Obama's broken promises: A checklist

"I want you to hold our government accountable. I want you to hold me accountable." -- Barack H. Obama

The honeymoon may not be over for 0bama, the media and the American people, but I don't think we should overlook what's becoming a troubling trend of broken promises and hollow rhetoric. What troubles me most is that many of these are the promises that would have actually been good change. Why couldn't he break his promise to close Gitmo? Anyway, without further ado, let's start listing Obama's broken promises.

1.

What he said:

"The executive order on ethics I will sign shortly represents a clean break from business as usual. As of today, lobbyists will be subject to stricter limits than under any other administration in history. If you are a lobbyist entering my administration, you will not be able to work on matters you lobbied on, or in the agencies you lobbied during the previous two years."

Sounds good, right? That sure sounds like the change we were promised.

What happened:

Obama made an exception to his own rule days after becoming President by nominating a top defense contractor lobbyist for Deputy Secretary of Defense. I guess the lesson learned here is that the change Obama brings is saying he will order ethics reform, not actually follow through on it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/23/william-lynn-obamas-first_n_160512.html

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/23/campbell.brown.lobbyists/index.html#cnnSTCText

2.

What he said:

This one comes from during the campaign, when Obama decided to take the high road with McCain and accept public financing, limiting the influence of private donations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/02/us/politics/02fec.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

What happened?

Can you guess? Obama reneged on his promise and denied public financing so he could raise more money. As you can see from the above broken promise, Obama has a habit of saying one thing and doing another when it's convenient. This is what we should expect from him from now on every time we hear his lofty speeches.

3:

What he said:

During the debates, 0bama was surprisingly hawkish about hunting down and killing 0sama:

""We will kill bin Laden. We will crush al-Qaeda. That has to be our biggest national security priority."

What happened:

As expected, 0bama has played down these remarks:

"My preference obviously would be to capture or kill him," he said. "But if we have so tightened the noose that he's in a cave somewhere and can't even communicate with his operatives then we will meet our goal of protecting America."

Yes, this is exactly the position of the Bush administration, which is what 0bama was criticizing back when he was saying we needed to kill 0sama.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5520116.ece

More to come, stay tuned!

-ML

*update*

4:

What he said:

"When there is a bill that ends up on my desk as president, you will have five days to look online and find out what's in it before I sign it."

Yes, let us comment on what you're about to sign, good idea. That is, if you actually follow through on it, Mr. President.

What happened:

Well, that didn't take long. The first bill to pass Obama's desk, the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, was signed the day it came through, after being passed by the house two days earlier:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing_room/LillyLedbetterFairPayActPublicReview/

http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2009/jan/29/obama-first-broken-promise/

*major facepalm* Not even a month and theres a checklist from mysterylobster...Tjeremiah1988

*major facepalm* Not even a month and theres a checklist from mysterylobster...Tjeremiah1988

Well, one of the things on mysterylobster's checklist, #2, is about something that happened before the election. So, I'm assuming that means mysterylobster is saying Obama has only lied three times in his life. That sounds pretty good to me.

[QUOTE="Tjeremiah1988"]*major facepalm* Not even a month and theres a checklist from mysterylobster...JML897

Well, one of the things on mysterylobster's checklist, #2, is about something that happened before the election. So, I'm assuming that means mysterylobster is saying Obama has only lied three times in his life. That sounds pretty good to me.

And how many other presidents keep all their promises as soon as they move in? Give the guy some time before judging him. It's obvious you just don't like him for what ever reason and aren't going to stop with this.R0cky_Racc00n

do you remember the things bush said to get elected? i won't even begin to make a checklist for his broken promises.paullywog

wow. I'd face palm but I am just to wowed by how jaded people have become closing gitmo was proble the second greatest thing he could have done right away.

He has only been in office for what 2 weeks and he hasn't done everything he promised, he still has another four years give him some freaking time! I think he is going at a pretty fast pace as it is. poor guy is going to have a heart attack with people attacking him so much about **** things that aren't all that important at the current moment or that he can't control right off the bat that needs a little more time to be worked out.

