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What are some opinions about what President Obama has done wrong as President during his term so far?

Answer:
This question is asking for opinions. Please keep the tone friendly when adding yours. This question is for voicing your opinion about what has been done wrong. See the related question below for voicing your opinions about what was done right in his Presidential term so far. If you disagree with another opinion in these answers, do not put that here, that is what the discussion section is for. When adding your opinion, put it below those opinions before yours.



*Note: some opinions may be based on biases,
misinformation or misinterpretation of facts.


  1. Signed order to close the prisoner "torture camp" at Guantanamo Bay, but it remains open.

  2. Created a $789 billion economic stimulus plan which only threw a lot of money around and ran up record debts.

  3. Wants to cut the size of the military which puts us at risk.

  4. Created the "Cash for clunkers" program that offered vouchers to trade in old cars for new cars to help stimulate auto sales, save energy, and help the environment. But, it was a really stupid idea, it wasted our tax money. It destroyed American cars and replaced them with foreign cars.

  5. Started to try to regulate and label carbon dioxide emissions, a really crazy idea. Carbon dioxide is a trace gas. There is less than one half of one percent in the atmosphere. It is absolutely vital to plants. This regulation just gives the government the power to kill any business.

  6. He has not dismantled the Federal Reserve.

  7. Renewed the PATRIOT Act with increased provisions, and he also signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law. Citizens can be detained without trial under the NDAA, which is obviously very bad.

  8. Promised during his campaign to end the war in Iraq and bring the troops home immediately. He then set a timetable which he violated, and only lately have we seen the major troop withdrawals and end of the war.

  9. It is not so much what he has done wrong as what has he not yet done what was expected from his promises.

  10. Many bad things including the failed stimulus bill putting America in debt another trillion.

  11. The health care bill which will make people who work hard for their money have to pay even more taxes because it has to be paid for somehow. Plus it takes away our freedoms by making us have health care that will just make America weaker.

  12. Didn't end income tax for seniors making less than $50,000 President Obama promised: " Will eliminate all income taxation of seniors making less than $ 50,000 per year. This will eliminate 7 million seniors - saving them an average 1,400 per year."

  13. Didn't keep promise to end no-bid contracts above $25,000- President Obama promised: "Will ensure that Federal contracts over 25,000 are competitively bid."

  14. Did not allow imported prescription drugs- He promised to: " Allow Americans to buy their medicines from other developed countries if the drugs are safe and prices are lower outside the US"

  15. Did not double the peace corps as promised: "Barack Obama will double the peace corps to 16,000 by its 50th anniversary in 2011 and push Congress to fully fund this expansion, with a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean."

  16. Did not allow five days of public comment before singing bills as promised: "Will not sign any non-emergency bills without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days."

  17. Broke promise to give annual "state of the world" address: " I'll give an annual 'State of the World ' address to the American people in which I lay out our national security policy."

  18. Broke promise that no family making less than $250,000 a year would see any form of tax increase: "I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."

  19. Has not directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct Federal cancer initiatives as promised.

  20. Did not make tougher rules against revolving door for lobbyists and former officials.

  21. Has not doubled funding for after school programs.

  22. Has not urged states to treat same-sex couples with equality in their family and adoption laws.

  23. Bankruptcy judges modify terms of a home mortgage.

  24. No support for human mission to moon by 2020.

  25. Has not paid for the national service plan without increasing the deficit.

  26. Didn't reduce earmarks to 1944 levels.

  27. Has not recognized Armenian genocide.

  28. Did not require that negotiations of health care reform be held in public sessions televised on C-SPAN

  29. Has not created a public option health plan for a new National Health Insurance Exchange.

  30. If you have not already thrown this paper away, you would also find out that President Obama found time to make sure that he'd establish a credit card bill of rights. Yes, that's important but what about all of the things that he did not do? It is obvious that he does not know what he has gotten himself into. He came into the game unprepared, and his only life is fading away. I personally think that it is ridiculous how he does things. He is more of a planner and not a doer.

