He didn't do anything progressive.
Democrats were never progressive
He didn't do anything progressive.
1) He asked Congress to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to a gradual increase toward $10.10. Senate Republicans voted against it. Therefore Obama made an Executive Order ordering all federal government employees to get at least a minimum wage of $10.10. He also asked governors and mayors to increase their minimum wages and at least 7 to 8 states did it on his request.
2)An immigration reform bill passed the Senate vote, but the Speaker of the House of Representatives refused to put it on the floor for a vote.
3)Gun control bill (Stronger background checks was a major part of it) was voted down in the Senate.
4)Criminal Justice reform bill which included getting rid of mandatory minimum sentencing completely died in the Senate. Which is why all of Obama and his Attorney Generals criminal justice reform was done on policy directive which can easily be overturned by the next administration.
5)Republicans blocked the paycheck fairness act which would have better addressed the issue of closing pay gaps between men and women.
6)Republicans voted against a bill that would have stopped giving tax breaks to businesses who ship jobs overseas and instead give tax breaks to those who brought businesses here.
I can go on.
They did nothing but Obstruct his Presidency from the moment they won control of Congress.
I read somewhere that Obama campaigned as a revolutionary but governed as a technocrat. I think that pretty much sums it up. But, part of the story is also that he probably would have been slaughtered, had he attempted more than incremental change during his time in office. Even his absolutely non-threatening, let's maintain civility presidency got white people so riled up that they elected probably the most incompetent white man imaginable as his successor, just to prove a point.
It's been 10 years since we celebrated the first half black president. What's the verdict on the change we could all believe in?
Edit: let me edit because I can already see from the first post that it seems like I am trying to set up a political argument when that is not really my point. I was one of the people that was really excited when he got elected. But it's really disappointing to be where we are right now after so much promise and hope that things would be better and 10 years later many schools still suck and cops are killing us with impunity. We have a president who is aiding and abetting racists. We have Obamacare getting rolled back.
Really my point is that political gains are fleeting and can be reversed when your party loses power. ultimately Obama was right that change doesn't happen from the top down and it happens from the bottom up. But if that was the case why did we get so excited when he got elected and why are people acting like today is urgent and will impact the lives of millions of people? It's just another election day.