60.

61.

62.

CIVIL RIGHTS

63. Romney has said he opposed a law ending workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity because the law, ENDA, "would be an overly broad law that would open a litigation floodgate & unfairly penalize employers..." (source), (source)

64. As governor of Massachusetts, Romney got rid of "the state's long-standing affirmative action policy." (source).

65. "Romney … I can't remember one person of color he had in a high-ranking position in his administration." He had just 3.6%. (source)

66. He does not have agenda or plan on his website for protecting civil rights. (source)

67. "Some people have said we ought to close Guantanamo. My view is we ought to double Guantanamo." (source)

DEFENSE / HOMELAND SECURITY / FOREIGN POLICY

68. Almost all of Romney's foreign policy team members served in the Bush-Cheney administration. (source)

69. Adam Smith at Foreign Policy Magazine: "As Romney considers possible running mates, it's worth remembering that he pointed to Dick Cheney as the "kind of person I'd like to have" working with him. Likewise, the policies that Romney has advocated -- like indefinitely leaving our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, for example -- are continuations of the Bush-Cheney doctrine, version 2.0....The idea of Bolton and other Bush-Cheney officials serving in a Romney administration should be a scary prospect for all Americans." (source)

70. "Romney has called Russia our 'number one geopolitical foe' -- an outlandish statement that stunned foreign policy experts across the political spectrum." (source)

71. "Romney's team? These are the guys who brought us torture, black sites, damaged alliances, open sneering at international institutions, and two bloody, financially ruinous wars. And in this uncertain world, you can be sure of one thing: If Mitt Romney wins, they'll do their best to bring it all back." (source)

72. Romney wants to dramatically increase defense spending, even above the levels asked for by the Pentagon. (source) He wants America to spend a minimum of 4 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product on defense. He would pay for that massive increase by slashing domestic programs here at home. (source).

73. "Guided by a Republican Party virtually devoid of moderate centrists, Romney has embraced a global assessment distorted by ideological excess, pledged to wield power in a way that will leave the nation weakened and isolated, and demonstrated a failure to appreciate the key linkages between strength at home and influence abroad." (source)

74. Colin Powell has said "I have concerns about his views on foreign policy...I'm not sure which Governor Romney we would be getting with respect to foreign policy...My concern is that sometimes I don't sense that he's thought through these issues as thoroughly as he should have...I think there are some very strong neo-conservative views that are presented by the governor that I have problems with." (source)

75. Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. secretary of State, and Samuel R. Berger, former U.S. national security adviser, believe Romney has "demonstrated the flawed nature of his approach to national security" and has failed to offer "a clear and coherent vision of what he would do as commander in chief." (source).

76.

DISABILITIES

77. As governor, Romney "pushed to eliminate or gut more than 20 state programs serving veterans, disadvantaged children, and adults with severe physical disabilities." (source)

78. "He also sought to cut money for breast cancer screenings, suicide prevention and programs that assisted the blind and the deaf. [(source) He also sought to cut money for breast cancer screenings, suicide prevention and programs that assisted the blind and the deaf]

79. "These cuts would have totaled $26.8 million -- 2.2 percent of the $1.2 billion state budget deficit that Romney inherited upon taking office. None of these cuts were necessary for balancing the state's budget. All were overriden by the Democratic state legislature, and the state still closed its budget gap with room to spare." (source)

80. "Romney successfully slashed services for people living with AIDS/HIV by 23 percent during his time in office." (source)

81. "Romney wanted hundreds of thousands of dollars in cuts for services for adults with intellectual and physical disabilities. The cuts included reductions in funds for agencies that link disabled adults with jobs, day programs and transportation." (source)

82. "Romney's failure to maintain mental health services for poor children in Massachusetts landed him in a historic court battle. For nearly all of his tenure in office, Romney aggressively fought a class-action lawsuit seeking to improve services for more than 30,000 of the state's poor children. Romney lost, with a federal judge ordering the governor to end shortcomings in the state system, which was breaking up families and wasting taxpayer money." (source)

83. The non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy priorities has found that Romney's economic plan would result in "cuts in programs such as veterans' disability compensation, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for poor elderly and disabled individuals, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps), school lunches and other child nutrition programs, and unemployment compensation would cause the incomes of large numbers of households to fall below the poverty line. Many who already are poor would become poorer." (source)

ECONOMY & TAXES

84.

85. Romney believes corporations and the wealthiest Americans to pay too much in taxes. (source)

86. According to his website, he wants to cut taxes for the wealthy by 20% and lower the corporate tax rate to 25%. (source)

87. Romney wants to dramatically lower corporate tax even though the 10 most profitable U.S. corporations paid an average effective tax rate of just 9% in 2011. (source)

88. Romney wants to dramatically lower corporate tax rates even though 26 companies on the Fortune 500 list paid zero federal income tax in each of the last four years (companies like General Electric, Boeing, Verizon, and Mattel). (source) (source) (source)

89. Romney wants to dramatically lower corporate tax rates even though some 280 companies on the Fortune 500 list pay only about half of the corporate tax rate. (source)

90. Romney believes corporations are people: "Corporations are people, my friend." (source)

91. Nonpartisan analysts have tried and tried to make sense of Romney's economic plan but they agree the math simply doesn't add up. (source) (source) (source) (source) (source) (source) (source) In other words, Mitt Romney has no viable plan for the economy.

92. Even Romney's "revised" plan announced at one of the debates would still disproportionately benefit the wealthy and the super wealthy top .01%, studies have concluded. (source)

93. Even Republican Bruce Bartlett, who served in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, has called Mitt Romney's economic plan "nonsense." (source)

94.

95. He thinks that veterans, seniors, the unemployed, students and any one else who voted for Barack Obama "believe they are victims" (source):



"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. ... My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

He also has said "I am not concerned about the very poor." (source)

96. Mitt Romney thinks those who are do not pay federal income tax, such as the working poor, the disabled, U.S. military personnel deployed in war zones, seniors on Medicare and Social Security, etc. will "kill the country." (source)

97.

98. Romney's position on foreclosures: "Don't try to stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom." (source)

99. Romney's claim that his plan creates 12 million jobs has been thoroughly debunked as false. (source), (source), (source), (source), (source)

100.

101. Under Mitt Romney's leadership, Massachusetts ranked 47th among the 50 states in job creation. (source)

102.

103. Greg Mankiw is one of Mitt Romney's top economic advisors and a leading candidate to become chairman of the Federal Reserve if Romney is elected. (source) Mankiw has said the "offshoring" of American jobs is a positive thing and that "Outsourcing is just a new way of doing international trade." (source)

104. Mitt Romney would repeal the Dodd-Frank bill, which regulates the risky practices that led to the 2008 crisis. (source)

105. As governor, Mitt Romney vetoed a minimum wage increase to $8 an hour. (source)

106.

107. The economies that benefit most from Romney's job plan are in foreign countries. (source)

108.

ROMNEY'S OUT OF TOUCH WITH MIDDLE CLASS AMERICANS

109. He casually made a $10,000 bet on live TV during a debate. (source)

110. "[My wife] drives a couple of Cadillacs." (source)

111. "I have some friends who are NASCAR team owners." (source)

112. "I get speaker's fees from time to time, but not very much." (he earned $374,000 in speaking fees in one year) (source)

113. Romney, who is worth almost a quarter billion dollars, believes that "middle-income" is $200,000 to $250,000 a year. (source). The median U.S. household income is around $50,000.

EDUCATION

114.

"He [Obama] says we need more firemen, more policemen, more teachers. Did he not get the message of Wisconsin? The American people did. It's time for us to cut back on government and help the American people." (source)

115. "More spending is the last thing our schools need," writes Romney in his campaign whitepaper. (source)

116. Mitt Romney has endorsed Paul Ryan's budget and selected him as his running mate. Ryan's budget " The Ryan budget would both cut Pell benefits and eligibility and freeze the maximum grant at $5,550 per student per year, apparently on a permanent basis. … It would repeal the entire $101 billion in existing mandatory funding for Pell over the next ten years—both the permanent, open-ended funding and the temporary pools of fixed funding." (source)

117. Romney doesn't think we need smaller classroom sizes. He says there is "no relationship" between class size and student performance. (source)

118.

