Jeff is a computer professional who takes a great interest in politics and tries to always distinguish fact from opinion.

President Obama visiting Iowa

Obama's Presidency: The Facts

People have many perceptions of how the US economy or the country as a whole has done during the Obama years. Depending on your political views, you may think the country did exceptionally well or was teetering on the verge of collapse.

Listed below are fourteen objective facts, without interjected opinion, about the state of America under the leadership of President Obama. Every statement is followed up with a link to a reputable source where you can verify the fact for yourself.

1. We had a record 90 straight months of economic expansion.

That’s right: For ninety consecutive months, the US economy got progressively better. That includes a new record for consecutive months of private sector job growth. Forbes magazine (which is no fan of President Obama) crunched the numbers and demonstrated how the economic recovery under President Obama was better in just about every measurable way than the recovery under President Reagan.

Source: Obama Out-Performs Reagan on Jobs, Growth, and Investing; Forbes magazine.

2. We enjoyed the longest period of private sector job creation in American history.

This statistic also comes from the Forbes magazine article listed above. In fact, during Obama's presidency, we enjoyed 75 straight months of private sector job creation. That is the longest period of job creation since the Department of Labor has been keeping statistics.

Source: Obama’s Claim That Businesses Are in the "Longest Uninterrupted Stretch of Job Creation": The Washington Post.

Source: A Record 75 Straight Months of Job Growth Under Obama: Money

3. Unemployment dropped from 10.1% in October of 2009 to 4.8% by early 2017.

Not only did the unemployment rate drop significantly, but after the recession ended, the US economy gained over thirteen million new jobs. (You can refer to the Forbes article above or check the article below.)

Source: Democratic Presidents Bring It: Obama Shatters Clinton’s Record For Private Sector Job Growth: PoliticusUsa.



It is also worth noting that during the 2012 presidential election, Obama's opponent, Mitt Romney, promised to lower the unemployment rate to 6% by the end of 2016. President Obama exceeded that goal by lowering unemployment to under 6% two full years earlier than Romney had promised.

Source : Romney vows to lower unemployment to 6% by the end of 2016: The Hill

4. The stock market set record highs throughout Obama's presidency.

From early 2009 onward, there was a steady upward trend in stock market growth as the economy continued to improve. The Dow Jones Industrial averages reached an all-time high of 18,292 in May, 2015. Since most Americans have 401K retirement investments in the stock market, this growth benefited millions of middle class Americans.

Source: Dow Jones Industrial Average Last 10 Years: Macrotrends.

The overall trend during the Obama years was a steady reduction in the size of the Budget deficit each year as the economy continued to improve. Based on numbers from treasurydirect.gov

5. The Federal budget deficit was reduced by two-thirds since 2009.

The $1.4 trillion federal budget deficit that Obama inherited in 2009 was in a large part due to the high rate of unemployment and the downturn in the economy. When millions of people were put out of work in 2008 and 2009, it resulted in far less income taxes and less economic activity to generate federal revenue. As millions of people regained employment, there were billions more in tax dollars generated. As a result, the deficit got smaller each year. The 2015 deficit was $439 billion, the smallest deficit since 2007, and roughly 70% lower than it was in 2009.

Source: What is the Deficit?: USGovernmentSpending.com.

6. Under President Obama, government spending increased less than it did under President's Bush and Reagan.

You may have heard critics say that President Obama is spending money wildly and running up our debt. According to this article from Forbes, during his first term, Obama increased spending by 1.4% annually, far less than President Reagan (8.7%) or George W. Bush (8.1%). According to another article from the Washington Post, Obama increased spending 3.3% annually. In any event, Obama increased spending less than any president since Eisenhower.

Sources: Who Is the Smallest Government Spender Since Eisenhower? Would You Believe It's Barack Obama? Forbes magazine.

The Facts About the Growth of Spending Under Obama: Washington Post.

Federal Spending Grew More under Bush and Reagan than Under Obama

7. For 95% of American taxpayers, income taxes dropped as low or lower than any point in the previous 50 years.

After President Obama took office, thousands of Tea Party members all over the country held rallies protesting Obama’s tax increases. At that time, President Obama had actually passed several tax cuts to stimulate the economy. Most of the Tea Partiers who were protesting had only seen their taxes decrease under Obama, yet polls indicated that most Tea Party members wrongly believed their taxes had gone up.

In fact, the only people whose income taxes went up during Obama’s presidency were those making $400,000 per year or more. That's less than 2% of the population. For the vast majority of people, tax rates were lower or the same as when Obama first took office. The article below from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explains this in greater detail.

Source: Federal Income Taxes on Middle-Income Families Remain Near Historic Lows, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

8. Dependence on foreign oil was greatly reduced due to record domestic oil production and improved fuel efficiency standards.

While some claim that oil production declined under President Obama, the truth is just the opposite. Oil production reached record highs. The United States produces so much oil that we export more oil and gasoline than we import.

Source: IndexMundi.

9. At least 18 million more Americans now have health insurance than before.

Depending on whose numbers you use, anywhere from 12 to 18 million Americans acquired health insurance due to the Affordable Care Act. Now that those millions of Americans have insurance, the rest of us are no longer on the hook to pay for their healthcare when they get sick. This saves the American people billions of dollars in the long run.

Source: Obamacare Helped Up to 10 Million Get Insurance, Gallup Finds: NBC News.

10. The Affordable Care Act has added years to the life of Medicare.

The Medicare trust fund had been on course to run out of money by the end of 2016. But due to cost savings from the Affordable Care Act and lower healthcare expenses, Medicare’s trust fund was able to remain stable until the year 2030 without cutting benefits.

Source: Medicare, Social Security Disability Fund Headed in Different Directions; The Wall Street Journal.

11. Since passage of the Affordable Care Act, we are seeing the slowest rate of increase in healthcare costs since 1960.

Healthcare costs will always go up, but contrary to Republican predictions, healthcare costs increased at a much slower pace since the passage of the ACA.

Source: Trends in Health Care Cost Growth and the Role of the Affordable Care Act; White House Report.

12. We had fewer soldiers, sailors, and airmen in war zones than at any time in the previous 12 years.

By the end of his presidency, with the end of the Iraq war and the steady withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, we had far fewer people in war zones than any time since 2002.

13. There were zero successful attacks by al Qaeda on US soil while Obama was president.

Despite Dick Cheney’s warning that if voters elected a Democrat as president, we’d be “hit again and hit hard” by al Qaeda, we were actually far safer from terrorist attacks on US soil than we were under the previous president. There have been several unsuccessful attacks against the US under both Bush and Obama, but under Obama, al Qaeda was largely unsuccessful in striking the US on our home soil.

