What, to you, has been Obama's biggest failure as president?

[candycorn]

His over-reliance on diplomacy with Republicans has been costly for critical progress. That being said, I do think he is a good president Let me explain why I didn't choose the other options:

1) I think Obama shares the blame a little on the slow recovery of the economy, but I think there are many factors to be considered (i.e., congress)

2) I think his foreign policy has been great

3) Despite Solyndra, his energy policy has been quite successful

4) It was Bush that supercharged the defict (although some of the blame does go to Obama, too)

5) His taxation policy would have been great had it not been for what I chose out of this poll

6) National Security has undoubtedly been his best work (even Fox News can admit that).


Please explain your choice.

I think trying to reason with unreasonable people is self-sabotage.

 

[Billy000]

1. You dodged all but the first sentence of my post.

2. Your link does not substantiate your claim.

Claims. Yes, THAT'S convincing verbiage.

225K is nowhere near a million. Even more so because it is essentially a guess. We also need to include the fact that the goal posts were moved from creating those jobs to now created OR saved. Heap that on top of the fact that the numbers of created or saved jobs has essentially been a farce through the economic downturn and you have nothing on that claim whatsoever.

True, I was quoting Obama. However, I bet his estimate will come close. We will have to wait and see.

We are running out of the fuels we have. We need to invest in alternate forms of energy. Is gov involvement the best way to go? No, but it's a start. Energy companies arent going to do it.

I bet? Your numbers were WAY off, by a factor of FOUR. Your bets are no help either. I already said the government was the best way to invest in these technologies. I also told you that they have not invested one red cent in them yet. Did you miss the entire point of my previous post. I guess you did when you ignored it to post a link that did not back your claims up.

No, that 225 figure was the current estimate. The little under the million was for the end of the year.

 

[ShaklesOfBigGov]

My opinions on his kepted promises with energy...

Establish an Energy Partnership for the Americas
"As president, Barack Obama will establish an Energy Partnership for the Americas. This partnership will increase research and development in clean coal technology, the next generation of sustainable biofuels and in wind, solar and nuclear energy. The partnership will also look for ways for nations to coordinate to transport green energy across national borders. It will help Latin American and Caribbean nations become more energy independent and promote sustainable growth for the region. The partnership also will create additional markets for American biofuels and American-made green energy technology."

sounds like the spp is still around.


Encourage farmers to use more renewable energy and be more energy efficient"Will encourage the use of methane digesters that are being used to produce power from animal waste; and will expand USDA projects that focus on energy efficiency and conservation."

wow, is this a good way to make energy?


Establish program to convert manufacturing centers into clean technology leaders

Will "establish a federal investment program to help manufacturing centers modernize and help Americans learn new skills to produce green products. This federal grant program will allocate money to the states to identify and support local manufacturers with the most compelling plans for modernizing existing or closed manufacturing facilities to produce new advanced clean technologies. This investment will help provide the critical up-front capital needed by small and mid-size manufacturers to produce these innovative new technologies. Along with an increased federal investment in the research, development and deployment of advanced technologies, this $1 billion per year investment will help spur sustainable economic growth in communities across the country."

why does his energy policy focus around "green policy"? I'm not against clean water and air, but clean coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear are much more dependable. Sure, we can have some of the wind and solar as side energy.


Require 10 percent renewable energy by 2012

Will "require 10 Percent of electricity to come from renewable sources by 2012. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will establish a 10 percent federal Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to require that 10 percent of electricity consumed in the U.S. is derived from clean, sustainable energy sources, like solar, wind and geothermal by 2012."

Not like I'm against the three, but they're very costly, so I'd think building more coal fire plants and the like would be better. Again, I'm not against it, but we don't want to raise the electric bills on people.

Release oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve

"Will swap oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to cut prices . . . a limited, responsible swap of light oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) for heavy crude oil to help bring down prices at the pump."


Only short term and isn't a good idea as we may use it if we get into a large scale war.

Raise fuel economy standards
"Will increase fuel economy standards 4 percent per year ... ."


Not that I don't support raising the standards of how many miles one gallon of gas can get you, but are we trading safity to do it?

Invest in all types of alternative energy
"We'll invest in research and development of every form of alternative energy - solar, wind, biofuels."

again, why so heavy on this area?