119. "Paul Toner, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, says there were no policy or funding initiatives under Romney - in fact, he says, state support for public schools and colleges was actually cut during Romney's time as governor." (source)

120. "People viewed his [education] proposals as political talking points, and no one took Romney seriously..." (source)

121. As governor, Romney abolished bilingual education. The Boston Globe reports that "the effort proved to be a failure." (source).

122. "Romney did not adequately account for the complexities of language acquisition, and without providing adequate money to train teachers, non-English speaking students quickly floundered." (source)

123. Romney thinks political contributions by teachers should be limited, but has no problems with corporations, lobbyist and other professions donating what they'd like. (source)

124. Romney's plan for students struggling with the skyrocketing cost of college is that they should "shop around" or "borrow money from your parents."

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

125. "Romney's plan caters heavily to oil and coal interests, and oil executives are some of his biggest benefactors." (source)

126. "Under the plan, the federal government would remove or loosen environmental statutes and regulations..." (source)

127.

128. Mitt Romney opposes regulating carbon dioxide, even though the EPA found that such greenhouse gas emissions "threaten the public health and welfare of the American people." (source) He mocked efforts to regulate the harmful emission: "I know there is also a movement to say that carbon dioxide should be guided or should be managed by the Environmental Protection Agency. I disagree with that. I exhale carbon dioxide...I don't want those guys following me around with a meter to see if I'm breathing too hard." (source)

129. Mitt Romney wants to allow leading of and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (source)

130. Mitt Romney's campaign is influenced by what analysts have called "the dirty dozen," "the lobbyists, CEOs and advisers" who are driving his agenda. The list includes the Koch brothers, who made their billions off of dirty energy, Harold Hamm, an advocate of fracking and mining on federal lands, Jim Talent, a top lobbyist for the coal industry, Jack Gerard, president of the American Petroleum Institute and more. (source)

131. "Both Romney's plan and the House-passed Ryan budget would retain $2.4 billion in annual tax breaks for the big five oil companies – BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Shell – that made a record $137 billion in profits last year, and over $60 billion so far in 2012." (source)

132. "The Romney-Ryan proposed cut in the corporate tax rate would provide a $2.3 billion tax cut for the big five oil companies. With the existing tax breaks, the big five companies would skim over $4 billion annually from the U.S. Treasury." (source)

133. "Romney plan gives Americans' lands and waters to dirty energy interests." (source)

134. "Romney and Ryan oppose the extension of the Production Tax Creditto encourage wind energy. The PTC helped the U.S. double its wind electricity generation over the past four years, and ending it could cost at least 37,000 jobs this year." (source)

135. "Romney plan won't reduce oil and gasoline prices". (source)

136. Romney and Ryan support rolling back regulations like those implemented by the Obama administration to reduce mercury and cancer causing pollutants from power plants. (source)

137. "Ryan's latest budget would slash those allocations an additional 14.8%, cutting $380 million (and over 70,000 jobs) starting in 2014 and forcing hundreds of parks to shut down for part of the year. It would also cut funding to national forests by up to $678 million a year starting in 2014, threatening programs designed to fight wildfires, provide clean drinking water and support recreational hunting and fishing." (source)

ETHICS

138. Romney's campaign is propped up by millionaires, billionaires and mega-rich corporations. (source), (source)

139. His campaign is funded the financial sector, banks, oil & gas companies, etc. (source) :

140. That includes Wall Street (source) 141. Romney refuses to release the names of campaign bundlers -- those who raise millions for his campaign. Obama discloses the names of each and every one of his bundlers. (source)

142. Through its own independent research, USA Today discovered that 1 out of every 4 bundlers on Romney campaign hail from the financial sector. (source)

143. Romney's campaign is funded by the wealthy while Obama's is funded by average Americans. 45% of Obama's campaign money comes from people donating $200 or less while just 9% of Romney's money comes from that bracket. In fact, 66% of Romney's campaign money comes from people who can afford to donate the maximum $2,500 to his campaign. (source)

144. 69% of outside money spent during this election has benefited Mitt Romney and Republicans. (source)

HEALTH CARE

145. Romney has promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which has saved and will save countless of lives. (source)

146. "72 million Americans would be uninsured by 2022 if Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney wins the election and has his health care plan enacted." (source)

147. "Romney's plan would cost Americans more money. People who choose to buy health insurance on their own would pay 14 percent of their income, compared to only 9 percent under the ACA." (source)

148. Families USA finds in its own study that Romney's plan would cost families 92 percent more than the ACA by 2016. (source)

149. "The Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation added that repealing the ACA would cost a federal budget deficit of $109 billion between 2013 and 2022." (source)

150. Romney's plan does not cover pre-existing conditions. (source)

151. Romney's plan would empower insurers again to scour through your medical records and find reasons to turn you down. (source)

152. When asked what he would do about Americans who lack health insurance, Romney says "that the country already had a system in place for them: emergency rooms. 'We pick them up in an ambulance and take them to the hospital and give them care.'" (source)

153. Romney's plan would, according to Reuters, "mak[e] consumers pay more of their own medical bills." (source)

154. Reuters also found that Romney's use of "heath savings accounts favors the affluent, while statistics indicate that high-deductible plans can mean big out-of-pocket costs for people with lower wages and little disposable income." (source)

155. Medicaid provides health care for the poorest Americans, including millions of children. Romney "plans steep reductions to Medicaid's with no weighing of the consequences for human life. Of all the cuts that Romney proposes, what he would do to Medicaid is the cruelest and it would hit Americans hard." (source)

156. Indeed, the plan would "end Medicaid as we know it - forcing many seniors to be kicked out of their nursing homes and leaving low-income infants and children with no health coverage at all." (source)

157. Romney's Medicare voucher plan would raise healthcare costs for most seniors, according to studies. (source)

158. Romney's Medicare plan would shift "more costs onto seniors and handing out $4.6 trillion in tax breaks over the next decade to big corporations and millionaires." (source)

159. "Senior's healthcare costs would double under Romney/Ryan. For example, in ten years, 65-year-olds would be forced to pay twice as much for care than they would under current Medicare: $12,500 compared to $6,150." (source), (source)

FEMA

160. "At a Republican primary debate in June of 2011, CNN's John King asked Mitt Romney for his views on disaster relief. "FEMA is about to run out of money, and there are some people who say, 'Do it on a case-by-case basis.' And there are some people who say, 'You know what, maybe we're learning a lesson here that the states should take on more of this role.' How do you deal with something like that?" Mr. Romney responded ""Absolutely. Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that's the right direction. And if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that's even better." (source)

IMMIGRATION

161. "Romney promised to make life so miserable for undocumented immigrants that they would "self-deport.": At the Florida Republican Debate, Romney said that he would enforce stringent documentation policies that would make it difficult for illegal immigrations to find work, eventually spurring them to "self-deport." According to Romney, "If people don't get work here they're going to self-deport to a place where they can get work." [January 2012, Huffington Post] The answer is self-deportation, which is people decide they can do better by going home." (source)

162. Romney attacked Governor Rick Perry for supporting the DREAM Act, calling it a 'magnet for illegal immigration.' (source)

163. Romney pledged to veto the DREAM Act. (source)

164. "Romney consults author of extreme anti-immigrant legislation on immigration issues." (source)]

165. "My dad, as you probably know, was the governor of Michigan and was the head of a car company. But he was born in Mexico... and had he been born of, uh, Mexican parents, I'd have a better shot at winning this. But he was unfortunately born to Americans living in Mexico. He lived there for a number of years. I mean, I say that jokingly, but it would be helpful to be Latino." (source)

166. "I'm running for office for Pete's sake, we can't have illegals" –Mitt Romney describing his reaction when he learned that his lawn company employed undocumented immigrants. (source)

VETERANS

167. Romney didn't mention American troops once during his speech at the Republican National Convention. (source)

168. He didn't think it was a thing that "was important": "When you give a speech you don't go through a laundry list, you talk about the things that you think are important." (source)

169. "Romney and Ryan might gut by up to 20 percent investments in the Department of Veterans Affairs...Let's be clear, Romney and Ryan would be disastrous for America's service members, veterans and military families," says former Republican Senator and veterans advocate Larry Pressler. (source)