Source: Timeline of Al Qaeda Attacks

14. We caught and deported more illegal immigrants during Obama's presidency than ever before.

Despite the mythology that was being spread about our "open border" with Mexico, the numbers prove that President Obama turned back and deported more illegal immigrants than any other president. Obama's supporters often criticized him for this fact.

Politifact checked the claim that President Obama turned away more illegal immigrants than any other president, and they confirmed that under President Obama, the US turned back or deported an average of 32,886 people per month. That's a far greater rate than any other president in history by far.

Source: Has Barack Obama deported more people than any other president in U.S. history? Tampa Bay Times.

Additional Facts About Economic Gains with Obama's Presidency

Although all of the facts stated above can be confirmed through multiple sources, most Americans are not aware of these positive statistics. I invite you to do your own research and check these facts for yourself.

The truth is, most other presidents would envy President Obama’s record which has flourished despite the fact that he inherited the results of the worst economic crash since the Great Depression.

If you feel particularly ambitious, feel free to research these additional facts:

Since Obama became president, our economy has gone from losing 750,000 jobs per month to adding 250,000 jobs per month. That’s a net improvement under Obama of about 1 million jobs per month! Before Obama became president, our financial system was in ruins and millions of people were at risk of losing their life savings. Now, the financial loopholes have been fixed and we are no longer at risk of another financial collapse. In just 7 years under Obama, there were more than three times as many jobs created as there were in the whole 8 years under George W. Bush. President Obama passed credit card reforms that protect consumers from excessive fees, rate hikes, deceptive marketing, and unreasonable due dates. Thanks to Obamacare, senior citizens have saved billions of dollars on prescription drugs. The Affordable Care Act requires insurance companies to spend at least 80% of collected premiums on healthcare. As a result, millions of Americans have received refunds from their health insurance companies.

Source: Health Insurers Set to Give Out More Obamacare Refunds; Huffington Post Business.

Despite the unprecedented obstructionism and record number of filibusters used by Republicans to kill even the most routine legislation, the fact remains that the American people are profoundly better off today than they were before President Obama took office, in almost every measurable way.

Note From The Author

For those of you who disagree with, or dislike this article and you want to leave a comment, please give some specifics or make some meaningful comment about what you disagree with. I have always kept all comments visible, positive or negative. But if all you are going to do is say this article is BS without elaborating or specifying what you disagree with, then I will no longer keep those kinds of comments.

Feel free to tell me this article is BS but put some thought into your comments and don't just waste time with pointless insults.

This content reflects the personal opinions of the author. It is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and should not be substituted for impartial fact or advice in legal, political, or personal matters.

Questions & Answers

Question: Do these facts derive from "fake news"?

Answer: No, none of this information came from Breitbart, Infowars, or any othe fake news site.

Question: Where did you get your facts?

Answer: There are links to source information throughout the article. You can independently verify every single fact in this article quite easily.

Question: Regarding Obama's presidency, what about people that left the workforce and the quality of jobs he created? Why don’t you measure his numbers from before the recession?

Answer: Obama doesn't have any numbers from before the recession since the recession began a year before he became president. The recovery began slowly, but he did preside over the creation of jobs in the manufacturing and construction sector as well as hundreds of thousands of white-collar jobs.

Vickie Jacobs on August 19, 2020:

I really appreciate this article being based on researched facts and not personal opinions. I get so sick of people attacking President Obama with mindless, thoughtless babble with no evidence. All it takes is a person or a group of people to start a lie, and it spreads faster than wildfire, no research, no facts, just mindless opinions.

Thank you so much for your honestly.

FactBasedResearchNugget on June 20, 2020:

Spent an hour scrolling thru the responses to this article. I only stopped at the ones that posted links to their sources of "facts." Very few people bothered to post links. You obviously did not bother to read the author's request to do so, but instead simply stated opinions. This doesn't help the quest for balanced, verified facts, which is necessary to get to the actual truth, or a more balanced approximation of it. We all know mainstream media is biased and partisan. Social media as well. Try to dig deeper into actual, non-partisan, unbiased statistical data to support your views. Otherwise those of us who are open to the views of others are not likely to take you seriously.

jan howell on December 27, 2019:

Obama , went into the white house our national debt was around 10,000. when he left the white house our national debt was a little over 20, trillion, Obama spent more than the 43 presidents before him, (I guess that's how he got 3 mansions one every year since he has been out of office, the job he generated was from infostructure, the American people we are paying for his jobs. Obama did nothing for America, Donald trump brought lowered business taxes so the business that left under Clinton, because of his nafta deal that made china rich, lost anericans 2.6 million jobs for americans. Obama told us when trump was running for president , trump will need a magic wand to bring these jobs bach. the stock market was 18ooo. points the day they announced trump president the foreign markets started losing jobs , and American markets started goin up. from 18000 points to 28671.16 over doubled, never in history has the markest been up over 21 points. Obama left American people wit a debt to pay.

Bert on September 11, 2019:

15) The NSA has spied on Americans under Obama.

16) Under Obama, the CIA spied on the Senate.

17) Obama’s campaign contributors at Solyndra were handed 535 million dollars of taxpayer money that the Obama Administration knew they would never be able to pay back before they gave it to them.

18) The IRS targeted Obama’s political enemies including Christian groups, pro-Israel groups, and most prominently, Tea Party groups. The Obama Administration has refused to cooperate with the investigation or hold anyone accountable for the illegal behavior.

19) Numerous donors to Mitt Romney were audited by the IRS after giving him large contributions.

20) When the EPA and IRS were asked to provide emails requested by Congress as part of an investigation into their illegal activities, they’ve claimed over and over again to have lost the information because of “hard drive crashes.” Given that it’s quite easy to back up a hard drive and that they’re required by law to retain that information, it seems likely that they’re habitually destroying evidence to hide their illegal activities.

21) Veterans received poor health care and even died because of the incompetence and cover-ups of Obama’s VA.

22) Even Barney Frank admits Barack Obama shamelessly lied to the American people to get Obamacare passed – and lie, he did. He promised that Americans could keep their insurance plans, that they could keep their doctors, and that Obamacare would save the average family $2500 per year. Not only were all of those lies, Obama knew they were lies when he made those promises.

23) Barack Obama has broken the law repeatedly by making at least 23 unilateral changes to Obamacare.

24) Obama has been illegally trying to force Christians to pay for abortifacients via Obamacare.

25) Obamacare has been a disaster that cost millions their insurance and sent health care costs spiraling into the stratosphere.

26) Obama is taking 700 billion dollars out of Medicare to put into Obamacare.

