Ok, let me see if I understand this correctly: Obama and the Dems took over during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression and saved the country from collapse/depression. They also:
2) Rescued GM and Chrysler (and a million or more jobs when you take into account suppliers and dealers) with a bailout. GM is now turning a profit and has begun to return some of the taxpayer's money.
3) Extended unemployment benefits. What would these millions of people had done if Republicans had succeeded in blocking this?
4) Passed landmark health insurance reform which will: provide coverage for 36 million Americans, prohibit denial of coverage/claims based on pre-existing conditions, expand Medicaid eligibility, subsidize insurance premiums for the poor, provide incentives for businesses to provide health care benefits, establish health insurance exchanges so you can compare and choose policies, eliminating lifetime limits on coverage, free preventative care, boost support for medical research, and allow kids to stay on their parent's plans until age 26...all while REDUCING the deficit $140B over the first 10 years. Yes, I would have preferred Medicare-for-all-type system like they have in Canada or UK or a public health plan option, but it's better than what we had before.
5) Passed an equal pay for women law.
6) Overturned Bush's ban on stem cell research.
7) Withdrew combat troops from Iraq and changed the strategy for the war in Afghanistan.
8) Passed a separate law that expands government-subsidized health insurance to 4 million mostly low-income children.
9) Cut taxes for 98% of Americans.
10) Passed Wall Street reform and consumer protection laws (eg. credit card reform and a consumer protection agency).
11) Boosted funding for science research, education, and infrastructure projects.
12) Expanded college access for millions by revamping the federal student loan program.
13) Cut taxes 16 times for small businesses.
14) Relaxed rules to make it easier for thousands of U.S. veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to obtain benefits.
15) Passed a law to provide health care for 9/11 responders and workers who are suffering deteriorating health.
Obama and the Dems did all of this with basically ZERO Republican support. Don't believe me? Google it yourself. The Republicans tried to filibuster and block EVERY single one of these actions.
Yes, times are hard right now for many, many people. I get it that people are frustrated with the pace of economic recovery, but did they forget that the Republicans are mostly responsible for the policies that tanked our economy (eg. our crushing deficit was mainly caused by 3 things: Bush's trillion dollar tax cut for the rich, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the economic downturn)? The only idea I ever hear from Republicans is cutting taxes (which are already at the lowest level in 60 years) mostly for rich people and spending, but have not offered even ONE proposal for what they would cut. Of course, the most expensive items in our budget, Medicare, Social Security and the military, are too radioactive for either party to touch.
There's no question that the economy hasn't yet recovered, but we are slowly recovering (jobs have gone from -800,000 per month when Bush left office to positive job growth 11 of the last 12 months). I suspect many of the same people that are hurting financially and have been helped by these actions, either stayed home yesterday or voted for Republicans anyway.
Thanks to them we can look forward to the new Republican House leadership wasting the next 2 years trying to repeal health insurance reform (after we spent a full year talking about it), cutting taxes for the top 2% richest Americans, and trying to impeach Obama (you know they'll make up some bullshit reason). Forget about any progress on plans for faster job creation, immigration reform, gay marriage rights, clean energy/climate change, etc. The Republicans have already stated that they have no intention to work with Obama and the Dems. They have only one priority: make Obama a one-term president.
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