170. Romney has suggested he wants to privatize the Veterans Administration (source) (source)

171. "Romney Proposed Increasing Fees On Hospitalized Veterans" (source)

172. "Romney Proposed Cutting State Hiring Preferences For Veterans" (source)

173. "Legislators Overturned Romney Veto Of Tens Of Thousands In Funding For Veterans Cemetery." (source)

174. "Romney Tried To Cut $165,000 From Veterans Outreach In 2003." (source)

175. "From all accounts, Mitt Romney's visit to that veterans shelter just behind Boston's City Hall Plaza was not one of the brighter moments of his campaign for US senator. When director Ken Smith told him that one of the things the shelter needed was fresh milk,Romney replied jokingly that maybe the veterans should be taught how to milk cows." (source)

SOCIAL SECURITY

176. Romney's plan for Social Security is to raise the retirement age, cut benefits and benefit the top earners. (source)

177. According to Bloomberg's analysis, "Romney's approach will hit middle-income workers harder than the wealthiest..." (source)

178. Under Romney's Social Security plan, "Romney would implicitly raise taxes on the middle class." (source)

WOMEN

178. "I went to a number of women's groups and said 'Can you help us find folks?' and they brought us whole binders full of women." —Mitt Romney, on staffing his cabinet while he was governor of Massachusetts. (source)

179. Romney lied about asking for female candidates when he took office as governor. He tried to take credit for women's groups work in Massachusetts. (source)

180. "A UMass-Boston study found that the percentage of senior-level appointed positions held by women actually declined throughout the Romney administration, from 30.0% prior to his taking office, to 29.7% in July 2004, to 27.6% near the end of his term in November 2006." (source)

181. When Rush Limbaugh bullied Sandra Fluke, a female student who testified about contraception on Capitol Hill, by calling her a "slut" and a "prostitute" on national radio, Romney refused to address the matter. When he finally did, he did not condemn Limbaugh's attack, simply saying instead that "It's not the language I would have used." (source)

182. Almost 90% of the people Romney nominated to become judges during his term as governor were men. (source)

183. Romney did not hire a single female partner as CEO of Bain Capital during the 1980s and 1990s. (source)

184. "Planned Parenthood, we're going to get rid of that." (source)

185. Romney's top legal advisor says won't aren't discriminated against anymore. (source)

186. Romney's position on choice has evolved so much it's hard to know exactly what his exactly what his plan will be for choice as president, except that it will focus on limiting choice and perhaps even appointing justice who will ban abortion all together. (source) (source)

187. Romney has said that Roe v. Wade is "bad law and bad medicine" and "a misguided ruling that was the result of a small group of activist federal judges legislating from the bench." (source)

188.

VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE PAUL RYAN

189. Paul Ryan has consistently scored low on interest group scorecards on the environment, education issues, women's issues, legal issues, worker's rights issues, and health issues. (source)

190. In the annual scorecard by the Human Rights Campaign, "vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan scored zero percent every year, except the 110th Congress, when he scored 10 percent. While Ryan received a 10 percent that Congress for voting for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, it is important to note that he first voted to reject the legislation by voting for a procedural motion Republican leaders put forward to kill the bill. " (source).

191. The American Civil Liberties Union gave a 0% score to Paul Ryan for 2011. (source)

192. Paul Ryan made his name on the national stage by presenting a budget that would slash programs for seniors, the poor and students.

193. Paul Ryan's budget plan would have cut SNAP grants by 18%. (source)

194. Paul Ryan voted to ban same-sex marriage. (source)

195. He voted to ban adoption by gay couples. (source)

196. He voted against repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell. (source)

197. "Ryan heaped praise on Ayn Rand, a 20th-century libertarian novelist best known for her philosophy that centered on the idea that selfishness is "virtue." (source)

198. Ryan proposed a budget that "would extend the Bush tax cuts, which are due to expire at the end of this year, he would not extend President Obama's tax cuts for those with the lowest incomes, which will expire at the same time." Households "earning more than $1 million a year, meanwhile,could see a net tax cut of about $300,000 annually." (source)

199. Ryan co-sponsored a "personhood" amendment, an extreme anti-abortion measure.(source)

WHY PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA DESERVES A SECOND TERM

In just four years, President Obama and his administration have accomplished so much for Americans. It's easy to forget just how much with the 24/7 news cycles. Here is a compilation of accomplishments from various government websites. These are taken verbatim from sources like WhiteHouse.gov and factsheets published by various government bodies. You can pour through all the data yourself at WhiteHouse.gov, Data.gov, Recovery.gov, and other government websites.

200.

CIVIL RIGHTS

201. Signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which extends the coverage of Federal hate crimes law to include attacks based on the victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. (source)

202. Pushed for and signed into the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 into law. Now gay men and women can serve openly in the U.S. military. (source)

203. Decided that his administration would no longer defend Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) against equal protection constitutional challenges brought by same-sex couples married under state law. (source)

204. Supports the Respect for Mrraige Act, that would repreal DOMA (source)

205. First sitting president to voice support for same-sex marriage. (source)

206. Issued a presidential memorandum which led to the framework allowing same-sex domestic partners to visit their sick loved ones in the hospital. (source)

207. Expanded federal benefits to all same-sex partners of Foreign Service and executive branch government employees. (source)

208.



I don't know what it's like to be picked on for being gay, but I do know what it's like to grow up feeling that sometimes you don't belong. It's tough. And for a lot of kids the sense of being alone or apart, I know it can just wear on you. And when you're teased or bullied it can seem like somehow you have brought it on yourself for being different or for not fitting in with everybody else. But what I want to say is this: You are not alone, you didn't do anything wrong, you didn't do anything to deserve being bullied, and there's a whole world waiting for you filled with possibilities. There are people out there that love you and care about you just the way you are...The other thing you need to know is things will get better, and more than that, with time you are going to see that your differences are a source of pride and a source of strength. You'll look back on the struggles you've faced with compassion and wisdom, and that's not just going to serve you, but it'll help you get involved and make his country a better place. [...] As a nation, we're founded on the belief that all of us are equal and each of us deserves the freedom to pursue our own version of happiness, to make the most of our talents, to speak our minds, to not fit in; most of all, to be true to ourselves. That's the freedom that enriches all of us. That's what America is all about,and every day it gets better.

I want to start off by saying, first and foremost, I'm proud of you. There's not a single thing about you that's not normal, good and decent. And you are not alone. There are tens of millions of people around the world and millions of people right here in America, and people right in your neighborhood, who may be or are perceived to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender. They are normal people, but so many people - so many people in your circumstance are experienced being bullied or ridiculed. And I know it's not only hurtful, but sometimes it can be literally frightening and there's absolutely no justification for it.

209.210. Signed the Fair Sentencing Act, which reduces the disparity in the amounts of powder cocaine and crack cocaine required to trigger certain penalties in the federal system, including imposition of mandatory minimum sentences. For years, this arbitrary discrepancy had an unfair and a disproportionate impact on racial minorities. (source) . Also supports funding for drug courts, which give first-time, non-violent offenders a chance to serve their sentence, if appropriate, in drug rehabilitation programs that have proven to work better than prison terms in changing behavior. (source)

DEFENSE / HOMELAND SECURITY

211. Authorized raid to kill Osama bin Laden, mastermind behind the September 9/11 attacks and countless other acts of terror.

212.



Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body. For over two decades, bin Laden has been al Qaeda's leader and symbol, and has continued to plot attacks against our country and our friends and allies. The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al Qaeda. (source)

213. Ended the combat mission in Iraq. (source)

214. Ratified a landmark nuclear arms treaty with Russia, New START. (source)

DISABILITIES

215. Signed into law the National Alzheimer's Project Act to accelerate research on Alzheimers and to improve care for those current suffering from the disease. (source)

216. Signed into law the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, the first piece of comprehensive legislation aimed at improving the lives of Americans living with paralysis. (source)

217. Signed into law the reauthorization of the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act. (source)

218. Through the Affordable Care act, established the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) program, a self-funded and voluntary long-term care insurance choice that would help people with disabilities remain in their homes, communities and jobs through cash benefits to pay for community support services. (source)

219. His Department of Labor proposed a new rule that would require federal contractors and subcontractors to set a hiring goal of having 7 percent of their workforces be people with disabilities. (source)

220.