27) The website portion of Obamacare, healthcare.gov, was a non-functional disaster for months when it rolled out and Obama claimed he was completely unaware that there was anything wrong with it.

28) Instead of calming people down, Obama helped to turn Americans against each other racially be inserting himself into the Trayvon Martin case.

29) Obama created so much racial animosity by attacking the police when they had done nothing wrong in the Henry Louis Gates case that he had to have a ridiculous “beer summit” to try to undo the damage.

30) The Department of Justice failed to pursue a voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panthers because they were black and liberal. Former DOJ official J. Christian Adams quit over the case and “accused his former employer of instructing attorneys in the civil rights division to ignore cases that involve black defendants and white victims.”

31) George W. Bush quit playing golf in 2003 because he didn’t want the mother of some fallen soldier to see the Commander-in-Chief out playing golf. He also said he thought playing golf during a war sent the wrong signal to the American people. Through June of 2014, Obama was up to 177 rounds and is on pace to play twice as much in his second term as his first term.

32) Obama chose tax cheat Tim Geithner to be his Secretary of the Treasury and then has had the audacity to spend his whole presidency pushing for higher taxes.

33) After promising to unite America when he was running for office in 2008, Obama has been the most hyper-partisan President in decades.

34) Despite the fact that Barack Obama claimed to believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman when he was running for President in 2008, his Department of Justice asked states attorney general to refuse to defend their states’ bans on gay marriage in court.

35) The Department of Justice has worked overtime to help increase voter fraud by fighting against voter ID. This is despite the fact that you need ID to buy alcohol, drive a car, fly on a plane or even to use Obamacare.

36) He’s the reason why countless Americans have been groped, molested and harassed by the TSA, even though agents never caught a terrorist sticking their hand down anyone’s pants.

37) He’s responsible for the dumbing down of our education system with Common Core.

38) We first landed on the moon in 1969, but because of Obama, we’re no longer even capable of going into space.

39) His servile bowing to other world leaders is embarrassing and un-American.

40) Barack Obama engaged in an illegal war in Libya without the permission of Congress that helped turn that country into an unstable basket case run by radical Islamists. How bad is it? America, Libyans and the rest of the world were better off with Muammar Gaddafi in charge. That’s how bad it is.

41) Radical Islamist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan “described himself as mujahedeen” and yelled “Allahu Akbar” as he murdered 13 of his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood. The Obama Administration labeled that as "workplace violence" rather than admitting there was a terrorist attack on his watch.

42) He released 5 Taliban terrorists In exchange for deserter Bowe Bergdahl.

43) Americans died at Benghazi because Obama’s administration didn’t take their repeated requests for additional security seriously.

44) Russia annexed Crimea while Obama did nothing of consequence to discourage it from invading. That’s not a surprise for a President who is fond of throwing out “red lines” that don’t mean anything.

45) Obama’s premature pull-out in Iraq and foolish refusal to get a status of forces agreement in Iraq left the country vulnerable and led to the terrorists in ISIS taking over a large portion of that country.

46) Barack Obama unilaterally implemented the DREAM Act that Congress didn’t pass and illegally handed out work permits to illegal aliens.

47) Obama is threatening to bypass Congress and simply “legalize” millions more of illegal immigrants even though it’s illegal and unconstitutional and it hurts the American people and will further encourage even more illegal aliens to surge across the border.

48) The fence on our southern border was supposed to be completed by 2009. The Obama Administration has made it clear that it doesn’t intend to finish it during his presidency.

49) Barack Obama is deliberately creating a crisis on the southern border by refusing to deport illegal aliens crossing into our country.

50) For all practical purposes, Barack Obama has already unilaterally implemented amnesty in America because “at least 99.92% of illegal immigrants and visa overstays without known crimes on their records” aren’t being deported.

Harry Gant on August 30, 2019:

How many laws did he break or ignore while in office?

Let's start with the bankruptcy laws !

SonnoBello on June 25, 2019:

I remember losing my job during the Bush Jr. Administration to the economy crash. I also remember that the first hundred days of Obama's presidency were proclaimed as Historical and that the recession had been stabilized within less than a week after taking office. He constantly fought tooth and nail with Congress over trying to get his work done. And dealing with the economy was his primary concern. He stated that the real effects of his stimulus plan would take effect after 2020. However, it seems that not only has trump tried to destroy his legacy and besmirch his character and name but also take credit for the economic growth that Obama talked about throughout his entire term. And if you honestly think about it, the Tariffs on China do more damage than good.

1. China provides cheap products that we use to turn a profit.

2. Tariffs impose less spending due to less profit.

3. U.S. Farmers are directly impacted by Tariffs and Legal immigration workers.

4. We are in debt to China and it is important to show the world about our Ethics and Mannerisms as a nation.

While I am a God Fearing person, I think that the freedom to choose is what makes this the best Nation in the world. You have the right to say and believe whatever you want but I will not condone inhumane acts or people who conduct themselves with disregard to others views and rights. And I believe Obama exemplied this during his campaign. He let people protest him and honoured their right to do it during most of his public speeches. He has been labeled a Centrist Left which I agree with. He is in my opinion the best President in my life time thus far.

Amanda Thompson on May 14, 2019:

Obama is an intelligent, articulate public servant who humbly did amazing things for this country, despite the constant attacks from the far right. Trump makes me embarrassed to be American!

Eleanore Ferranti Whitaker from Old Bridge, New Jersey on April 30, 2019:

Still on Benghazi boys? Some more interesting facts the boys of the right don't know. Obama NEVER was charged and fined by the US Treasury in 2013 with money laundering.

Funny how the Benghazi boys NEVER mention that in the first 4 months of the Rump's WH fakery, HE killed 11 US soldiers and has been responsible for the deaths of 7 immigrant kids HE put in cages.

Out of a total of 18 ...that's right 18 Republicans who ran for president in 2016, RASSPutin the Mad Russian supported ONLY Trump.

No Russians EVER supported Obama or Hillary. In fact, that IS the reason the RASSPutin supported his WH sleeper, RASSPutin hated Hillary for outing him in his 2012 rigged election.

Obama never had White Nationalist punks run down an innocent woman on a public Street while they paraded with their tiki torches

Come north above the Mason and Dixon line and pull that. I would love watching the NY gangs turning these punks into dog food.

Jerry on April 25, 2019:

All lies

Leary Moore on April 11, 2019:

While we had less troops in the middle east or record low or whatever, Isis formed because of this and more and more terrorist attacks started. Never mind the shit show him and Hillary Clinton made in Benghazi and let americans die.

Fin from Barstow on April 10, 2019:

Some really interesting facts - I think we were aware of these but to see them all listed at once really demonstrates a legacy that he will leave behind. Hopefully it won't be overturned too much. We'll have to see how this administration does.

