Between now and November 2012 the Obama Administration is going to run a hustle on the American people. They are going to try and convince Democrats, Independents, and any Republicans they can get, that Obama brought "Change" to Washington. One problem... he didn't.
In fact, the special interests have never had so much power. This is not a result of the Republicans taking back Congress, but a near total abdication of the agenda Obama campaigned on. So how can Obama still win?
Enter the hustle (Obama's reelection strategy):
1. After doing the special interest bidding, collect campaign contributions from them.
2. Use the campaign contributions to hire the best media and public relations experts.
3. Implement the strategies crafted by the experts and hopefully con enough people for 50% +1.
PolitiFact has been tracking Obama's many Broken Promises:
1. Repeal the Bush tax cuts for higher incomes
2. Create a public option health plan for a new National Health Insurance Exchange.
3. Tougher rules against revolving door for lobbyists and former officials
4. Allow bankruptcy judges to modify terms of a home mortgage
5. Create cap and trade system with interim goals to reduce global warming
6. Centralize ethics and lobbying information for voters
7. Introduce a comprehensive immigration bill in the first year
8. Negotiate health care reform in public sessions televised on C-SPAN
9. No family making less than $250,000 will see "any form of tax increase."
10. Provide an annual report on "state of our energy future"
11. Increase the capital gains and dividends taxes for higher-income taxpayers
12. Expand the child and dependent care credit
13. End income tax for seniors making less than $50,000
14. End no-bid contracts above $25,000
15. Phase out exemptions and deductions for higher earners
16. Forbid companies in bankruptcy from giving executives bonuses
17. Allow workers to claim more in unpaid wages and benefits in bankruptcy court
18. Allow imported prescription drugs
19. Mandate insurance coverage of autism treatment
20. Appoint federal-level coordinator to oversee all federal autism efforts
21. Direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a comprehensive study of federal cancer initiatives
22. Create a National Commission on People with Disabilities, Employment, and Social Security
23. Change federal rules so small businesses owned by people with disabilities can get preferential treatment for federal contracts.
24. Form international group to help Iraq refugees
25. Reinstate special envoy for the Americas
26. Double the Peace Corps
27. Allow five days of public comment before signing bills
28. Double funding for afterschool programs
29. Urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws
30. Re-establish the National Aeronautics and Space Council
31. Support human mission to moon by 2020
32. Pay for the national service plan without increasing the deficit
33. Limit term of director of national intelligence
34. Give annual "State of the World" address
35. Reduce earmarks to 1994 levels
36. Require plug-in fleet at the White House
37. Allow penalty-free hardship withdrawals from retirement accounts in 2008 and 2009
38. Recognize the Armenian genocide
Let's be clear, breaking a promise is a nice way of saying Obama Lied. No one forced him to make those promises, he did so for political advantage. Politifact's specificity misses an even larger truth - Obama totally capitulated to Wall Street which was a central issue of his 2008 campaign.
Beyond things Obama lied about doing are the promises he's made that he didn't break just hasn't gotten done and isn't likely to get done in the foreseeable future. Politifact labels these Promises Stalled:
1. Close the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center
2. Provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants
3. Restrict warrantless wiretaps
4. Restore 24-month limit on cumulative Guard and Reserve deployment time
5. Enact windfall profits tax for oil companies
6. Work to ban the permanent replacement of striking workers
7. Increase the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour
8. Lift the payroll tax cap on earnings above $250,000
9. Expose Special Interest Tax Breaks to Public Scrutiny
10. Seek independent watchdog agency to investigate congressional ethics violations
11. Sign the Freedom of Choice Act
12. Establish transparency standards for military contractors
13. Support repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
14. Require health care providers to report preventable medical errors
15. Limit subsidies for agribusiness
16. Ban racial profiling by federal law enforcement agencies
17. Make White House communications public
18. Provide incentives to draw employers into areas hardest-hit by Katrina
19. Encourage videotaping of interrogations in capital cases
20. Eliminate caps on damages for discrimination cases
21. Enhance drug courts
22. Give the White House's Privacy and Civil Liberties Board subpoena power
23. Cut the cost of a typical family's health insurance premium by up to $2,500 a year
24. Strengthen international rules against commercial whaling
25. Reproductive health care will be "at the heart" of health care reform.
26. Double federal program to help "reverse" commuters who go from city to suburbs
27. Create a Presidential Early Learning Council
28. Launch a Children's First Agenda
29. Educate business about the benefits of flexible work schedules and telecommuting
30. Give tax incentives to new farmers
31. Create a national catastrophe insurance reserve
32. Establish a Global Energy Corps to promote green energy in developing countries
33. Sign the Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families Act
34. Create a prison-to-work incentive program
35. Fund proposals to help fish and game survive climate change
36. Expand the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity
37. Help students and their families become aware of college readiness
38. Create scholarships to recruit new teachers
39. Strengthen the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and double its budget in the next four years
40. Create loan sanctions to stop private creditors from lending to repressive regimes
41. Restore habeas corpus rights for "enemy combatants"
42. Revise the Patriot Act to increase oversight on government surveillance
43. Clarify legal status for defense contractor personnel
44. Issue a "best practices" report for states on reducing domestic violence
45. Sign the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
46. Amend the Medicare "homebound" rule to allow some travel without loss of benefits
47. Modernize public health buildings
48. Provide $50 billion by 2013 for the global fight against HIV/AIDS
49. Enforce pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) budget rules
50. Require publicly traded financial partnerships to pay the corporate income tax
51. Close loopholes in the corporate tax deductibility of CEO pay
52. Create a mortgage interest tax credit for non-itemizers
Breaking promises, not following through on promises, Obama's done it all. And let's not pretend this is a Republican only problem. Obama's party controlled both houses of congress from 2008-2010. NOW, he can claim parts of his agenda are impossible. Not back in 2008, especially after he had an electoral mandate.
Obama did not provide 'change we can believe in' he provided more of the same. But more of the same also means promoting the rich and powerful which also means some nice campaign contributions. Hey... there's a jobs program Obama can launch - jobs for politicos to help him get reelected so can break more promises.
Let the hustle begin...