There are exceptions to anything and there are several kept promises done in the first few weeks.

I'm not at all sure why at this point mysterylobster thinks anyone would expect him to evaluate Obama thru anything but an entirely spin filter.

Well, of course every president will fail on quite some promises. He's not the demi god some people think he is. He's just another president with lots of promises.11Marcel

A politician... lying?!?!!?

im starting to believe mysterylobster and elizabeth hasselback roam together frequently. Tjeremiah1988

He's been the President for 10 days. Honestly, we know you don't like him, but atleast give him a chance and wait until the end of his Presidency to bring out the checklist.

I'm not at all sure why at this point mysterylobster thinks anyone would expect him to evaluate Obama thru anything but an entirely spin filter.

duxup

He's been the President for 10 days. Honestly, we know you don't like him, but atleast give him a chance and wait until the end of his Presidency to bring out the checklist.

ragek1ll589

The "it's my first day" excuse doesn't work here. Obama was supposed to be ready to lead. Lying to the American people doesn't seem like a very auspicious start to any presidency.

[QUOTE="duxup"]I'm not at all sure why at this point mysterylobster thinks anyone would expect him to evaluate Obama thru anything but an entirely spin filter.

mysterylobster

fail some of the stuff promised will take years to accomplish obama been in office for what 2 weeks nowkemar7856

[QUOTE="duxup"]I'm not at all sure why at this point mysterylobster thinks anyone would expect him to evaluate Obama thru anything but an entirely spin filter.

mysterylobster

[QUOTE="duxup"]I'm not at all sure why at this point mysterylobster thinks anyone would expect him to evaluate Obama thru anything but an entirely spin filter.

mysterylobster

He's been the President for 10 days. Honestly, we know you don't like him, but atleast give him a chance and wait until the end of his Presidency to bring out the checklist.

ragek1ll589

The "it's my first day" excuse doesn't work here. Obama was supposed to be ready to lead. Lying to the American people doesn't seem like a very auspicious start to any presidency.

You can't honestly think he was going to come into office and snap his fingers and every problem America had would be fixed on the first day. As cliche as it is, Rome wasn't built in a day. Though there really isn't any point arguing since you have already condemned him as a failure.

I know someone else who is good at breaking promises. MysteryLobster promised and vowed that if Obama won that he would never post on Gamespot again. Don't start judging other people when you make the same mistakes. Also, as president he can't just do whatever he wants. He needs the help of Congress to make some of them come true. Also, I am more worried about the economy right now than if I can talk about a bill 5 days before he signs it anyway.kakkarott23

I know someone else who is good at breaking promises. MysteryLobster promised and vowed that if Obama won that he would never post on Gamespot again. Don't start judging other people when you make the same mistakes. Also, as president he can't just do whatever he wants. He needs the help of Congress to make some of them come true. Also, I am more worried about the economy right now than if I can talk about a bill 5 days before he signs it anyway.kakkarott23

Choosing a lobbyist for a position, is irrelevant if that lobbyist was the best choice. Not being familiar with the background, credentials, and policy ideas of William Lynn, I cannot personally comment on his ability to serve the president.

If it was irrelevent, then Obama shouldn't have promised never to hire a lobbyist for a cabinet position.

As for public financing, we all know that it is a broken system that needs reform. Besides, honestly, if that's one of your main "broken campaign promises," you really need to stop complaining.

Why would Obama promise to follow a broken system in the first place?

As for your point about Osama Bin Laden, I will again state how small of a "promise breaking" that is. There is virtually no difference between locking Bin Laden up in prison and isolating him in a cave. It serves the same purpose.

That is exactly what Bush thought, which is why Obama attacked him and said Osama must be killed.

As for the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, it was a good bill to overturn a ridiculous Supreme Court decision.

Whether it's a good bill or not was supposed to be debated by the American people. That was the point of Obama's promise, which he broke.