Enact tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars
"We will leverage private sector funding to bring these cars directly to American consumers. We'll give consumers a $7,000 tax credit to buy these vehicles."

well, you have to think how much power and strain this puts on the grid. We don't have anywhere near the kind of grid you'd need to seriously start going over to electric power on the large scale. Some states have black outs as it is. Also, electric cars have other problems like you'd need to build fueling stations for long term trips, but if it takes 12 plus hours it isn't economic.

Ask people and businesses to conserve electricity
"Will call on businesses, government and the American people to meet the goal of reducing our demand for electricity 15 percent by the end of the next decade."


Well, good luck with that as our population is growing at the same time and you're asking our transportation system to go over to electric. Not going to happen!

Require more energy-efficient appliances

"The current Department of Energy has missed 34 deadlines for setting updated appliance efficiency standards, which has cost American consumers millions of dollars in unrealized energy savings. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will overhaul this process for appliances and provide more resources to his Department of Energy so it implements regular updates for efficiency standards. They will also work with Congress to ensure that it continues to play a key role in improving our national efficiency codes."

well, john t crapper isn't as good as it used to be after the last time you tried to fix "efficiency". This goes for many things including washers, water heaters, ect. Kind of stupid if you don't have the tech to do it. Why lower energy needs anyways?


Create a 'Green Vet Initiative' to promote environmental jobs for veterans

"Will ensure that more of our veterans can enter the new energy economy. They will create a new 'Green Vet Initiative' that will have two missions: first it will offer counseling and job placement to help veterans gain the skills to enter this rapidly growing field; second, it will work with industry partners to create career pathways and educational programs."


Why is green so important, but it is nice that he wants to help our vets.

Require states to provide incentives for utilities to reduce energy consumption"Will 'flip' incentives to utility companies by: requiring states to conduct proceedings to implement incentive changes; and offering them targeted technical assistance. These measures will benefit utilities for improving energy efficiency, rather than just from supporting higher energy consumption. This 'regulatory equity' starts with the decoupling of profits from increased energy usage, which will incentivize utilities to partner with consumers and the federal and state governments to reduce monthly energy bills for families and businesses. The federal government under an Obama administration will play an important and positive role in flipping the profit model for the utility sector so that shareholder profit is based on reliability and performance as opposed to total production."

central planning?

Double federal spending for research on clean fuels
Will "double science and research funding for clean energy projects including those that make use of our biomass, solar and wind resources."

No problem with research, but why not nuclear, coal, oil, ect?

Provide grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes
"Will create a competitive grant program to award those states and localities that take the first steps in implementing new building codes that prioritize energy efficiency, and provide a federal match for those states with leading-edge public benefits funds that support energy efficiency retrofits of existing buildings."

It is good to have efficency, but should the federal government be doing it?

I'm really not convinced you have an informed opinion on energy policy.

Obama has demonstrated, on several occasions, that he has made poor leadership choices. The fact we are in the worst economy since the great depression hasn't stopped him from pushing alternative energy at a hefty price. He used the government bailout of GM for an opportunity to push the Chevy Volt. Then pushed government subsidies in an attempt to FORCE the market to drive consumers into purchasing electric hybrid cars. It failed. Just how many Chevy Volts have we seen sold since its production? An staggering economic recession is not the time to be introducing government policy "experiments".

Still he pushed taxpayer dollars, yet again, to invest in Green Corporations like Solyndra, receiving $535 million through a Federal guaranteed loan, in order to push the Stimulus Bill as a real "success story" for the Obama administration. All this while the Energy Department hid the company's TRUE financial situation, boasting that Solyndra would double production and that a new facility was quickly advancing ahead of schedule. The energy department added the company may encounter few bumps in the road in its near future, then two months later Solyndra went bankrupt. ( Solyndra put off word of layoffs until after election - Washington Times )

