Obama's Promise to immediately close Guantanamo

On several occasionions during President Obama's campaign he promised to immediately close Guantanamo once he is elected.

Current result:
NO ACTION TAKEN


Prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons

On several occasionions during President Obama's campaign he promised to never allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.

Current result:
NO ACTION TAKEN


Second Amendment

On several occasionions during President Obama's campaign he promised to protect an individuals right to lawfully own guns in their homes for self-defense with "common sense" enforcements.

Current result:
NO ACTION TAKEN


Renegotiate NAFTA

On several occasionions during President Obama's campaign he promised to renegotiate free trade agreements including NAFTA to better favor American workers.

Current result:
NO ACTION TAKEN


Social Security

1. Protect Social Security:
Obama and Biden are committed to ensuring Social Security is solvent and viable for the American people, now and in the future. They are strongly opposed to privatizing Social Security. As part of a bipartisan plan that would be phased in over many years, they will ask those making over $250,000 to contribute a bit more to Social Security to keep it sound.

2. Strengthen Retirement Savings:
Reform corporate bankruptcy laws to protect workers and retirees. Require full disclosure of company pension investments. Eliminate income taxes for seniors making less than $50,000 per year. Create automatic workplace pensions. Expand retirement savings incentives for working families. Prevent age discrimination by strengthening the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and empowering the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to prevent all forms of discrimination.

3. Provide cheaper prescription drugs:
Obama and Biden will allow the federal government to negotiate for lower drug prices for the Medicare program. They also support allowing seniors to import safe prescription drugs from overseas.

4. Protect and strengthen Medicare:
Obama and Biden are committed to the long-term strength of the Medicare program. They will reduce waste in the Medicare system and will tackle fundamental healthcare reform.

Current result:
NO ACTION TAKEN


Negotiate with America's Enemies

During the South Carolina Myrtle Beach, on January 21 2008, Obama promised that he would meet not just with our friends, but with our enemies just like John F. Kennedy.

Current result:
NO ACTION TAKEN


Quick Iraq Withdraw

On numerous occasionions during President Obama's campaign he promised to withdraw two brigades per month, with all US combat troops out by 2009.

Current result:
NO ACTION TAKEN


No Healthcare for Illegal Immigrants

During the South Carolina Myrtle Beach, on January 21 2008, Obama promised that his universal healthcare would only cover American citizens and children, not illegal immigrants.

Current result:
NO ACTION TAKEN


Open Healthcare Reform

During the South Carolina Myrtle Beach, on January 21 2008, Obama promised the reform and movement to univseral healthcare will be open in a public setting, and not behind closed doors.

Current result:
NO ACTION TAKEN


Healthcare

Barack Obama will make health insurance affordable and accessible to all:
The Obama-Biden plan provides affordable, accessible health care for all Americans, builds on the existing healthcare system, and uses existing providers, doctors and plans to implement the plan.

Obama will lower health care costs:
The Obama plan will lower health care costs by $2,500 for a typical family by investing in health information technology, prevention and care coordination.

Promote public health:
Obama and Biden will require coverage of preventive services, including cancer screenings, and will increase state and local preparedness for terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

Current result:
NO ACTION TAKEN


Foreign Policy

1. Secure loose nuclear materials from terrorists:
Obama and Biden will secure all loose nuclear materials in the world within four years, and will negotiate a verifiable global ban on the production of new nuclear weapons material to curb the spread of nuclear weapons.

2. Barack Obama will pursue tough, direct diplomacy without preconditions to end the threat from Iran:
Obama and Biden will present the Iranian regime with a clear choice. If Iran abandons its nuclear program and support for terrorism, they would offer incentives like membership in the World Trade Organization. If Iran continues its troubling behavior, Obama and Biden will step up our economic pressure and political isolation.

3. Renew American diplomacy:
Obama and Biden will renew American diplomacy to meet the challenges of the 21st century. They will rebuild our alliances. And they would be willing to meet with all nations, friend and foe, to advance American interests.

Current result:
NO ACTION TAKEN


Education

1. Barack Obama will reform No Child Left Behind:
Obama and Biden believe teachers should not be forced to spend the academic year preparing students to fill in bubbles on standardized tests and he will improve the assessments used to track student progress to measure readiness for college.

2. Invest in early childhood education:
The Obama-Biden comprehensive "Zero to Five" plan will provide critical support to young children and their parents. And they will help states move toward voluntary, universal pre-school.

3. Make college affordable to all Americans:
Obama and Biden will create a new American Opportunity Tax Credit worth $4,000 in exchange for community service. It will cover two-thirds the cost of tuition at the average public college or university and make community college tuition completely free for most students.

Current result:
NO ACTION TAKEN


Immigration

1. Barack Obama will secure our borders:
Obama and Biden want to preserve the integrity of our borders. They support additional personnel, infrastructure, and technology on the border and at our ports of entry.

2. Improve our immigration system:
Obama and Biden believe we must fix the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy and increase the number of legal immigrants to keep families together and meet the demand for jobs that employers cannot fill.

3. Bring people out of the shadows:
Obama and Biden support a system that requires undocumented immigrants who are in good standing to pay a fine, learn English, and go to the back of the line for the opportunity to become citizens.

Current result:
NO ACTION TAKEN


Bankrupt the Coal Industry

Obama talked with The Chronicle editorial board Jan. 17 2008 for an interview. In his wide-ranging session with the paper, the Democratic senator from Illinois spoke about his energy plan and an "aggressive" cap-and-trade policy, and spoke about bankrupting the coal industry.

"So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can. It's just that it will bankrupt them, because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that's being emitted," he said. In the same interview, the senator said that "if technology allows us to use coal in a clean way, we should pursue it."

Current result:
NO ACTION TAKEN


Taxes

1. Middle class families will see their taxes cut – and no family making less than $250,000 will see their taxes increase. The typical middle class family will receive well over $1,000 in tax relief under the Obama plan, and will pay tax rates that are 20% lower than they faced under President Reagan. According to the Tax Policy Center, the Obama plan provides three times as much tax relief for middle class families as the McCain plan.

2. Families making more than $250,000 will pay either the same or lower tax rates than they paid in the 1990s. Obama will ask the wealthiest 2% of families to give back a portion of the tax cuts they have received over the past eight years to ensure we are restoring fairness and returning to fiscal responsibility. But no family will pay higher tax rates than they would have paid in the 1990s. In fact, dividend rates would be 39 percent lower than what President Bush proposed in his 2001 tax cut.

3. Obama’s plan will cut taxes overall, reducing revenues to below the levels that prevailed under Ronald Reagan (less than 18.2 percent of GDP). The Obama tax plan is a net tax cut – his tax relief for middle class families is larger than the revenue raised by his tax changes for families over $250,000. Coupled with his commitment to cut unnecessary spending, Obama will pay for this tax relief while bringing down the budget deficit.

4. Cut taxes for 95 percent of workers and their families with a tax cut of $500 for workers or $1,000 for working couples.

5. Provide generous tax cuts for low- and middle-income seniors, homeowners, the uninsured, and families sending a child to college or looking to save and accumulate wealth.

6. Eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses, cut corporate taxes for firms that invest and create jobs in the United States, and provide tax credits to reduce the cost of healthcare and to reward investments in innovation.
Dramatically simplify taxes by consolidating existing tax credits, eliminating the need for millions of senior citizens to file tax forms, and enabling as many as 40 million middle-class Americans to do their own taxes in less than five minutes without an accountant.

Current result:
NO ACTION TAKEN