangerous shuttle program to make its final launch on July 8, 2011. Cut off funding for the even more bloated and problem-plagued Bush-era Constellation program to build a moon base in favor of support for private-sector low-earth orbit ventures, research on new rocket technologies for long-distance manned flight missions, and unmanned space exploration, including the largest interplanetary rover ever launched, designed to investigate Mars’s potential to support life.
49. Rebuilt and Fortified the Gulf Coast post-Katrina
Completed a $14.5 billion system in 2011 to rebuild the levees in New Orleans and protect it from a 100-year storm.
50. Avoided Scandal
Became the first president since Dwight Eisenhower to serve two terms with no serious personal or political scandal.
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