Another Corporation favored by the Obama Administration, SolarReserve received a $737 guaranteed loan to power homes in Harry Reed's own backyard of Nevada. The reason? Nancy Pelosi's brother-in-law made an investment of $100 million through a PCG Clean Energy and Technology Fund, while board member Lee Bailey contributed $21,850 to Democrats since 2008 (including Barrack Obama). However, reports in September 30, 2011 revealed SolarReserve stocks have dropped more than sixty-percent in only a few months. Nevertheless the Federal Government has authorized a Billion more in GUARANTEED loans. While the future of solar remains shakey at best, due to the cost to install a solar plant is DOUBLE than an equivalently sized coal powered plant and ten times the investment of a gas turbine plant. There is also no desire in free market to invest in a solar plant that comes at such a large expense, producing power at a capacity far less than other alternative forms of energy. ( Solargate Spreads | FrontPage Magazine )

Other Green Investments include $33 Million grant from the Treasury Department to Raser Technologies in 2010 which filed for chapter 11.

Navada Geothermal Power (NGP) is another company that is at risk of failing after being awarded $98.5 million in a guaranteed Federal loan, with an additional $66 million in further government grants.

Also U.S. Geothermal received $97 million from the Energy Department, with reports from the Security and Exchange Commision showing the company hasn't earned a profit in the past 4 years. ( Profits not seen in clean energy - USATODAY.com )

Yet Obama's push to throw away taxpayer dollars into further green policies STILL continues with the most recent push on the United States Navy to purchase 450,000 gallons of biofuel at the price of $16 a gallon, compared to the standard Jp-5 fuel which stands considerably cheaper at $4. Obama has proven time and again how "ideology driven policies" trump sound financial investment, at a time when Federal Government spending by this administration has already resulted in a drop in this nation's AAA rating for the first time in its history. This President has shown not real concern for wasting further taxpayer dollars, provided he is still able to convince voters that it's ONLY due to the rich not paying their "fair share" to bail this country out. ( Obama Makes Navy Overpay For Green Jet Fuel - Investors.com )

 

[PredFan]

There needed to be a "All of the above" choice. Seriously.

 

[M14 Shooter]

My sig says all that needs to be said.

 

[peach174]

Biggest failure?
Not being a leader.
He has been in campaign mode since he was elected.

 

[Defiant1]

Obama's biggest failure is not recognizing and honoring the heritage supremacy of the United States of America.

I didn't watch the innaugaration. Did he take the oath with his left hand?

It doesn't matter because he was lying.

 

[ShaklesOfBigGov]

PolitiFact | The Obameter: Create 5 million "green" jobs

1. You dodged all but the first sentence of my post.

2. Your link does not substantiate your claim.

Claims. Yes, THAT'S convincing verbiage.

As of yet, there is simply not enough data to accurately gauge the progress in green job growth. Because of this, we continue to rate this promise as In the Works.

225K is nowhere near a million. Even more so because it is essentially a guess. We also need to include the fact that the goal posts were moved from creating those jobs to now created OR saved. Heap that on top of the fact that the numbers of created or saved jobs has essentially been a farce through the economic downturn and you have nothing on that claim whatsoever.

True, I was quoting Obama. However, I bet his estimate will come close. We will have to wait and see.

We are running out of the fuels we have. We need to invest in alternate forms of energy. Is gov involvement the best way to go? No, but it's a start. Energy companies arent going to do it.

So that's why we are looking into building a Keystone pipeline with Canada. Perhaps if we were actually "allowed" to drill in this country, and have this administration finally lift it's moritorium on the gulf, you might discover just how much oil and natural gas has yet to be tapped into.

 

[ShaklesOfBigGov]

I think his biggest failure has been the economy.

His polices haven't worked and he doesnt' seem to have a clue on what to do.

He gives pretty speechs and talks a good story but thats about it.

Not bad for a Commentator-in-Chief. I'm sure the constant usage of all those Telepromters, he'd argue, helped to stimulate further jobs into this economy.

 

[dblack]

Obama's biggest failure is not recognizing and honoring the heritage supremacy of the United States of America.

I didn't watch the innaugaration. Did he take the oath with his left hand?

It doesn't matter because he was lying.

Is this some kind of allusion to the 'American Exceptionalism' nonsense?

 

[AmericanFirst]

all of the above

yep!

 

[asterism]

The only thing I will credit Obama is his foreign policy. He has done well in that department. Other than that he has presided over ever increasing expenditures, government overreaching its powers and a disastrous domestic policy. I have to ask though, what do you think his energy policy is accomplishing that makes it a success other than Solyndra?