MakaTakyn on March 14, 2019:

nice)

BradmastersOCcal on February 24, 2019:

Eleanore Ferranti Whitaker

There are no facts, there are 14 accusations, and opinions that are either baseless, vague, ambiguous and with reference or foundation.

"A fact is a thing that is known to be consistent with objective reality and can be proven to be true with evidence.For example, "this sentence contains words" is a linguistic fact, and "the sun is a star" is a cosmological fact.

[Search domain en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fact] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fact"

Where are your facts?

"13 months ago from Old Bridge, New Jersey

14 Facts about Trump...1. He's told more than 4,000 lies since taking office. 2. He is a known sexual predator of teens and women. 3. His only success is failure thanks to over 4400 lawsuits. 4. He needs the KGB assassin Putin to keep his cabinet and the GOP loyal. 5. He isn't the billionaire he claims to be. 6. His reputation for incest with his daughter Iskanka was documented in Vanity Fair Magazine when he asked, "Is it wrong to be MORE sexually attracted to your 14 year old daughter than your wife?" (His wife then was Marla Maple. Not exactly an uggo) 7. He has paid for silence from numerous of his victims, including Stormy Daniels. 8. He has NO idea what the oath of office he swore to means nor does he have any idea what the U.S. Constitution is. 9. His wife "somehow" managed to bypass thousands of other immigrants to enter the US and now Trump complains about "chain migration" from everyone but his wife's chain migrated in laws living in Trump tower. 10. Trump's business deals with Russia go back to the 80s which he now denies. 11. Trump believes all he has to do is deny wrongdoing and it disappears. 12. Trump won't reveal his financials because if he did, it would clearly show the NY, FL and MD AG's how he never paid his taxes. 13. Trump's an anchor baby. His mother came to the US in 1932 and didn't become a citizen until AFTER she married Daddy Fred. 14. Trump is unqualified to be in government and proves it every time he opens his mouth."

Levertis Steele on January 17, 2019:

#14. "We caught and deported more illegal immigrants during Obama's presidency than ever before."

Unless I missed it, I never heard that illegals, especially children, suffered due to inhuman treatmemt during deportation under the Obama administration.

Kelley Marks on January 17, 2019:

The aforementioned facts are the reasons why I listed Obama as one of America's 10 greatest presidents.

maxineQ on January 07, 2019:

I am from Australia i want to know why the Current President gets such a bad wrap - in Australia we see him doing such a good job - for America - his different and makes choices that other Presdents have not been game to make -

john on December 24, 2018:

well written, referenced and excellent article layout. very professional.. (Maybe too professional?.. some may think it was a paid for PR item)

your FALSE points on items 9) and 11) illustrate your article is deceptive and fake. Obama, Clinton and Peloci are many times worse than Trump could ever be... Why? becuase of the trillion dollar scam known as ACA.

Fewer people have usable health insurance now than BEFORE..Costs have never been higher and care quality never worse .. all due to ACA.. I have receipts proving billing increases from 500% to 900% on Xray services.. and written quotes to prove LEGALIZED discrimination.. again due to ACA.

Next door neighbor is partner in 1000 man construction company in Texas. Before ACA 70% used healthcare insurance. After ACA, less than 5% of the company using healthcare insurance. His HR group retrained and helped staff NOT USE healthcare insurance, take the tax penalty and go with cash only approach.. It has been very successful ..

Benny01 on December 10, 2018:

Thanks for the insight though am not American but if all that you wrote were true, he pretty well.

joe speer on December 04, 2018:

trump is not the best but obama was the worst just the facts

BobDB on November 11, 2018:

Shame little of that is true. The journalistic yoga required to contort these items is astounding. Obama oversaw massive job losses due to his policies. There was a recovery in 09 prior to a single Obama policy being in effect. He lost millions of jobs and ran the debt through the roof. If you lose 10000000 and gain back 100000, according to this nonsense, you created 1000000 jobs. What a crock.

jeff61b (author) on October 11, 2018:

Brianne -

I'm pretty sure you're thinking of G W Bush.

Brianne on October 10, 2018:

Would be nice if you would also mention his authoritarian policies like criminalizing journalist's to spy on them and created laws to indefinately Americans just because he said so. And glossing over his pioneering for profit detentions centres where abuse was rampant to hold illegals indefinitely.

Paul J on October 01, 2018:

people now have a job that pays a living wage. With Obama a person had to work and still collect food stamps. Thank you for giving us a real President who keeps his word on what he said when running. And a very classy First Lady, not like the other thing.

TheMajorityOfAmericans on June 25, 2018:

Poor President Obama ... all the lies folks pass around about him. He accomplished so much against all the backlash from "those" folks not happy to have someone different than them in the white house. Very sad ... but, very true. Those "folks" did not deserve a President and good Christian of his caliber ... and never will. Now ... amidst all the shocking horrors of this Presidency and his administration ... they still have the audacity to speak his name. God Bless you President Obama ... the vast majority of Americans and the entire world miss you !

CriticalThinking2 on March 21, 2018:

Your facts may not include "opinion" however your selection of facts does. You've picked and chosen the rosiest of facts. In terms of these stats Obama was "lucky" enough to become presidents 2 months before the trough of the recession. Therefore, if there were not major gains in several economic indicators that would be horrific, great depression-esque. Therefore, it's not the fact that there was simply an increase, it's the degree of increase, and; that's only if you're limiting yourself to this selection of statistics.

You've omitted many focal points of the late-Obama era economic discussion, income inequality, rapid and substantial increases in housing unaffordability, stagnant wages, lack of recovery for the middle class, increases in per capita health care spending and premiums, increases of all sorts of public and private debt (federal, state, credit card, student loan, etc.), the undersupply of skilled labor and the oversupply of unskilled labor... Further, these statistics look only at the country as a whole, if you break out black and non-white statistics, you’ll see how much worse off minorities have become relative to white during Obama’s presidency. In fact in some cases you’ll find depression-esque numbers such as that the median minority family’s income is now 1/5 lower than when Obama took office, 2 months before the peak of the recession!

Fortunately, now that we have a different president we can begin to put the tepid Obama economy in perspective.

You're also implying a correlation between Obama and these stats. Correlation is not causation. For brevity, I'll leave that point there.

