| In celebration of Obama's first 100 days in office, | | | | Worthy/Kept: 1. |
| published a series, "The Obameter: Tracking | | | | 10. End the use of torture. First, we don't torture. |
| Obama's Campaign Promises." The site compiles | | | | So Obama's promise is to stop splashing water on |
| 514 promises Obama made during the campaign | | | | terrorists. Harmful/In the Works: 0. |
| and tracks his daily progress in fulfilling them. | | | | 11. Close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center. |
| PolitiFact assigns each promise one of the | | | | This was never actually fulfillable, because there is |
| following outcomes: Kept, Compromise, Broken, | | | | no sane option for what to do with the detainees |
| Stalled, In the Works, No Action, and Yes We | | | | that would be acceptable to anyone but the |
| Can (just kidding on the last one). They also | | | | ACLU. Harmful/In the Works (supposedly): 0. |
| identify his "Top 25" most important promises. | | | | 12. End warrantless wiretaps; or, "Shoot ourselves |
| This seems like such an even-handed, nonpartisan | | | | in the collective eardrum." Harmful/No Action: 0. |
| way to evaluate Obama, one we can all agree on. | | | | 13. Seek verifiable reductions in nuclear stockpiles. |
| Indeed, as of Day 96, PolitiFact, the St. | | | | Any state we don't trust will, by definition, not |
| Petersburg Times-housed, Pulitzer Prize-winning | | | | negotiate with us to reduce their stockpiles or halt |
| site, lists only 5% of Obama's promises as Kept, | | | | actions to develop nuclear weapons. Harmful/No |
| 12% as In the Works, and 79% as No Action. | | | | Action: 0. |
| It's interesting, however, that for PolitiFact, the | | | | 14. Centralize ethics and lobbying information for |
| baseline for success is whether Obama keeps his | | | | voters. Sort of like the database Obama created |
| promises. The assumption is that his promises are | | | | to document contributions made by supporters, in |
| worth keeping. As Obama said, "You can't just | | | | order to ensure foreign nationals were not making |
| listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done." | | | | donations-oh, wait... Inoffensive/No Action: 0. |
| A better way to track Obama's performance | | | | 15. Require more disclosure and a waiting period |
| might be to first classify his threats-er, | | | | for earmarks. Earmarks make up but an |
| promises-into three categories: Harmful, | | | | infinitesimal fraction of government spending. |
| Inoffensive, and Worthy. By this system, I | | | | Inoffensive/No Action: 0. |
| determine that 15 out of 25, or 60%, of Obama's | | | | 16. Tougher rules against revolving door for |
| Top 25 promises are Harmful, 24% are | | | | lobbyists and former officials. Worthy/Broken: 0. |
| Inoffensive, and 16% are Worthy. Off to a great | | | | 17. Secure the borders. Obama will support |
| start! | | | | "additional personnel, infrastructure and technology |
| Second, let's give Obama 1 point for every | | | | on the border and at our ports of entry." This is |
| Worthy promise he's kept, a ½ point for | | | | too vague to mean anything one way or the |
| every one that's compromised, stalled, or in the | | | | other. Inoffensive/In the Works: 0. |
| works, and 0 points for every one that's broken | | | | 18. Provide a path to citizenship for undocumented |
| or not acted on. Give him 0 points for every | | | | immigrants. Lovely, but this isn't anywhere near |
| Harmful promise, no matter what stage it's in, | | | | the Top 25 issues we face. Inoffensive/No Action: |
| except let's give him a ½ point for every | | | | 0. |
| Harmful promise he's broken, because he might | | | | 19. Reform mandatory minimum sentences. A real |
| just have been appeasing his base during the | | | | liberal would have the guts to talk about |
| campaign (though he still loses credit for scaring | | | | decriminalizing drug use, as some libertarian |
| us). Inoffensive promises get no points. | | | | Republicans have. Worthy/No Action: 0. |
| And now, PolitiFact's Top 25 Obama Promises, | | | | 20. Secure nuclear weapons materials in four |
| deconstructed and scored by me: | | | | years. See "reduction in stockpiles." Any country |
| 1. Create a foreclosure prevention fund for | | | | that would comply is not a threat. Inoffensive/No |
| homeowners; or, "Pour $10 billion over Niagara | | | | Action: 0. |
| Falls." Harmful/Kept: 0. | | | | 21. Strengthen antitrust enforcement; or, "Stop |
| 2. Create a tax credit of $500 for workers. If he | | | | the next Microsoft before it floods the market |
| had made it $500,000, he might have captured | | | | with inexpensive technological advancements that |
| my interest. Inoffensive/Compromise: 0. | | | | make everyone's life better." Harmful/No Action: |
| 3. Repeal the Bush tax cuts for higher incomes; | | | | 0. |
| or, "Decrease incentives to work and engage in | | | | 22. Create new financial regulations; or, "Make |
| entrepreneurship; increase income non-reporting | | | | sure every new American company sets up shop |
| and tax loophole exploitation." Harmful/In the | | | | in London, Hong Kong, or Singapore." Harmful/In |
| Works: 0. | | | | the Works: 0. |
| 4. Create a National Health Insurance Exchange. | | | | 23. Create 5 million "green" jobs; or, "Be ready to |
| I'm allergic to any campaign promise with that | | | | fight the next round of global cooling after the |
| many capital letters. Harmful/No Action: 0. | | | | current round of global warming is over." Harmful |
| 5. Require children to have health insurance | | | | In the Works: 0. |
| coverage; or, "Drive up the costs of health | | | | 24. Reduce oil consumption by 35 percent by |
| insurance and provide cover for the government | | | | 2030; or, "Encourage caveman chic." Harmful/No |
| to step in and start rationing." Harmful/No Action: | | | | Action: 0. |
| 0. | | | | 25. Create cap and trade system with interim |
| 6. Invest in electronic health information systems; | | | | goals to reduce global warming; or, "Make Al Gore |
| or, "Do what hospitals and clinics are already | | | | give up 80% of his SUV fleet by the time his |
| doing, but less efficiently and at greater cost." | | | | grandchildren are old enough to drive." Harmful/In |
| Harmful/In the Works: 0. | | | | the Works: 0. |
| 7. Fully fund the Veterans Administration. Gee, this | | | | Total score: 1 point out of a maximum of 25, or |
| doesn't have anything to do with rubbing it in | | | | 4%. Congratulations, Obama! I believe that is |
| Bush's face over those rats they found in the VA | | | | what's known in high school as an "F minus minus |
| a couple of years ago, does it? Worthy/No | | | | minus." |
| Action: 0. | | | | Obama didn't even get any half-points for |
| 8. Begin removing combat brigades from Iraq; or, | | | | breaking any of his harmful promises. And here, |
| "See if we can lose the war just as we're | | | | under my system, he could have scored a 30% |
| crossing the finish line." Harmful/In the Works: 0. | | | | just by abandoning every one of his rotten ideas. |
| 9. Send two additional brigades to Afghanistan. | | | | |