ECONOMY

221. The president's stimulus prevented a second Great Depression. (source), (source), (source)

223.

224. American businesses have added 5.4 million jobs in the past 32 months. (source)

225. Rescued the American auto industry from collapse, saving more than 1 million jobs around the country. U.S. automakers have added nearly 250,000 jobs since June of 2009 -- the best period of growth in more than a decade. (source)

226. Federal spending growth has actually been slower under President Obama than under any other president since Eisenhower. (source)

227.

228. Strengthened trade relationships with countries around the world to help U.S. businesses boost their exports by 33.5% and support 1.2 million additional jobs since 2009.(source)

229. Helped small businesses expand and hire by increasing access to loans and signing 18 tax breaks, including tax credits for hiring unemployed workers and veterans with disabilities. (source)

230. Freed up $473 million in unspent earmarks for states to spend on infrastructure projects. (source)

231.

232. Directed federal agencies to use the Do Not Pay tool to prevent payment errors like sending funds to dead people or contracting with companies who have attempted to defraud the government. (source)

233. Directed the federal government to increase the purchase of products made from materials produced by American Farmers. (source)

234. Announced new resources for companies that want to hire and invest in America. (source)

235. Launched Summer Jobs+ to provide employment opportunities for nearly 180,000 young people. (source)

236. Launched two initiatives to provide startup companies with $2 billion in resources. (source)

237. Announced four new actions to help further reduce waste and fraud in Medicare and Medicaid. (source)

238. Introduced new rules to help responsible borrowers with little or no equity in their homes take advantage of current low mortgage rates. (source)

239. Launched a centralized, one-stop shop (BusinessUSA.gov) to make it easier than ever for businesses of all sizes to access services to help them grow, hire, and export. (source)

240. Supported lending to more than 166,000 small businesses through community banks, state-run loan programs, and the Small Business Administration. (source)

241. Reformed patent law to help entrepreneurs bring their inventions to market sooner, reduce patent application backlog, and protect U.S. intellectual property abroad. (source)

242. Cut red tape to help small businesses and entrepreneurs raise capital from investors more efficiently so they can expand and hire more quickly. (source)

243. Small business tax credit: Jumpstarted small business hiring by cutting taxes for businesses that hire new workers or pay higher wages. (source)

244. Renew tax breaks that allow companies to immediately write off the total cost of certain purchases like computers and machines to encourage investment (100% expensing). (source)

245. In 2014, small business will be able to shop for affordable health insurance plans through state-based marketplaces, and be eligible tax credits that cover up to 50% of the cost of providing health care for employees. (source)

246. The Recovery Act provided a one-time payment of $250 to retirees, other Social Security beneficiaries, disabled veterans, and SSI recipients. Fifty-six million retirees and other individuals received this one-time payment, totaling $14 billion. (source)

247. Fought for and implemented historic financial reforms to create a more stable and responsible financial system that holds Wall Street accountable, discourages irresponsible financial risk-taking, and ends taxpayer-funded bailouts.(source)

248. Ended more than $60 billion in wasteful subsidies for big banks and used the savings to put the cost of college within reach for more families. (source)

249. Helped launch the Startup America Partnership, an independent alliance of entrepreneurs, corporations, universities, foundations, and other leaders that has mobilized well over $1 billion in business services available through a national network, designed to serve as many as 100,000 startups over the next few years. (source)

250. President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act into law (source):



251. Signed The Credit CARD Act (the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights) into law. (source)

252. Signed the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act, which gives the federal government more tools to crack down on the kind of fraud that put thousands of hardworking families at risk of losing their homes despite doing everything right to live within their means, into law. (source)

253. Implemented the first Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to make sure that the financial products and services that Americans depend on every day —including credit cards, mortgages, and loans—work better for the people who use them. (source)

254. Supported and signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009, marking a turning point for American consumers and ending the days of unfair rate hikes and hidden fees. (source). The act bans unfair rate increases, prevents unfair fee traps, has plain sight/plain language disclosure requirements and have increased protections for students and young people.

EDUCATION

255. Expanded Pell Grants to reach an additional 3 million students and raised the current maximum award to $5,550, up from $4,730 in 2008. (source)

256. Capped monthly student loan payments for responsible borrowers who make their payments on time so they aren't held back by debt as they start their careers. (source)

257. Ended more than $60 billion in wasteful subsidies for big banks and used the savings to put the cost of college within reach for more families. (source)

258. Created a tax credit worth $10,000 over four years that helps 9 million families cover the cost of college. (source)

259. Race to the Top: President Obama's Race to the Top initiative has dedicated over $4 billion to 19 states that have created robust plans that address the four key areas of K-12 education reform as described below. These states serve 22 million students and employ 1.5 million teachers in 42,000 schools, representing 45 percent of all K-12 students and 42 percent of all low-income students nationwide. (source)

260. With President Obama's leadership, rates on new subsidized Stafford loans remained at 3.4 percent — instead of doubling to 6.8 percent — this past summer. (source)

261. The Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is designing a College Scorecard containing key indicators of student success and financial outcomes about every institution of higher education nationwide. (source)

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

262. Domestic oil and natural gas production has increased every year since President Obama took office. In 2011, U.S. oil production reached the highest level in 8 years and natural gas production hit an all-time high. On Federal lands and waters alone, oil production is up 13%. (source)

263. U.S. dependence on foreign oil has decreased every year since President Obama took office. We now import less than half of the oil we consume and in 2011, imports as a share of total consumption declined to a 16-year low. (source)

264. New fuel economy standards for cars and trucks, the first in 30 years, will cut oil consumption by 2.2 million barrels a day, slash emissions by 6 billion metric tons, and save the average driver $8,000 at the pump by 2025. (source)

265. New programs to improve energy efficiency in our homes, buildings, factories, and transportation systems will reduce pollution and save money for businesses and families. (source)

266. The U.S. has doubled renewable energy generation from wind, solar, and geothermal sources since 2008 thanks to the President's record investments in clean energy. (source)

267. His Better Building Initiative will create jobs, save money, and cut pollution by improving energy efficiency in our non-residential building space. (source)

268. Wants to make more than 75% of our potential offshore oil and gas resources available for exploration and development and permit clean energy projects on public lands that will generate enough renewable energy to power 3 million homes. (source)

269. Signed the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, the most extensive expansion of land and water conservation in more than a generation, designating more than 2 million acres of federal wilderness, thousands of miles of trails, and protecting more than 1,000 miles of rivers. (source)

270. Directed the Federal Government – the largest energy consumer in the U.S. economy – to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions from direct sources such as building energy use and fuel consumption by 28 percent by 2020. (source)

271. He also directed Federal agencies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions from indirect sources, such as those from employee commuting, by 13 percent by 2020.

272. (source)

273. Through a Memorandum of Understanding signed by EPA, the Department of the Interior and the Army Corps of Engineers on June 11, 2009, Federal agencies are taking action to minimize adverse environmental and health impacts of mountaintop coal mining. (source)

274. The Administration established the first-ever national limits for mercury and other toxic air pollution from power plants, which will prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths, 4,700 heart attacks, and 130,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms each year. (source)

275. After more than a decade of inaction, the Administration reconvened the Environmental Justice Interagency Working Group and engaged more than 100 environmental justice leaders at a White House forum. (source)

276. Established the first comprehensive National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, our Coasts, and the Great Lakes. (source)

ETHICS

277. By Executive Order, set forth the strictest ethics rules in this history of the office. (source)

278. Launched Ethics.gov to help make the government more accountable and open [(source) ethics.gov]

279. Signed an Executive Order on Regulation said the following: Always consider costs and reduce burdens for American businesses and consumers when developing rules; expand opportunities for public participation and public comment; simplify rules; promote freedom of choice; and ensure that regulations are driven by real science. (source)

280. Classification: The executive order on "Classified National Security Information" (the Order) addresses the problem of over-classification in numerous ways and allows the public to gain timelier access to formerly classified records. (source)

FOREIGN POLICY

281.