These kinds of articles that create a liberal bubble, or "fantasy world", as I like to call it, rather than an honest, truthful reflection of the American situation are the reason people were surprised Trump won. With all due respect, your dishonest manipulation of readers is scary, and I hope you change your ways. When people talk about "fake news" they usually aren't talking about factually incorrect news, they are talking about dishonest manipulative news such as this (as I've explained above) that paint a false truth, a fake perception, a "fantasy world". For the left to correct it's losing ways, it must first acknowledge the problem. Few on the left have done so, most still choose to believe in this fantasy world and deny the inconvenient truth of reality. I'm here simply to blow the whistle to wake these people up to reality. Do you want to continue believing a fantasy because it's convenient or are you willing to acknowledge the inconvenient truth?

Eleanore Ferranti Whitaker from Old Bridge, New Jersey on January 29, 2018:

14 Facts about Trump...1. He's told more than 4,000 lies since taking office. 2. He is a known sexual predator of teens and women. 3. His only success is failure thanks to over 4400 lawsuits. 4. He needs the KGB assassin Putin to keep his cabinet and the GOP loyal. 5. He isn't the billionaire he claims to be. 6. His reputation for incest with his daughter Iskanka was documented in Vanity Fair Magazine when he asked, "Is it wrong to be MORE sexually attracted to your 14 year old daughter than your wife?" (His wife then was Marla Maple. Not exactly an uggo) 7. He has paid for silence from numerous of his victims, including Stormy Daniels. 8. He has NO idea what the oath of office he swore to means nor does he have any idea what the U.S. Constitution is. 9. His wife "somehow" managed to bypass thousands of other immigrants to enter the US and now Trump complains about "chain migration" from everyone but his wife's chain migrated in laws living in Trump tower. 10. Trump's business deals with Russia go back to the 80s which he now denies. 11. Trump believes all he has to do is deny wrongdoing and it disappears. 12. Trump won't reveal his financials because if he did, it would clearly show the NY, FL and MD AG's how he never paid his taxes. 13. Trump's an anchor baby. His mother came to the US in 1932 and didn't become a citizen until AFTER she married Daddy Fred. 14. Trump is unqualified to be in government and proves it every time he opens his mouth.

Akasha on January 25, 2018:

I thought Barack Obama was good but after reading this obviously not

Hragus on January 12, 2018:

Look at the whole picture!

Considering Trump is only one year into his “presidency”, effects of any policies were a result of the previous eight years. This economy is very complex and the decisions made by companies and consumers generally take a long time to materialize and are much larger than acts of this administration!

You can confirm this with the U.S Dept of Labor Statistics and the Dept of Labor!

Joe on January 11, 2018:

Now that President Trump is in office all these figures will continue to climb and the country will be in much better shape in the years to come.

J on September 22, 2017:

Obama under the circumstances of the cards he dealt with, with previous administration did an outstanding job. Also took out al Qaeda. A humble man that did everything discrete and humble. Nation is definitely in a lot better place then what's it was when he came and left. Also with a republican dominant house. i applued him. Yes couple things I don't agree with but he was a well spoken man, clear to point & did it right way. I be cautious of Trump loud mouth and doesn't think before he talks will get us in trouble. People act Obama didn't do anything he did a lot but he wasn't loud mouth about it. I worry with Trump might have another presidency like Bush administration... recession losing jobs, high payments in living like gas, housing and loss of jobs. Another war spend a lot money. I hope Trump the best I do . I don't believe in parties but believe in individual running office. I am an American not democrat or republican I want what's best for the country. Be wise, efficient, do what's right. We must remember also presidency wants to get things across his agenda but majority of time it's house and senate that get things across. During Obama administration it was republicans. Got to remember that. Obama wasn't perfect by any means but he did hell of job with circumstances. Universal healthcare amazing idea , to bad insurance went up was due to insurance companies being greedy in there ways as usual. If insurance companies could've compromise better we would've had fantastic health care System. We are greedy to greedy but at same time we are very giving country. We must come back to balance and reality. Pray for our country and wish Trump best. Remember president is commander and chief. if we get mad at how our country is going blame it on who is controlling the house and the senate. Presidency do his best to push his policy and some he will win at most of time like Obama got denied denied denied because we are scared to try what's best where 10% wealthy is happy and influence us How we think while 90% of us struggle. God bless America. Thank you Obama and best of luck to you Mr Trump. I will always support our country. But I will be subjective in my opionion. But objective at end will be prevail.

Wasted 8 Years of Time For Our Country on September 13, 2017:

Half of the so called "accomplishments" of Obama are B.S.. 8 years of having the first black president, without a solid 8 years of REAL WORK HE PROMISED WHEN ELECTED! Trump may be unpopular (even though the MAJORITY OF AMERICANS VOTED FOR HIM) but he is working. We didn't hear from Obama for months. If you know how government really works, Trump can't just start passing laws himself, he has the House, Senate, High ranking military keeping him in check. And the damn wall isn't to keep out illegal aliens who could get in legally if they go through the proper procedures (and before you say anything I have done that myself and it's not that hard) the wall is to KEEP OUT DRUGS AND ILLEGAL ALIENS, HALF OF THEM CAUSING CRIME. Trump was a choice over Hillary Clinton who would have done nothing herself like Obama except she would be trying not to be impeached and THROWN IN JAIL. He is doing what we needed at this time which is creating jobs and using his intelligence to do what he said he would do which is rare for a president. They usually say what you want to hear then not do it after being elected! I just hope he changes his global warming stance as there are just too many catastrophes happening (I.E. Texas and Florida just got mowed over again). I served our country for 21 years and not only am I disabled and the time away from my family I will never get back, I just wish we could support our president who we voted for like I supported Obama even though I think it was maybe 2 good years out of 8 that he did some beneficial things. We are embarrassing our country by voting for a president and having Saturday Night Live shows and Bill Maher who even makes fun of religion just battering the president. I think we need to have the party who gets elected have the other party as Vice President but if the president dies the same party has a standby official already identified that moves into the presidential position. We need to concentrate on our country and address the global warming issue before or after Trumps term.

Angel Guzman from Joliet, Illinois on July 19, 2017:

Overall he did a good job but I wish he was more aggressive and had a democrat congress all eight years.

Luv2Rite11 on May 08, 2017:

Man, Linda, you really, truly need to get a life girl.Whatever Obama messed up in his 8 years as Commander in Chief, I can guarantee you 100% hands down that (cough cough), what's his name, Trump will make the word f*ck up look like cream pie in about 60 more seconds. So go float your enigmatic concepts and focus on what the next 4 years of hell truly is going to look like for our country. Leave Obama out of it. At least he didn't line his pockets within the first 4 months of his presidency with our hard earned taxpaying monies. Sheesh, like having a battle of the wits with unarmed person.

Maureen Chamberlin on May 08, 2017:

republicans can not give credit to President Obama who is the Best President ever!