  31. Obama Memorial Day 2010, Barack Obama skipped the Memorial Day tradition of the President laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns. It is not unprecedented. He is reported to be returning to his home town to go to a family reunion for the memorial day weekend.

  32. What is "bad" from one person's perspective may be good from another. Such as, he was elected to--and set about--changing policies and procedures that the Bush Administration put in place over eight years (including starting unnecessary wars and the implementation of torture) but this is not fully implemented.

  33. Has not pushed back enough against accusations of socialism, but these accusations have been hype and hyperbole.

  34. He is a socialist. Read the definition of socialism and compare, if you do this there is no denying that Obama is a socialist.

  35. He spent more than four times more in his first year than the next highest, which was Geo. W Bush.

  36. Without going too far into detail, every pet project of his has turned into a disaster.

  37. The economy has not recovered even though the White House declared the recession to be over nearly two years ago

  38. Health care premiums have tripled, and our leader still shows no signs that he will act like the leader of the free world.

  39. Bowing to an official of another country. Bowing may be a sign of respect there, but we need to show the world we are the leader, they must conform to us.

  40. So far, he has been a complete failure - even his own supporters are jumping ship by the thousands because instead of making the right choices and following his heart, every choice he makes is based on whether it will help him win a second term or not. Pathetic, and an embarrassment for the Democrats.

  41. He raised taxes, made pointless and costly ear-marks. The tax increase, contrary to his small brain, does not help people. Tax increase forces businesses to lay off workers which President Obama does not understand.

  42. He doesn't understand war.

  43. President Obama wants to hand out money to people who are poor, and possibly more than half those people are slobs who refuse to work.

  44. He increased the deficit by over $900 billion in his 1st 2 years.

  45. Doubled unemployment in his 1st 2 years.

  46. Put another 16 million people on food stamps. Those was his contributions to the financial crisis so far.

  47. Got us into more debt in nine months than the last three presidents combined in the entirety of their terms in office.*

  48. He said we were going to have health care this year but we don't.

  49. Came to the negotiation table already at a compromise with the Republicans. This gave the Republicans room to reject the compromise without even looking at it, on the principle that they could get more.

  50. Obama allowed Republicans to frame the health care debate by their terms, instead of persuading Americans that this was a long term social issue, and that he was on the right side of the argument.

  51. Instead of compromising, Barack Obama should have been bolder, pushing forth a hugely progressive agenda and garnering public support, compromising only in the end after he had the support. Instead, Obama led himself into a corner where there was no more room for bargaining, and he had to capitulate.

  52. President Barack Obama has repeatedly bailed out big companies for their financial mistakes over and over again. This will in the future end up to be his biggest downfall especially during his first year in office.

  53. Using tax payer money to bail out those financial institutions that caused the largest financial turmoil since the depression only shows that if money is involved you will always be forgiven. In the future, the American people can only hope that justice is brought to these who have put a large financial burden on this country.

  54. He's just generally been a bad President.

  55. Has done almost nothing on most of our problems (the only one I can think of is killing Bin Laden, and even then all he did was sign a paper saying the SEAL team could do it).

  56. He was caught lip syncing to a speech at least one time, probably more.

  57. He talks like he's a radio that's being tuned in.

  58. Just wait until he is finished destroying America. Obviously I do not approve of him.

  59. He is doing a great job of splitting this country in two.

  60. Turned the $433 trillion deficit into a $1,347 trillion deficit in only 2 years.

  61. For the 1st time since at least 2000 the work force in the united states was decreased. The workforce in 2000 was 135 million, and 143 million in 2008, now it's down to only 139 million.