282. Announced a plan to responsibly end the War in Iraq and kept our promise to end combat operations there by August 31, 2010 and to remove all US troops by the end of 2011. (source)

283. Built an international coalition to stop a massacre in Libya, and to support the Libyan people as they overthrew the regime of Moammar Qadhafi. (source)

284. Announced a strategy to address the international nuclear threat and convened a Nuclear Security Summit that took concrete steps toward securing nuclear material worldwide. (source)

285. Announced new policy steps towards Cuba. (source)

286. Built a broad coalition to pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear program, including unprecedented sanctions by Congress, the UN Security Council, and a host of other nations and regional bodies. (source)

287. Refocused American foreign policy on the Asia Pacific , the world's fastest-growing region. (source)

288. Announced a comprehensive international strategy for cyberspace issues. (source)

289. Reaffirmed our unwavering support for the military as well as their families. (source)

HEALTH CARE

290. 105 million Americans no longer have lifetime dollar limits on their coverage. (source)

291. More than 17.6 million children with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied coverage. (source)

292. Private insurers that provide coverage for nearly 174 million Americans must now justify double-digit premium increases, and nearly 76 million Americans are covered by insurers that are now required to spend at least 80% of premium dollars on health care.

293. 360,000 small businesses received a tax credit in 2011 to help them pay for health insurance for an estimated 2 million workers. (source)

294. 54 million Americans now can receive a free preventive service, such as cancer screenings, through their private insurance plan. (source)

295. 3.1 million young adults have coverage on a parent's plan through age 26. (source)

296. More than 50,000 Americans with pre-existing conditions have gained coverage through the new Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan. (source)

297. 3.6 million people received a 50% discount—worth an average of $604 each—on brand name prescription drugs after hitting the Medicare donut hole in 2011. (source)

298. More than 32.5 million seniors received one or more free preventive services. (source)

299. The average person with Medicare will save about $4,200 from 2011 to 2021. (source)

300. Those with high prescription costs will save up to $16,000. (source)

301. Starting in 2014, no American can be discriminated against due to a pre-existing condition. (source)

302. Insurance companies can no longer drop your coverage when you get sick due to a mistake you made on your application. (source)

304. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act's 80/20 rule, if insurance companies don't spend at least 80 percent of your premium dollar on medical care and quality improvements rather than advertising, overhead and bonuses for executives, they will have to provide you a rebate. The first rebates were made in the summer of 2012. (source)

305. In every State and for the first time ever, insurance companies are required to publicly justify their actions if they want to raise rates by 10 percent or more. (source)

306. Small businesses have long paid a premium price for health insurance – often 18 percent more than larger employers. The tax credit will benefit an estimated 2 million workers who get their insurance from an estimated 360,000 small employers who will receive the credit in 2011 alone. (source)

307. Insurers are now required to cover a number of recommended preventive services, such as cancer, diabetes and blood pressure screenings, without additional cost sharing such as copays or deductibles. Already, 54 million Americans with private health coverage have gotten better preventive services coverage as a result. (source)

308. Under the law, most young adults who can't get coverage through their jobs can stay on their parents' plans until age 26 – a change that has already allowed 3.1 million young adults to get health coverage and given their families peace of mind. (source)

309. Affordable Insurance Exchanges are one-stop marketplaces where consumers can choose a private health insurance plan that fits their health needs. Starting in 2014, they will offer to the public the same kinds of insurance choices members of Congress will have. (source)

310. In 2010, nearly four million people in the donut hole received a $250 check to help with their costs. (source)

311. In 2011, 3.6 million people with Medicare received a 50 percent discount worth a total of $2.1 billion, or an average of $604 per person, on their brand name prescription drugs when they hit the donut hole. (source)

312. Seniors will see additional savings on covered brand-name and generic drugs while in the coverage gap until the gap is closed in 2020. (source)

313. Under the new law, seniors can receive recommended preventive services such as flu shots, diabetes screenings, as well as a new Annual Wellness Visit, free of charge. (source)

314. The health care law helps stop fraud with tougher screening procedures, stronger penalties, and new technology. (source)

315. The administration recovered $4.1 billion in taxpayer dollars in 2011 pursuing health care fraud, the second year recoveries hit this record-breaking level. (source)

316. Prosecutions are way up, too: the number of individuals charged with fraud increased from 821 in fiscal year 2008 to 1,430 in fiscal year 2011 – nearly a 75 percent increase. (source)

317.



I criticized the Affordable Care Act, and the very thing that I criticized is what is going to save my life. Because President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, I get to keep my house. I won't go bankrupt. My kids are going to go to college. And I'm going to live.

318. Launched a comprehensive, cutting-edge strategy to fight transnational organized crime. (source)

319. Presented President Obama's National Strategy for Counterterrorism in a speech at SAIS named "Ensuring al-Qa'ida's Demise." (source)

320. The Administration successfully has managed several natural disasters and ongoing relief efforts, including deadly tornados in Joplin, MO and Tuscaloosa, AL. The DHS played a lead role in federal response efforts following the BP oil spill in the Gulf. (source)

IMMIGRATION

321. Announced a new Department of Homeland Security policy that will allow certain young people who were brought to the United States as young children, do not present a risk to national security or public safety, and meet several key criteria to be considered for relief from removal from the country or from entering into removal proceedings. (source)

322. Supports the DREAM Act. (source)

323.

TAXES

324. Launched a Federal Taxpayer Receipt to help American taxpayers understand exactly how their federal tax dollars are being spent. (source)

325. Increased the value of a tax credit that helps workers keep more of what they earn by expanding the credit for married couples and larger families. (source)

326. Overcame fierce opposition to extend the payroll tax cut for 160 million American workers, saving the typical worker earning $50,000 a year about $40 with each paycheck. (source)

327. Expanded a credit that provides tax relief for 35 million families with children. 12 million working families receive a larger credit, including 5 million previously ineligible families. (source)

328. Ensure the wealthiest Americans do their fair share by paying at least the same tax rate as middle class families so we can reduce the deficit in a balanced way while preserving investments in education, clean energy, manufacturing, and small businesses. (source)

RURAL

329. The USDA and Department of Labor (DOL) partnered to offer job training information and better utilize the rural footprint of the USDA field offices across the country to provide them with greater access to job search resources by reducing the driving times and distances for rural customers seeking program information. (source)

330. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) expanded eligibility for the National Health Service Corps loan repayment program so that Critical Access Hospitals, those with 25 beds or fewer, can recruit new physicians, using student loan repayment incentives. (source)

331. The Navy, the Department of Energy, and USDA have joined forces to spur the creation of an advanced biofuels industry that will support commercial aviation, with a pledge of $510 million, over three years, under the Defense Production Act of 1950. (source)

332. USDA's Forest Service, in conjunction with the White House Rural Council, released a strategy to increase the scale of restoration treatments like forest thinning, reforestation, and other activities to restore and sustain the health of our forests. (source)

333. On January 19, the President signed an Executive Order creating a Task Force charged with developing a National Travel and Tourism Strategy with recommendations for new policies and initiatives to promote domestic and international travel opportunities throughout the United States. (source)

334. The Administration extended more than $400 million in FY 2011 of investments in rural America through the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) Impact Investment Program, at no cost to taxpayers. Nearly $2 billion in additional funding will be invested by the end of fiscal year 2016. (source)

335. On June 14, 2012 President Obama signed an Executive Order to make broadband construction along Federal roadways and properties up to 90 percent cheaper and more efficient. (source)

VETERANS

336. During Obama's first term, businesses had a new Returning Heroes Tax Credit for firms that hire unemployed veterans (maximum credit of $2,400 for every short-term unemployed hire and $4,800 for every long-term unemployed hire). (source)

337. They also had a Wounded Warriors Tax Credit which will increase the existing tax credit for firms that hire veterans with service-connected disabilities who have been unemployed long-term (maximum credit of $9,600 per veteran) and continue the existing credit for all other veterans with a service-connected disability (maximum credit of $4,800). (source)

338. The President challenged businesses to commit to hire or provide training to unemployed veterans or their spouses. In August of 2012, First Lady Michelle Obama announced the Joining Forces initiative had blown past that goal -- 2,000 private sector businesses had already hired or trained 125,000 veterans and military spouses. (source)