Trump is insane and stole the election and lost the Popular vote by 3,000,000 votes!

The Electoral College should not take precidence over the Popular Votes!

Wild Bill on March 20, 2017:

I like where your head is at Linda

Lela from Somewhere near the heart of Texas on March 18, 2017:

jeff, please delete the lies ASAP. I am sick and tired of these deluded Liars. Thank you.

jeff61b (author) on March 18, 2017:

Linda M.

If you copy and paste a series of right wing lies that have no basis in fact I will delete them.

linda M on March 17, 2017:

15) The NSA has spied on Americans under Obama.

16) Under Obama, the CIA spied on the Senate.

17) Obama’s campaign contributors at Solyndra were handed 535 million dollars of taxpayer money that the Obama Administration knew they would never be able to pay back before they gave it to them.

18) The IRS targeted Obama’s political enemies including Christian groups, pro-Israel groups, and most prominently, Tea Party groups. The Obama Administration has refused to cooperate with the investigation or hold anyone accountable for the illegal behavior.

19) Numerous donors to Mitt Romney were audited by the IRS after giving him large contributions.

20) When the EPA and IRS were asked to provide emails requested by Congress as part of an investigation into their illegal activities, they’ve claimed over and over again to have lost the information because of “hard drive crashes.” Given that it’s quite easy to back up a hard drive and that they’re required by law to retain that information, it seems likely that they’re habitually destroying evidence to hide their illegal activities.

21) Veterans received poor health care and even died because of the incompetence and cover-ups of Obama’s VA.

22) Even Barney Frank admits Barack Obama shamelessly lied to the American people to get Obamacare passed – and lie, he did. He promised that Americans could keep their insurance plans, that they could keep their doctors, and that Obamacare would save the average family $2500 per year. Not only were all of those lies, Obama knew they were lies when he made those promises.

23) Barack Obama has broken the law repeatedly by making at least 23 unilateral changes to Obamacare.

24) Obama has been illegally trying to force Christians to pay for abortifacients via Obamacare.

25) Obamacare has been a disaster that cost millions their insurance and sent health care costs spiraling into the stratosphere.

26) Obama is taking 700 billion dollars out of Medicare to put into Obamacare.

27) The website portion of Obamacare, healthcare.gov, was a non-functional disaster for months when it rolled out and Obama claimed he was completely unaware that there was anything wrong with it.

28) Instead of calming people down, Obama helped to turn Americans against each other racially be inserting himself into the Trayvon Martin case.

29) Obama created so much racial animosity by attacking the police when they had done nothing wrong in the Henry Louis Gates case that he had to have a ridiculous “beer summit” to try to undo the damage.

30) The Department of Justice failed to pursue a voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panthers because they were black and liberal. Former DOJ official J. Christian Adams quit over the case and “accused his former employer of instructing attorneys in the civil rights division to ignore cases that involve black defendants and white victims.”

31) George W. Bush quit playing golf in 2003 because he didn’t want the mother of some fallen soldier to see the Commander-in-Chief out playing golf. He also said he thought playing golf during a war sent the wrong signal to the American people. Through June of 2014, Obama was up to 177 rounds and is on pace to play twice as much in his second term as his first term.

32) Obama chose tax cheat Tim Geithner to be his Secretary of the Treasury and then has had the audacity to spend his whole presidency pushing for higher taxes.

33) After promising to unite America when he was running for office in 2008, Obama has been the most hyper-partisan President in decades.

34) Despite the fact that Barack Obama claimed to believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman when he was running for President in 2008, his Department of Justice asked states attorney general to refuse to defend their states’ bans on gay marriage in court.

35) The Department of Justice has worked overtime to help increase voter fraud by fighting against voter ID. This is despite the fact that you need ID to buy alcohol, drive a car, fly on a plane or even to use Obamacare.

36) He’s the reason why countless Americans have been groped, molested and harassed by the TSA, even though agents never caught a terrorist sticking their hand down anyone’s pants.

37) He’s responsible for the dumbing down of our education system with Common Core.

38) We first landed on the moon in 1969, but because of Obama, we’re no longer even capable of going into space.

39) His servile bowing to other world leaders is embarrassing and un-American.

40) Barack Obama engaged in an illegal war in Libya without the permission of Congress that helped turn that country into an unstable basket case run by radical Islamists. How bad is it? America, Libyans and the rest of the world were better off with Muammar Gaddafi in charge. That’s how bad it is.

41) Radical Islamist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan “described himself as mujahedeen” and yelled “Allahu Akbar” as he murdered 13 of his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood. The Obama Administration labeled that as "workplace violence" rather than admitting there was a terrorist attack on his watch.

42) He released 5 Taliban terrorists In exchange for deserter Bowe Bergdahl.

43) Americans died at Benghazi because Obama’s administration didn’t take their repeated requests for additional security seriously.

44) Russia annexed Crimea while Obama did nothing of consequence to discourage it from invading. That’s not a surprise for a President who is fond of throwing out “red lines” that don’t mean anything.

45) Obama’s premature pull-out in Iraq and foolish refusal to get a status of forces agreement in Iraq left the country vulnerable and led to the terrorists in ISIS taking over a large portion of that country.

46) Barack Obama unilaterally implemented the DREAM Act that Congress didn’t pass and illegally handed out work permits to illegal aliens.

47) Obama is threatening to bypass Congress and simply “legalize” millions more of illegal immigrants even though it’s illegal and unconstitutional and it hurts the American people and will further encourage even more illegal aliens to surge across the border.

48) The fence on our southern border was supposed to be completed by 2009. The Obama Administration has made it clear that it doesn’t intend to finish it during his presidency.

49) Barack Obama is deliberately creating a crisis on the southern border by refusing to deport illegal aliens crossing into our country.

50) For all practical purposes, Barack Obama has already unilaterally implemented amnesty in America because “at least 99.92% of illegal immigrants and visa overstays without known crimes on their records” aren’t being deported.

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Lyn from England on March 05, 2017:

Very interesting and informative. As a UK person who was buying from the USA (only personal items, nothing major), I have noticed the strength of the $ and find it harder to grab bargains from USA! Of course, this maybe in part due to the Brexit effect on the UK economy too, but I was noticing before that. Also, if means that now is a good time to travel to the UK from USA as the $ is strong, it will go further.

Glen Steen on February 17, 2017:

It's a shame Donald tRump doesn't read entire articles. He's like an ADHD child with an attention span of 10 seconds. He should at least go on Ritalin!

coolkids on February 14, 2017:

this is so interesting

Mark on February 03, 2017:

Omg this arricle has so many holes i dont know where to start. Sitting in a seat on an airplane does not mean you can take credit for flying it.

