Some of my friends have already begun posting saccharin goodbyes to Obama on social media. I expect that next week we will be subjected to a tireless media onslaught sanctifying the man.
So can we tally here the true legacy of his presidency for posterity so that we don't end up fooled by the rose-tinted portrayal he is going to get over the next few years?
Off the top of my head:
- He expanded state surveillance by allowing the NSA to share its data with 16 other agencies.
- The Snowden leaks revealed that an American deal with Israel "places no legal limits" on the use of American data by Israelis
- He raised military aid to Israel to $3.8 billion annually
- He more than doubled the Bush administration's arms sales to foreign states
Anyone care to add to this?
What about the drone
What about the drone assassination program?
Deported more people than any
Deported more people than any other president (2.5 million 2009 -2015.)
Waited until the last week of his presidency to opine that something ought to be done about mass incarceration in the US, mostly incidentally as a result of the racist drug laws which were in part drafted by Joe Biden.
Bombed seven countries.
Zugzwang, I don't know enough
Zugzwang, I don't know enough about the drone program to talk about it. Did he establish it?
Regarding bombing 7 countries, the US dropped 3 bombs per hour every hour of 2016
I don't think he established
I don't think he established it, but targeted killings have expanded under him and Trump will soon inherit the drone program. The use of drones is one way bombings are carried out in those countries you mentioned, taking innocent people's lives and being of questionable legality.
Economically, you could also talk about his failure to do anything substantial for the working class. Real wages have stagnated since the 1970s, the national debt has increased as a result of borrowing (instead of taxing the rich), and the rich are paying much less in taxes than they were in the 1960s. These might be worth reading.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/feb/14/useconomy-usemployment
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/mar/01/us-taxation-public-finance
https://socialistworker.org/blog/critical-reading/2011/12/26/marxist-explanation-crisis
zugzwang
zugzwang
Thats a pretty rapie source of info, Just sayin'.
potrokin wrote: zugzwang
potrokin
Sorry I don't know anything about this website in particular. I only linked to it because it's hosting an essay by Richard Wolff, similar to another essay in his book Capitalism's Crisis Deepens, that I couldn't find anywhere else. Does this website have a bad reputation?
Yes, the Socialist Worker is
Yes, the Socialist Worker is the official newspaper of the trot Socialist Workers Party (SWP) in the UK. A lot of what appears in that publication is ideologically slanted and in many cases may elide things if it doesn't fit the narrative they want. Then again, there are some good articles in that paper from time to time; a stopped clock does, after all, tell the correct time a couple of times a day.
Khawaga wrote: Yes, the
Khawaga
that's not socialistworker.org, that's socialistworker.co.uk. The .org site is run by an American group.
Obama didn't establish the targeted killing policy, but I believe he established it being okay to murder American citizens.
This is a good blog on how Obama's bailout which was meant to help homeowners in fact just helped big banks: https://libcom.org/blog/looking-back-obama%E2%80%99s-bailouts-hamp-12012017
Obamacare effectively gave large amounts of money to private health insurance companies, and has rocketing premiums for people having to pay in.
Quote: that's not
Ooops. I should've clicked on the link I guess. I just looked at the URL. Is the US outfit part of the IST?
The ISO were expelled from
The ISO were expelled from the IST by the SWP-UK allegedly over ISO lack of funding for SWP-UK.
Steven. wrote: Obamacare
Steven.
this
zugzwang wrote: potrokin
zugzwang
My apologies zugzwang, I should have checked the link. I assumed it was the SWP in the UK, I am sorry- although it is my understanding that the American SWP, if that is the party who prints the publication you linked to, is a Trotskyist organisation.
Should have a blog up
Should have a blog up today/tmmrw on his immigration policies