339. The White House Rural Council partnered with the U.S Department of Education to deliver a new online community of practice groups for rural schools. (source)

340. The President has also proposed the Veterans Jobs Corps, with a goal of putting 20,000 servicemembers to work rebuilding American infrastructure and serving as cops and firefighters. (source)

341. The Administration launched the Veterans Jobs Bank, at National Resource Directory (NRD.gov), an easy to use tool to help veterans find job postings from companies looking to hire them. It already searches over 500,000 job postings and continues to grow. [(source) NRD.gov]

342. President Obama signed the Veterans Skills to Jobs Act on July 12, 2012. (source), (source)

TECHNOLOGY

343. The Administration has created an Internet Policy Task Force to bring together industry, consumer groups, and policy experts to identify ways of ensuring that the Internet remains a reliable and trustworthy resource for consumers and businesses. (source)

344. President Obama signed the America Invents Act into law on September 16, 2011 after nearly a decade of effort to reform the Nation's outdated patent laws. The patent reform law helps companies and inventors avoid costly delays and unnecessary litigation—letting them focus instead on innovation and job creation. (source)

345. Launched a series of new "Lab to Market" initiatives. The initiatives are aimed at helping to achieve the President's goal of strengthening "commercialization of the nearly $148 billion in annual federally-funded research and development", as first proposed in January 2011 at the launch of the White House-led Startup America campaign. (source)

346. Obama has committed to making high-speed wireless services available to at least 98 percent of Americans. The availability of new wireless broadband services will allow more Americans to use the Internet to learn, work and play—regardless of where they live. (source)

347. Through $7 billion in targeted investments from the Recovery Act, the Administration has expanded broadband access nationwide, improved high-speed connectivity in rural areas and public computer centers, and increased Internet capacity in schools, libraries, public safety offices, and other community buildings. (source)

348. As part of the Recovery Act, this Administration invested $4.5 billion in electricity delivery and energy reliability modernization, with total public-private investment amounting to over $10 billion. (source)

349. Launched in May 2009, Data.gov has increased access to information that the public can readily find and use. (source)

350. As part of this initiative, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, NASA, and the Department of Agriculture are funding $70 million of research for next-generation robotics. (source)

351. Part of being efficient involves shutting down projects that are no longer performing, and one responsibility of the Federal CIO and his office has been to use so-called TechStat sessions to look into such projects and figure out how to either fix them or terminate them. (source)

WOMEN

352. "I didn't run for President so that the dreams of our daughters could be deferred or denied. I didn't run for President to see inequality and injustice persist in our time. I ran for President to put the same rights, the same opportunities, and the same dreams within the reach for our daughters and our sons alike. I ran for President to put the American Dream within the reach of all of our people, no matter what their gender, or race, or faith, or station." -President Obama, March 8, 2010 (source)

353. "Equal pay is by no means just a women's issue -- it's a family issue....And in this economy, when so many folks are already working harder for less and struggling to get by, the last thing they can afford is losing part of each month's paycheck to simple and plain discrimination." - President Obama, Upon Signing the Lilly Ledbetter Bill (source)

354. Signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law as his first bill signed into law. (source)

355. Created the National Equal Pay Task Force to crack down on violations of equal pay laws. Since then, "Enforcement actions have increased, the government has recovered unprecedented monetary recoveries, and investments in education and outreach for both employers and employees are paying huge dividends." (source)

356. The President continues to advocate for the passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act, which is common sense legislation that gives women the tools they need to fight pay discrimination. (source)

357. In the Recovery Act, the President extended expansions of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for larger families and reduced the marriage penalty, benefiting over 7 million people and making the Child Tax Credit (CTC) available to more low income families, benefiting 14 million children. (source)

358. In December 2010, the President signed the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. The expansions in the EITC and the CTC that were extended as part of this legislation benefitted an estimated 12 million women – 4 million of them single mothers. (source)

359. President Obama has proposed a rule to provide minimum wage and overtime protections for workers who are employed providing in-home care services for the elderly and infirm. (source)

360.

361. As a result of the Affordable Care Act the President signed into law, many women will now be provided reasonable break times and private space at work to express breast milk, up until a child's first birthday. (source)

362. As part of the Affordable Care Act, in 2014, it will be illegal for insurance companies to discriminate against anyone with a pre-existing condition. Before the law, insurance companies could deny coverage to women due to pre-existing conditions, such as having cancer, or being pregnant. (source)

363. In 2014, many insurers will not be able to charge women higher premiums than they charge men. (source)

364. For the first time, the Institute of Medicine has set forth guidelines for women's preventive health care, and, as part of the Affordable Care Act, new insurance plans must cover these services with no deductibles, copayments, or coinsurance, including mammograms, HIV testing and counseling, domestic violence counseling, and testing for gestational diabetes. (source)

365. Starting in 2014, many health plans will be required to cover the cost of a pregnancy–a monumental win for women because 68 percent of enrollees in individual market plans today lack such coverage. (source)

366. Obama has consistently supported and defended Title X Family Planning clinics that provide crucial health services to persons from low-income families. In both FY 2011 and FY 2012 funding bills, he refused to allow language barring funding for Planned Parenthood to be included in the Federal budget. (source)

367. The SBA has opened 10 new Women's Business Centers around the country, for a total of 110 centers that trained and/or counseled over 139,000 people in 2011, primarily underserved and economically disadvantaged women. (source)

368. The administration has implemented the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract program, which helps level the playing field for women-owned small businesses in over 300 industries where women are underrepresented by giving them greater access to Federal contracting opportunities. (source)

369. Signed the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act which provides funding for nearly 1,700 shelters and service programs for victims of domestic violence and their children. (source)

370. Released new rules that provide protection to victims living in subsidized housing and allow landlords to evict perpetrators of abuse and ensure victims do not lose their housing due to crimes committed against them. (source)

371. In February 2012, the Department of Defense announced it intends to eliminate the "co-location exclusion" barring women U.S. military service members from being co-located with ground combat units, a change that will open over 13,000 new positions to women soldiers. (source)

372. In December 2011, President Obama released the first-ever U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security and signed Executive Order 13595 directing the Plan's implementation. (source)

373. 1.1 million women between the ages of 19 and 25 who would have been uninsured currently receive health coverage under a parent's health insurance plan or through an individually purchased health insurance plan. (source)

374. More than 16,000 Small Business Administration Loans totaling more than $4.5 billion were granted to women- owned small businesses. (source)

375. $62.5 million in monetary relief has been obtained for victims of sex-based wage discrimination by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission since January 2010. (source)

376. Through the Recovery Act, more than 185,000 low-income young women received summer employment and more than 215,000 women were placed in subsidized jobs. (source)

377. Additionally, through the Recovery Act and the Education Jobs Fund, the President supported more than 400,000 teacher jobs, the majority of which were held by women. (source)

378. The Administration has also invested in employment and training programs to put women to work in under-represented industries. (source)

379. The president advanced $260 million for teen pregnancy prevention and related efforts. (source)

380. His administration funded the National Dating Abuse Helpline to provide services by phone, chat, or text message 24 hours a day. Teens can text "LOVEIS" to 77054 to talk to a peer advocate. (source)

381. Publishing the First Ever Report on Economic Benefits of Workplace Flexibility. (source)

382. Signed the Telework Enhancement Act, which requires federal agencies to take steps to promote teleworking, including appointing a senior telework managing officer in each federal agency. (source)

383. Launched the Equal Futures Partnership to expand women's political and economic participation (source)

VICE-PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN

384. Biden was tasked with implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and chaired the Middle Class Task Force which has set out numerous proposals to strengthen and protect the middle class. (source)

385. Has traveled to Iraq eight times since being elected VP to help end the war in a responsible fashion. (source)

386. For example, Biden's task force has focused on collage affordability, green jobs, and getting Americans back to work. (source)

389.