John Robinson on February 03, 2017:

The economic gain is smoke and mirrors, using G. Bush ideas. For example, Bush's State Dept. would say "We have put thousands of people back to work", in Iraq. To show how much progress was made. Of course, we were pouring billions onto Iraq at the same time. NATURALLY if you do that, you will create jobs.

Same for Obama, when you ring up an additional $9.3 TRILLION to this nation's debt, NATURALLY , you will create jobs. All made with debt that has to be paid.

Lela from Somewhere near the heart of Texas on January 26, 2017:

WHEN are we going to remove this sham of a President called Trump? We, the people do NOT deserve this crazy loony tune horror story.

GALoren on January 26, 2017:

Trump is a total ditz. CNBC just came out with a story this afternoon about Trump sending Presidential emails on his gmail account which has been hacked. Lock him up?

Reacher999 on January 24, 2017:

Nice work. Its shocking to me how many people either don't know or don't believe these. The problem is that in 1988 Reagan made the statement at the RNC Facts are Stubborn Things!!" He was right.

Whereas today's Republicans say these are just alternative facts!! I don't have time do it but

I would like to see more traditional numbers broken down by term. Things like income going way down poverty rising we lost over 5 million jobs and food stamps went through the roof. All during his first term...Mostly his first 18 months.

But everyone of those trends have reversed. And are now heading in the other direction extremely fast. If Trumps first and hopefully only term is as positive as Obama's 2nd term. He'll be considered by republicans a raging success!

jeff61b (author) on January 23, 2017:

Jeff532110 -

Your ridiculously long list about Obama was removed because it contained a multitude of easily disproved lies.

You are welcome to comment about the article but don't just copy and paste lies here.

Pictom -

My hat's off to you for taking the time to begin debunking some of the lies from Jeff532110 but it does not deserve the time and effort to respond to all 40 statements.

pictom on January 23, 2017:

Rev Apostle Joseph TOUBI,

You lost all credibility when you brought a fictional god into the conversation.

But your rant has little to do with the article. Perhaps you meant to create your own HubPage article but feared no one would read it.

pictom on January 23, 2017:

@Jeff532110

So You don’t have a thought of your own but like to copy and past false info.

Well, I guess I can copy and paste a response.

1. First President to be photographed smoking a joint.

Photographed? That’s not the same as the first president to smoke “a joint.” But camera’s were not around when George Washington was president. Washington routinely smoked marijuana to alleviate the pain from his ailing teeth. Washington's diary recounts his efforts to cultivate better and enhance his crops of marijuana.

http://elitedaily.com/news/politics/presidents-adm...

2. First President to apply for college aid as a foreign student, then deny he was a foreigner.

False. One of the most widely-cited among “Obama’s accomplishments,” Snopes debunked this years ago. The rumor originated as an April Fool’s Day hoax.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthers/occi...

3. First President to have a social security number from a state he has never lived in.

This is easily debunked through the Social Security Death Index (SSDI).

Social Security Administration was in fact informed of Ludwig's death, and

The Social Security number assigned to Ludwig is not the same as assigned to Barack Obama. Ludwig also didn't pass away until 1981, by which time Barack Obama had long since been assigned a Social Security number of his own.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthers/ssn....

The first three claims are easily shown to be #AlternateFacts so there is really no point in me completing the list.

vito bovino on January 22, 2017:

To bad those that should read this will pass it up because of prejudice

Jim K on January 22, 2017:

About #1, the economic expansion has come with a huge cost of debt. The debt soared compared to GDP growth.

If the economic growth does not accelerate, the country will be crippled with the amount of debt borrowed. The rates will forced to go up either way.

About # 13, I thought both San Bernardino and Orlando shootings were done by people linked to Al Queda or ISIS. There are many other incidents too.

Lela from Somewhere near the heart of Texas on January 21, 2017:

Anita - Here's a thought - why don't you present some evidence that "these so called facts are minipulated (sic)"?

I would be surprised if you could recognize a true fact if one dropped into your lap.

Anita on January 21, 2017:

Don't be fooled. These so called facts are minipulated to appear good to people who don't know any better.

D. Duncan on January 21, 2017:

The naysayers here do realize the GOP blocked and impeded as much progress as possible during the President's term, right? If growth was slow and the economy didn't turn around fast enough for you, look at the Republican party and how they voted. And let's not forget the billions they cost us in their government shutdown tantrum. But, oh, hey, it's all President Obama's fault, because he wasn't the dictator everyone accused him of being and didn't force them to comply.

Rosemarie. on January 20, 2017:

I find it incredulous the comments that are being, made here. That are drawn, from closed minds and even poorer inaccurate information; Of course, one shouldn't. Be surprised at the comments when you realize from where they emanate. We have now a president with dubious morals, ethics, and no respect for anyone or other's opinion. I doubt he even understands what is in front of him so that we will have to wait and see. TRUMP is for TRUMP.

Marilyn on January 20, 2017:

This is such a piece of fiction it makes me nauseous.

Junior on January 19, 2017:

Don't forget that the federal debt has more than doubled in the past eight years. Way to go, Osama!

1. Slowest recovery in history

2. Part-time jobs...that's not fully employed, is it?

3. ONLY 4.9% unemployment which counts only those who are registered. What about the 'out of work' and those who are no longer in the filed they are supposed to be in? We have the lowest labour participaction rate since the 70s as many have given up on finding good full-time employment. The unemployment numbers give only a warped view of the actual situation. "twelve million new jobs" - the author forgot to mention that most of those are part-time, so they don't count.

4. True, but whenever the stock market tumbles, it always recovers. For this reason, Bill Gates is now worth more than three times then before the recession. When prices fell, he just bought more stock!

5. True, but what about the DOUBLED federal debt...from 9 trillion to nearly 20 trillion now that Osama is leaving...

9. WHAT a load of crap! Many people like myself don't qualify for Medicaid in Virginia, yet I can't get Osamacare subsidies because they tell me I should be on Medicaid. I fall into the grey area....I earn too much to get Medicaid, yet I can't get Osamacare. So now I have NO health insurance as it would cost me over $500 a month when it used to cost me only $75 before this socialist health plan. Hopefully I'll be able to get my old plan back soon, now that Osamacare is being repealed.

11. Are you kidding me? What are you drinking? The costs have spiraled out of control and many can no longer afford insurance...including me.

12. That's because Osama is no fan of the military and has slashed it. Shen he announced the withdrawal date of our troops in Iraq (WHAT?) ISIS formed in the vacuum that he created. Thanks Mr. President! Generals NEVER announce the date of withdrawal! I guess he forgot to consult them on that one...