  62. Unemployment rose from 6% to 15% in just 2 years in his term.

  63. Advance his political career by getting members of his own party kicked off the ballot.

  64. Become president before completing his full term as Senator.

  65. Completely ignored the American people, and trampled on the Constitution.

  66. Gave terrorists Miranda rights, although it is directly denied to our war time enemies in the Constitution, and such a act by the Constitutional definition could be considered treason.

  67. He is the worst president in American history because
    • Many people glorify him for being the first African American president,
    • He thinks he's helping when he's really just screwing us more,
    • His followers are blind to his real self, they can't back up their beliefs except with things like "He's the first Black president"(yea, I said black) or "He's just awesome," and
    • He's a raging socialist and liberal.

  68. His priorities seem a bit muddled. The " transparency " promised in his campaign speeches has yet to materialize. He seems to be spending a lot of time with SEIU considerations , making the country safe for Unions , and accepting Awards he has yet to earn.

  69. For me personally, "hate" is not a strong enough word. As a republican teen, not yet able to vote, I followed this campaign pretty closely, after realizing the historic importance of it. In my view, Obama can't live up to the great job Bush and his administration did. Obama is all about change, but his views on health-care isn't going to help. I have an 85 year old grandmother who lives with me and my family, and Obama's health-care plan is going to worsen her health-care insurance more than it already is. It won't be only her almost all seniors with health issues will die because of them. The fact that Obama is our next President should make those of us who don't like him, try to impeach him and get a liberal out of office in time of a recession and a near depression. When he messes up, we can say, "We told you so..."

  70. Set a bad example by being a cigarette smoker. (now quit-2012)

  71. The answer to this question is a matter of opinion. Some believe he is a lousy president, but others believe he is a great president. Debating about the issue could go on endlessly, but only history will tell which it will be in the final analysis.

  72. President obama sucks because of his lies and blame he put on the Bush administration. Obama tells us he will pull troops out of war ....... he put more in.

  73. He said NO MORE DRILLING ... the Obama administration is going to start off shore drilling in the next few months.

  74. He's an amateur, he's a low life, and a raciest. He uses his race for political gain, well because "Hey if you hate Obama your raciest" ...lies.... All we can do is sit back and pray.

  75. Guantanamo Bay closed. Prisoners are now in U.S. prisons or have been deported.

  76. Removed Troops from Iran. Relapse of government could be possible, Iraqi troops may not have enough training to secure the country.

  77. Health Care Reform. Government is becoming more involved in health care system, spending may be wasteful.

  78. Economic Stimulus, etc. Obama has created a 1 trillion dollar spending deficit, unemployment is still high, big corporations received government tax money.

  79. Before he was elected, he assured he would pull the troops out of Iraq a couple months after he took office. He did not get the withdrawal of troops started for over two years. But it is done now.

  80. President Barack Obama has repeatedly bailed out big companies for their financial mistakes over and over again. This will in the future end up to be his biggest downfall especially during his first year in office.

  81. Using tax payer money to bail out those who have caused the largest financial turmoil since the depression only shows that if money is involved you will always be forgiven. In the future the American people can only hope that justice is brought to these who have put a large financial burden on this country.

  82. He made bad decisions on some civil rights issues: warrantless searches; executions of American citizens outside the US who were suspected terrorists, etc.

  83. He is a liberal and he made the health care bill.

  84. White Slavery

  85. I too fear that Obama is trying to turn America into something it was never meant to be while giving speeches to flatter people and thinking everything is alright. Unless his actions flow with his words, I'm afraid that there isn't going to be much of the "Change" he spoke about before he became president. It's very true that we have obtained "Change", but it's not the "Change" that we expected to get out of him. I may not know much about politics, but I hope that Obama doesn't use his power for his own pleasures. It's "We The People", not "Him The Powerful".





See also the related question below asking for opinions about what he has done right* so far.

Note: There are comments associated with this question. See the discussion page to add to the conversation.
First answer by ID1195038458. Last edit by D4est. Contributor trust: 1253 [recommend contributor recommended]. Question popularity: 124 [recommend question].

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