© The Balance, 2018
BY
KIMBERLY AMADEO
Updated June 25, 2019
President Barack Obama entered office in 2009 to fight the
2008 financial crisis. He immediately launched the ambitious
Affordable Care Act, despite the backlash. His administration continued battling the
Tea Party Republicans after they gained a
Congressional majority in the 2010
mid-term elections.
Despite these challenges, he accomplished many great things by the time his term ended in January 2017. Here are the top 14 in chronological order. Find out how they match up to the
2008 "Yes We Can!" campaign promises.
$787 billion economic stimulus package. It cut taxes,
extended unemployment benefits, and funded public works projects.
The
recession ended in July 2009 when
GDP growth turned positive.
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In just seven months,
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act pumped $241.9 billion into the economy. That increased growth to
a robust 3.9 percent rate by early 2010. By March 30, 2011, almost all ($633.5 billion) of the funds were spent.
bailed out the U.S. auto industry on March 30, 2009. The federal government took over General Motors and Chrysler, saving three million jobs. It forced the companies to become more fuel efficient and therefore more globally competitive.
Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Committee lauded "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." He withdrew troops from Iraq in 2011. He
reduced the U.S. nuclear warhead stockpile by 10 percent.
Affordable Care Act revolutionized healthcare. By 2014, the economy benefited from having 95 percent of the population on health insurance.
The greater number of people receiving
preventive care reduced the number of expensive visits to emergency rooms.
That slows the
rise of health care costs for everyone. That's because Medicaid reimburses hospitals for emergency care. Those are the most significant of
Obamacare's 10 advantages.
Why did
health care need to be reformed? Rising costs threatened to take over the entire
federal budget. It was also the
no.1 cause of bankruptcies. In return, Americans received the worst health care in the developed world. It is the only one of 33 developed countries without
universal health care.
President Donald Trump promised to "repeal and replace"
Obamacare. As of October 2017, he has failed to pass any legislation. But he is
weakening Obamacare even without repeal.
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act improved regulation of eight areas that led to the financial crisis. The
Consumer Financial Protection Agency reduced harmful practices of credit cards and mortgages. The Financial Stability Oversight Council regulated
hedge funds and
banks that became
too big to fail. The "
Volcker Rule" banned banks from risking losses with their depositors' money. Dodd-Frank clarified which agencies regulated which banks, stopping banks from cherry-picking their regulators.
Dodd-Frank directed the
Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. These regulated the riskiest
derivatives, like
credit default swaps and
commodities futures. Dodd-Frank also asked the SEC to recommend how the credit rating agencies, like Moody's and Standard & Poor's, could be improved.
$858 billion tax cut. It had three main components: a $350 billion extension of the
Bush tax cuts, a $56 billion
extension of unemployment benefits, and a $120 billion reduction in workers'
payroll taxes. Businesses received $140 billion in
tax cuts for
capital improvements and $80 billion in research and
development tax credits. The estate tax was exempted (up to $5 million), and there were additional credits for college tuition and children.