President Obama’s Top 12 Accomplishments of 2010
6. Health Care Reform. Although controversial in nature, President Obama’s historic signing of the health care reform bill (i.e., The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010) will result in health care coverage for over 30 million additional Americans, as well as lowered costs for most Americans. Additionally, the health care reform bill will preclude insurance companies from placing lifetime limits on benefits and from denying coverage to individuals and family members with pre-existing health conditions.
7. Improper Payments. President Obama signed the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act, which is purposed to prevent such payments sent by the government to the wrong person or for the wrong reasons or in the wrong amounts. President Obama also established a goal for his administration to reduce improper payments by $50 billion by 2012.
8. Iraq. One of the primary messages of his presidential campaign was the withdrawal of combat troops out of Iraq. President Obama and his National Defense personnel were able to implement this promise, as more than 90,000 combat troops were withdrawn out of Iraq by August 31, 2010.
9. Wall Street Reform. President Obama signed the historic Wall Street Reform Bill, which was established to put an end to taxpayer-funded bailouts, create a new watchdog agency within the Federal Reserve to protect consumers in financial transactions, give the government more power to break up failing companies and create greater congressional oversight over the central bank.
10. HIRE Act. President Obama signed the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, which included $17.5 billion in tax cuts, business credits and subsidies for state and local construction bonds, and moved $20 billion into the highway trust fund for spending on highway and transit programs. The bill also exempts businesses that hire unemployed workers from paying the payroll security tax through December of 2010.
11. HBCU Funding. President Obama signed the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), which will include a $98 million funding increase for HBCUs. This Executive Order will also provide funding for the repair, renovation, and construction or acquisition of educational facilities, instructional equipment, research instrumentation, and physical infrastructure.
12. Appointment of Justice Elena Kagen. In addition to appointing Sonia Sotomayor as the first Hispanic to the Supreme Court in 2009, President Obama similarly appointed former Solicitor General Elena Kagen in 2010.