390. The Vice President has taken a lead role in preventing dating violence and sexual assault on college campuses nationwide. In April 2011, Vice President Biden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan introduced comprehensive guidance to help schools, colleges, and universities nationwide better understand their obligations under federal civil rights laws (Title IX) to prevent and respond to campus sexual assault. (source)

MICHELLE OBAMA & JILL BIDEN

391. The First Lady has made reversing America's obesity trend a cornerstone of her works in the White House. (source), (source)

392. To promote the effort, she planted a vegetable garden at The White House, the first one since Eleanor Roosevelt's victory garden in World War II. (source), (source)

393. Michelle Obama and Jill Biden launched Joining Forces, and initiative to aid military families. (source)

394. Their initiative this fall included a program to include information about military children in the training curriculums for student teachers (source)

395.

TOP 5 VIDEOS VOTERS SHOULD WATCH

396.

397.

398.

399.

400.

What about the other 100 reasons? Let's round out the list with personal reasons from the Daily Kos community. How have President Obama's policies improved YOUR life? Why are you voting against Mitt Romney?



Let us know in the comments and together, we'll have over 500 reasons why every voter should turn out and vote for President Obama on Tuesday.

Don't forget to sign up to help get out the vote!



P.S. A huge thank goes out to all the sources that were used in the compilation, including the Daily Kos staff and community, MultipleChoiceMitt.com, MittRomneyFlipFlops.com, WhichMitt.com, TheMittFlops.com, the great research teams at ThinkProgress.org and MediaMatters.org, HuffingtonPost.com, the team over at OFA and the DNC, OpenSecrets.org and many more.

UPDATE: And here are the last 100 reasons! Thanks to all who emailed & responded in the comments!

401. "When Obama signed the VOW to Hire Heroes Act last November, part of that act was creating a program for older vets called Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP). It's not smooth, it's not perfect -- but it is actually helping me right now toward earning an associate's degree in Paralegal Studies, which when combined with the BAs in History and Russian I earned 20 years ago should help me get a good job. Finally." (Mongo DeNizen)

402. "Mandating that 26-year olds stay on parent's health insurance was a gawd-send to our family. My son has a pre-existing condition (juvenile glaucoma), is unemployed and never could have gotten his own insurance. My husband is 77-years old today, retired, and in order to pay my son's medical bills, we would have had to take it out of our meager retirement savings. I thank gawd every single day for President Obama." (edwardssl).

403. "Thanks to the widening of the freeway between my house and work (paid for by stimulus money), I now have a much quicker and less stressful daily commute." (Rolandz)

404. "if romney wins this election and you are a woman, minority, person of color, or a person that is not a consistent voter this might be the last time you are able to vote without having to jump through hoops that make it if not impossible but improbable to vote as you have historically." (PC)

405. "I give President Obama [credit] from saving this country from a fall off the financial cliff. Yes, I have other things that I'm not so happy about his performance. But, he saved America. Pure and simple." (Boris49)

406. "I trust President Obama to keep fighting for all Americans. I don't trust Mitt Romney." (darthstar)

407. "Ray LaHood ... Pres. Obama's choice of Republican Ray LaHood for Secretary of Transportation was brilliant. LaHood has not been a token or a placeholder, but a genuine progressive who has moved the Federal transportation agenda in a positive direction." (Dhavo)

408. The Supreme Court. (tiggers thotful spot)

409. " On Thursday, I went into the booth and voted for Obama. If you don't want four years of unbridled, out of control capitalism that makes the Bush years look downright socialist, I suggest you do the same." (MargaretPOA)

410. Armando reminds us what's at stake with future Supreme Court appointeeshere.

411. Justice Sonia Sotomayor! read more.

412. Justice Elena Kagan! read more.

413. "Obama says what he means and he means what he says. With Mitt, all is uncertainty and that's bad for the economy and everything else." (akmk)

414.

415. Appointing Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. (source)

416. Nominated Janet C. Wolfenbarger to become the Air Force’s first female four-star general. (source)

417. Nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson to the DC court, and "Jackson would become only the second African American woman to serve as a full judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and would be the first to be robed in more than 30 years." (source)

418.

420. Kept his promise to create an international tax haven watch list and crack down on tax evaders. (source)

421. As governor, Romney "issued some 800 vetoes, and the Legislature overrode nearly all of them, sometimes unanimously." (source)

422. As governor, Romney vetoed flood prep funding. (source)

423. As governor, Romney "signed an agreement with federal authorities allowing Massachusetts State Police troopers to arrest and seek deportation of suspected undocumented immigrants they encounter during their normal duties." (source)

424. Obama has pledged to veto anti-net neutrality legislation. (source)

425. Obama has called for filibuster reform to break up gridlock in Washington. (source)

426. Obama has expedited the construction of wind and solar projects that can create jobs. (source)

427. Paul Ryan is rated only 36% by NAACP, "indicating a mixed record on affirmative-action." (source)

428. Paul Ryan voted against expanding the definition of hate crimes to include crimes committed against LGBT victimes. (source)

429. Paul Ryan has received a low single-digit score from the National Education Foundation, "indicating anti-public education votes." (source)

430. Voted no on expanding the successful "Cash for Clunkers" program. (source), (source)

431. Obama appointed Craig Fugate to head up FEMA, a man whose "hyper-focus on local preparation long before disasters hit has been the key to his success. "(Cali Scribe), (source)

432. His administration, through HUD, is giving homeowners affected by Sandy "a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures and forbearance on foreclosures of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured home mortgages." (source)

433. "Before the Obama presidency I was fighting GA for my day in court to get SSDI that I was to but GA had the longest wait in the country. I also had no medical insurance for five years. See the red state of GA were hoping that I would just die or give up. But the Obama administration pressed states like GA to give people hearings even in different counties if necessary. So I was finally awarded my SSDI and have Medicare. I'm need another heart procedure this week so yes the Obama administration is indeed saving my life." (Kquark)

435. "The stimulus bill had a provision (since expired, unfortunately) subsidizing COBRA payments for those who lost their jobs but needed to keep their insurance. Which I did, to both, and kept health care coverage for myself and my wife in 2008 and 09 when we both badly needed it." (eataTREE)

435. "Opening diplomacy & dialogue with Myanmar (formerly Burma) so that the long placed crippling economic sanctions are lifted.

This is the country republican president George W. Bush called Axis of Evil and refused to talk with for years with no result.

Today, the country is on the way to Democracy. With diplomatic engagement, that country is no longer closed off to the world, a win for the whole international community.

Economically, good for the US too, because China has been the sole trade partner with previous sanctions and US is losing out on this emerging resource-rich country to trade with." (zawmoo)

436. Mitt Romney is against net neutrality (source)

437. Mitt Romney's silence on NASA has troubled even Republicans: "As has been the case for most of the campaign, presidential candidate Mitt Romney largely ignored the issue — heightening anxiety even among Republicans about how a Romney administration would impact NASA and Kennedy Space Center." (source)

438. Mitt Romney doesn't support the equal pay act. (source)

439. Mitt Romney "invested in 10 Chinese companies recently—including ones that embezzled, partnered with Iran, and stole US trade secrets." (source)

440. Mitt Romney opposes the use of marijuana in all cases, including medical uses. (sources)

441. Paul Ryan voted against the Lily Ledbetter Act. (source)

442. Paul Ryan voted against the DREAM Act. (source)

443. Paul Ryan voted against 9/11 heroes: "The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, the law that created the World Trade Center Health Program to provide compensation for illnesses for the first responders and residents of the surrounding neighborhoods, has been expanded to include coverage for a variety of cancers." It was passed in 2010 and Ryan voted against it twice, calling it a "health care entitlement." (source)

444. Paul Ryan voted against extending unemployment benefits during these tough economic times.

445. Paul Ryan criticizes China as a currency manipulator but voted against legislation in 2010 that would have addressed the issue. The bill was the Currency Reform Fair Trade Act. (source)

446. Another Wisconsin congressman on Paul Ryan: "“I’m stunned by how oblivious he is to the pain his policies would cause people,” said David R. Obey, a Democrat from Wisconsin who jousted often with his downstate colleague before retiring from the House at the end of 2010. “What amazes me is that someone that nice personally has such a cold, almost academic view of what the impact of his policies would be on people.” (source)

447. Nobel prize winning economist Paul Krugman says Paul Ryan's economic plan "Paul Ryan’s vision depends an awful lot on unicorn sightings — belief in the impossible." (source)

448. Nobel prize winning economist Paul Krugman has also said that Paul Ryan's economic plan is "almost inconceivably cruel priorities, the way it slashes taxes for corporations and the rich while drastically cutting food and medical aid to the needy." (source)

449. "Even aside from all that, the Ryan budget purports to reduce the deficit — but the alleged deficit reduction depends on the completely unsupported assertion that trillions of dollars in revenue can be found by closing tax loopholes." (source)

450. Paul Ryan falsely believes that raising interest rates will increase lending. (source)

451. Paul Ryan supported the Sensenbrenner bill, a draconian immigration bill. (source)

452. Paul Ryan "received a meager 3 percent rating on the League of Conservation Voters scorecard for 2011 and a 20 percent rating for all years." (source)

453. Paul Ryan has "voted to speed up forest thinning." (source)

454. Paul Ryan has voted for "deauthorizing critical habitat for endangered species." (source)

455. Paul Ryan's voted against AMTRAK improvements. (source)

456. Paul Ryan has "voted to eliminate EPA limits on greenhouse gases." (source)

457.