Honestly, Mysterlobster, if these are the best complaints you can muster, you need to stop complaining. These are all fairly insignificant.chessmaster1989

[QUOTE="kakkarott23"]I know someone else who is good at breaking promises. MysteryLobster promised and vowed that if Obama won that he would never post on Gamespot again. Don't start judging other people when you make the same mistakes. Also, as president he can't just do whatever he wants. He needs the help of Congress to make some of them come true. Also, I am more worried about the economy right now than if I can talk about a bill 5 days before he signs it anyway.Tjeremiah1988

:shock: yeah really. Hopefully, this doesn't dissolve into a flame war.

So, Mysterylobster, why did you break your promise, eh?

[QUOTE="chessmaster1989"]

Choosing a lobbyist for a position, is irrelevant if that lobbyist was the best choice. Not being familiar with the background, credentials, and policy ideas of William Lynn, I cannot personally comment on his ability to serve the president.

If it was irrelevent, then Obama shouldn't have promised never to hire a lobbyist for a cabinet position.

As for public financing, we all know that it is a broken system that needs reform. Besides, honestly, if that's one of your main "broken campaign promises," you really need to stop complaining.

Why would Obama promise to follow a broken system in the first place?

As for your point about Osama Bin Laden, I will again state how small of a "promise breaking" that is. There is virtually no difference between locking Bin Laden up in prison and isolating him in a cave. It serves the same purpose.

That is exactly what Bush thought, which is why Obama attacked him and said Osama must be killed.

As for the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, it was a good bill to overturn a ridiculous Supreme Court decision.

Whether it's a good bill or not was supposed to be debated by the American people. That was the point of Obama's promise, which he broke.

Honestly, Mysterlobster, if these are the best complaints you can muster, you need to stop complaining. These are all fairly insignificant.mysterylobster

I fail to see what your point is:|

You can't honestly think he was going to come into office and snap his fingers and every problem America had would be fixed on the first day. As cliche as it is, Rome wasn't built in a day. Though there really isn't any point arguing since you have already condemned him as a failure.

ragek1ll589

I know someone else who is good at breaking promises. MysteryLobster promised and vowed that if Obama won that he would never post on Gamespot again. Don't start judging other people when you make the same mistakes. Also, as president he can't just do whatever he wants. He needs the help of Congress to make some of them come true. Also, I am more worried about the economy right now than if I can talk about a bill 5 days before he signs it anyway.kakkarott23

What bothers me is that so many people say "all presidents break promises." That may be the case, but is that any reason to ignore these broken promises and fail to call out the President on them?

[QUOTE="mysterylobster"]

[QUOTE="chessmaster1989"]

chessmaster1989

I fail to see what your point is:|

Oh, you're just mad that he closed Gitmo and stopped torturing people!Engrish_Major

Well, yeah.

On lobbyists: a good idea in theory. That said, as I said, I know very little about William Lynn, so I will not offer comments on him.

On Osama Bin Laden: it was an overstatement during the campaign, used probably to get a few votes. That said, it wasn't as blatantly stupid as, say, Clinton's and McCain's gas tax break promises.

On public financing: like I said, who cares. If you ever read the New York Times, and Gail Collins' columns, you will remember that she said (and I completely agree with her on this) that she knows just about everyone who cares about public financing, and that they were very few in number (I don't remember her exact phrasing, but it was much funnier :P).

On the "five day" rule: honestly, that was a stupid idea in the first place.

Literally everything on your list consists of nitpicking, twisting of facts to suit your point, or flat-out incorrect comments.Ninja-Hippo

Also, I'm not nitpicking Obama's rhetoric. If he says he would NEVER do something, I'm going to hold him to it. Am I supposed to think "sometimes" every time he says "never"?

*major facepalm* Not even a month and theres a checklist from mysterylobster...Tjeremiah1988

while you're at it make a list for all the other presidents too. don't be bias now....shyskillz

aahh mysterlobster. will you ever quit? :Pcomp_atkins

[QUOTE="Tjeremiah1988"]*major facepalm* Not even a month and theres a checklist from mysterylobster...RushMetallica