PolitiFact | The Obameter: Campaign Promises that are about Energy

I encourage you to explore all of the content related to Obama on that site. Nothing could be more objective.

Objective?

They rate his promise to create 5 million green jobs as "In the Works." That's absolute bullshit. By even the rosiest of estimates there have only been 225,000 green jobs "created or saved." That's a far cry from 5 million created.

 

[asterism]

PolitiFact | The Obameter: Campaign Promises that are about Energy

I encourage you to explore all of the content related to Obama on that site. Nothing could be more objective.

That site is FAR from objective and has been shown to be so many times but that is not the point as the content is the question not the character of the deliverer.

I asked YOU why you thought his energy policy was a success not what promises he has kept or not. Most of those policies are terrible energy policy or have little to do with an actual energy policy. Tell me what YOU think is such a good accomplishment on that list and why.

Who says it isn't objective? You are simply making that up. What I like:

He established an energy relationship with Brazil and other S. American countries

In the process of creating 5 million green jobs. (has created a little under a million so far).

His investment in alternate forms of energy.

A little under a million? Where did you get that fiction?

 

[Avatar4321]

That questions impossible to add. He had all the same weaknesses as Bush and none of the strengths.

 

[Billy000]

The only thing I will credit Obama is his foreign policy. He has done well in that department. Other than that he has presided over ever increasing expenditures, government overreaching its powers and a disastrous domestic policy. I have to ask though, what do you think his energy policy is accomplishing that makes it a success other than Solyndra?

PolitiFact | The Obameter: Campaign Promises that are about Energy

I encourage you to explore all of the content related to Obama on that site. Nothing could be more objective.

Objective?

They rate his promise to create 5 million green jobs as "In the Works." That's absolute bullshit. By even the rosiest of estimates there have only been 225,000 green jobs "created or saved." That's a far cry from 5 million created.

If you actually read the article, you'd know that the source is saying "5 million jobs over the course of 10 years." Thus far, it's created about a 500,000.

 

[FA_Q2]

PolitiFact | The Obameter: Campaign Promises that are about Energy

I encourage you to explore all of the content related to Obama on that site. Nothing could be more objective.

Objective?

They rate his promise to create 5 million green jobs as "In the Works." That's absolute bullshit. By even the rosiest of estimates there have only been 225,000 green jobs "created or saved." That's a far cry from 5 million created.

If you actually read the article, you'd know that the source is saying "5 million jobs over the course of 10 years." Thus far, it's created about a 500,000.

Now its 500K!

Stop changing your answer and take a look at these 'estimates.' They are based on NOTHING. There is nothing there. Goalposts moves, no hard facts, a couple of random estimations and we are left with nothing. Do those estimates include the 11oo workers that were laid off after Solyndra or that those jobs came in at a cost of 500k EACH? Does it cover the fact that, as shackles pointed out, there are several other 'green' companies under this program that are in danger of failing? Maybe all the advances that the government has discovered in solar technology under Obama's stewardship will create those jobs? Wait... oh, we haven't had any because we have FAILED TO INVEST IN SOLAR TECHNOLOGY. Instead, we gave that money to solar companies that had already lost out to the Chinese competition and then hoped that a couple of hundred million will solve that problem. Nope, failed.

 

[asterism]

PolitiFact | The Obameter: Campaign Promises that are about Energy

I encourage you to explore all of the content related to Obama on that site. Nothing could be more objective.

Objective?

They rate his promise to create 5 million green jobs as "In the Works." That's absolute bullshit. By even the rosiest of estimates there have only been 225,000 green jobs "created or saved." That's a far cry from 5 million created.

If you actually read the article, you'd know that the source is saying "5 million jobs over the course of 10 years." Thus far, it's created about a 500,000.

I did read the article and noted that it uses the 225,000 figure from a CBO estimate of jobs "saved or created." That's not even close to being on track to creating 5 million jobs in 10 years.

And where did you get the 500,000 from? Did you just cut your fictitious claim of 1 million green jobs created in half?

 

[Big Black Dog]

Obama's biggest failure as President? The ability to tell the truth about ANYTHING.

 

[Listening]

I see a lot of allusion to a lot of failure.

Bummer.