458. Mitt Romney endorsed Indiana Senate candidate Richard Murdock, a Tea Party candidate who said that "even when life begins in the horrible situation of rape, that is something God intended to happen." (source)

459. Paul Ryan "was forced to pull his endorsement (via a spokesman) of State Rep. Roger Rivard (R-WI 75th), who told a newspaper that “some girls, they rape so easy.” (source)

460. Paul Ryan co-sponsored "H.R. 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act." "The Act originally contained language restricting the exception for federally-funded abortions to “an act of forcible rape or, if a minor, an act of incest,” and offered no further clarification of the term....Under tremendous public pressure, they dropped the “forcible rape” language before passing the measure 251-175." (source)

461. "Mitt Romney dodged a question...on whether he would have vetoed a bill that included indefinite detention, even though he has previously said he would have signed it." (source)

462. Bloomberg reported that Mitt Romney used "a popular tax shelter that allowed rich people to take advantage of the exempt status of charities without actually giving away much money." (source)

463. Mitt Romney vetoed in 2005 the ability to obtain the morning after pill without a prescription. (source)

464. Romney has called the morning after pill "abortive." (source)

465. Massachusetts abolished the death penalty in 1984, but as governor Romney tried to reinstate it. (source)

466. Mitt Romney "was the first governor in modern Massachusetts to deny every request for pardon or commutation." (source)

467. Mitt Romney endorses voter ID laws that experts agree disenfranchise voters. (source)

468. Romney thinks if a mother is on welfare, she should be required to work or lose benefits. "Even if you have a two year old child, you should go to work." (source)

469. Romney thinks private companies should be hired to run state prisons. (source:).

470. Romney: "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me." (source)

471. Romney crippled Massachusetts anti-smoking program. (source)

472. As CEO of Bain, Romney made millions off of Big Tobacco in the U.S. and Russia. (source)

473. "Several early indicators raise red flags that Romney might permit lobbyists to serve on his transition teams, with only limited ethical guidelines and insufficient restrictions on conflicts of interest." (source)

474. "Industry insiders believe that Mitt Romney will unshackle the revolving door and give lobbyists a shot at the government jobs their Democratic counterparts have been denied for the past four years." (source)

475. Mitt Romney would likely rescind Obama's order banning torture and reinstate waterboarding. (source)

476. Mitt Romney's "blind trust" isn't so blind -- he invested "more than $10 million of Romney’s money in an investment fund managed by Romney’s son Tagg." (source)

477. "As president, Mitt will nominate judges in the mold of Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito." (source)

478. Romney wants to end the small subsidy to PBS that includes Sesame Street. (source)

479. Romney "vetoed $220K for state-run homelessness projects." (source)

480. "As governor, Romney vetoed a bill giving rape survivors information about and timely access to emergency contraception." (source)

481. "Romney told the Des Moines Register that he would reinstate the global gag rule, the policy that blocks U.S. family-planning funds to any overseas health center that provides, refers for, or even takes a pro-choice position on abortion." (source)

482. Barack Obama launched We The People, a way for ordinary citizens to directly petition the White House for change. (source) :

483. Barack Obama has been praised by New Jersey Republican governor Chris Christie for his help and "great efforts" to help the state recover from Hurricane Sandy. (source)

484. "Governor Romney vetoed a bill that would have banned state contractors from outsourcing state work overseas." (source)

485. "Under Romney, Massachusetts outsourced jobs in child support enforcement, food stamps, and unemployment insurance overseas." (source)

486. "Under Mr. Romney, state spending went from $22.3 billion to $28.1 billion, an annual increase of 6.5 percent." (source)

487. During his first year as governor, Massachusetts increased fees more than any other state in the nation. (source)

488. "Once in office [Romney] created or raised more than 1,000 taxes and fees." (source)

489. Romney's record: "In all, taxes and fees increased by as much as $750 million per year—and the average citizen saw their state and local taxes increase by $1,227." (source)

490.

491.

492.

493.

494.

495. President Obama inspires people: "I write today to thank you for what you have done for our country, and more importantly, what you stand for." (source)

496. "The day that you were inaugurated, I remember talking with my dad and him saying, "You watch. President Obama's going get us back to work."



Well, Mr. President, four years have gone by, and my dad is back to work. I'm back to work. I bought my first home, and my mom and dad—a Navy veteran and a housewife—will be celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary on October 27th, 2012. So, Mr. President, when someone asks us if we are better off than we were four years ago, I tell them absolutely—thanks to you believing in the American people." (source)

497. "My son, Eddie, would be alive today if the Affordable Care Act, which exempts lifetime limits on coverage, had been in effect when my son's health insurance coverage vanished. [...] I thank you, President Obama, for having the fortitude to stand behind your Affordable Care Act. As a result, not only will you help my other five children, but also many more Eddies, who will benefit greatly from continued health insurance during their serious illnesses." (source)

498.

Dear President Obama,



I have two daughters. My older daughter, 22, lost her hearing three years ago while a student at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. She struggled without any accommodations and graduated in May, the only deaf student in her graduating class. Because of the uncertainty regarding health care, she underwent cochlear implant surgery in one ear two weeks before the Affordable Care Act decision. We rushed the surgery to make sure she could get coverage.



Now she will be able to get her second implant because, under your bill, our insurance will cover it. My other daughter, 19, is asthmatic and bipolar. Her medications are very expensive. We were worried as to how she would afford her meds when she turned 22.



You have given my children a new lease on life. Thank you. God bless you.



—Dale, Nevada

499.

Mr. President, I'm so proud and thankful for what you have done for the LBGT community.



I can now feel safer with the Matthew Shepard hate crimes bill enacted. I know my friends can serve openly defending this country they love. LGBT children and teenagers know their President is on their side and that it will get better. And I know I won't be turned away to see my partner in the hospital if anything should happen. All of that is, in part, thanks to you.



When you stood up for marriage equality, you not only opened the floodgates to acceptance in this country and around the world, but were brave to stand up for what you believed in. That shows true character. There is still much more to be done, but I can trust in you—we will move forward.



You have created a great path for the LBGT community and this country. I promise to stand up for you, like you have stood up for me—time and time again.



From the bottom of my heart, thank you.



Truly,



Wesley, Hawaii

500.

Dear President Obama,



I am a college student, and I have never voted for anything in my entire life—not even for prom queen and king. I want to tell you that I believe in you completely, and I will not only vote for you this November, but I am actually very excited to.



I want you to know that it's not simply that I disagree with the opposing party—it's you as a President, a human, and a leader that inspires me and makes me actually think our country and our future have potential and hope.



I think you're doing an amazing job. You are true to your words and beliefs, and that is very respectable. I want you to know how much you have done for me, my peers, my faith in the government, and how much I believe you have done for this country. I never considered myself a patriot, or even a "team player," but you being the person you are and the President during my young adulthood has drastically changed my opinions. I have passion now to do what I can, whereas I used to shrug off the issues at hand.



Please, stay awesome, true to your beliefs, and keep our country running—because you have already done so much for all of us, and for me personally. I believe in you, and because of you I believe in myself and my country.



I just want to say thank you.



—Estrella, New Mexico