13. So...What about the radicalized American Islamist terrorists? We are in FAR greater danger now than we were before Osama (see, even his name proved his allegiance to Islam!) San Bernardino, Orlando, Fort Hood, what about those?

14. Right...yet Osama tried to employ the 'Dream Act' through dictatorial presidential memoranda (mandates) and executive orders. I always thought that Congress made and changed laws....yet this president thinks he can rule with an iron fist and avoid Congress just because he wants something. Did he ask Congress before re-establishing ties with Cuba? Of course not! He just wanted it...

The so-called 'Affordable' Care Act is not so affordable and was passed by Democrats ONLY when they held both houses of Congress....then they not only lost them, but also The White House! I guess the people don't like this 'affordable' healthcare. Nancy Pelosi said, We have to pass the bill so that YOU can find out what's in it!"

Guess what? We already knew what was in it. We didn't like it then and we don't like it now. It's history!

States issue marriage licenses...not the federal government, so The Supreme Court should have stayed out of it and let the states decide for themselves. Since the States were here before the creation of the federal government, many have chosen to ignore 5 unelected judges and refuse to issue licenses to same-sex unions and civil ceremonies. There is no such thing as a same-sex 'marriage' as the very term is an oxymoron as is a man having Fallopian tubes....can two men procreate?

The feds during this administration are extending their power into areas where they have no power, so now we know why Trump was elected....we didn't not want four more years of Osama, giving Bill Clinton a third term.

GALoren on January 17, 2017:

Don't forget George w Bush "donated" $2,000,000,000,000(trillion) of our tax dollars to go to war in Iraq. Geez, have we found the WMD yet?

Aaron on January 17, 2017:

President Barack Obama economic stimulus bill he signed shortly after taking office seven years ago.

THIS IS WHAT OBAMA ACTUALLY DID WITH YOUR MONEY

1. $4.3 Billion To Build High Speed Rail Between Two Sparsely Populated Rural Towns In California. (Daisy Nguyen, "Critics Pan Proposed High-Speed Rail Segment," The Associated Press, 12/1/10)

2. $535 Million For Loan Guarantee To Now-Bankrupt Solyndra. (Solyndra Offered $535 Million Loan Guarantee By The U.S. Department Of Energy," Press Release)

3. $128 Million On Bridge Connecting Communities Of Palm City And Stuart Despite The Fact That "There Is Already A Bridge That Connects The Two Communities Less Than Three Miles Away. (Abbie Boudreau and Jessi Joseph, "Stimulus-Funded Florida Bridge Draws Criticism," CNN, 5/4/09)

4. $121.9 Million For A Wind Farm Finished Before The Stimulus Began. (Russ Choma, "Millions In Grants Went To Wind Farms Built Before Stimulus Passed," MSNBC/Investigative Reporting Workshop , 10/21/10)

5. $118.5 Million Grant To Ener1, An Energy Storage Company, That Filed For Bankruptcy In January 2012. (Andrew Restuccia, "Obama-Backed Electric Car Battery-Maker Files For Bankruptcy," The Hill's E2 Wire, 1/26/12)

6. $107 Million Given To Wind Capital Group, Owned By Obama Donor Tom Carnahan, Brother Of Former Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO). (Jake Wagman, "Blowin' In The Wind: GOP Pans Stimulus Cash For Carnahan Sibling," St. Louis Post-Dispatch , 9/20/10)

7. $61.8 Million For A Wind Farm That Was Finished Before The Stimulus Passed. (Russ Choma, "Millions In Grants Went To Wind Farms Built Before Stimulus Passed," MSNBC/Investigative Reporting Workshop , 10/21/10)

8. $59.1 Million For A Wind Project Finished Before The Stimulus Passed. (Russ Choma, "Millions In Grants Went To Wind Farms Built Before Stimulus Passed," MSNBC/Investigative Reporting Workshop , 10/21/10)

9. $54 Million In Stimulus Funds To Operators Of Mohegan Sun Casino, Which Grossed $1.3 Billion In 2009. (Coulter King and Marianne De Padua, "Mohegan Sun Casino Owners Received $54 Million In Stimulus Money," ABC News' The Blotter, 6/17/10)

10. $24 Million To Companies Owned By Kentucky Construction Magnate Indicted For Bribery. (Allan Chernoff, "Stimulus 'Fraud Will Occur,'" CNN Money, 1/28/10)

MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD INSIDE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

the Obama administration may have exposed national security information through Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton’s deputy chief of staff, who has deep personal and family associations with the Muslim Brotherhood. Another key figure with Muslim Brotherhood ties is Mohamed Elibiary, a member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Advisory Council.

Obama secretly sent $400 million in cash on an unmarked cargo plane to Iran on January 17, 2016 as a ransom.

Obama releases terrorist and drug dealers but fines and possible jail for law abiding citizens not having health insurance.

You wanted facts, well here ya go. This article and most posters here seem to think Obama is infallible and that I must certainly be a racist because I do not think he did a good job. The truth is he never had US in his best interest. I don't know who he worked for but it wasn't US.

Joe Chirchirillo on January 17, 2017:

With 10 trillion dollars anyone could make things look great! Our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will pay the price for the debt that has been run up to make things look good these past 8 years!

jeff61b (author) on January 16, 2017:

VDuggins and Glrosario -

There have been zero successful terrorist attacks by foreign terrorist groups on US soil.

There have been a few individuals in this country who have committed serious crimes inspired by Islamic radicals but no foreign terrorists have successfully struck us.

President Obama has successfully made us better at stopping direct attacks by foreign Islamic terrorists while preserving our relationship with Islamic countries that can help us fight against these extremists.

We have killed thousands of Islamic terrorists during the past 8 years and driven ISIS back while drawing down the number of ground troops deployed in foreign countries.

Will thompson on January 16, 2017:

Wow, and still the sceptics. Some people will never grow up. Walk around their whole lives with blinders on, losers.

VDuggins on January 16, 2017:

I strongly disapprove of President Obama's performance because He has basically waged war on America by deceiving and betraying the American people. He actually wants ISIS to grow and become more and more of a threat to the U.S. and that is a cold hard fact. He is a pathological liar and desperately needs Jesus.

Wow on January 16, 2017:

"Feel free to tell me this article is BS but put some thought into your comments and don't just waste time with pointless insults."

Why you wasted my time with biased, cleverly worded arguments?

Forcing millions of people to buy insurance they can't afford and can't afford to use is a good thing?

The cost of lifesaving drugs like Insulin for example has tripled in recent years, what has Obama done about this, nothing at all.

glrosario on January 16, 2017:

While many of these facts are questionable to say the least, #13 and #14 need to be fact checked. We need to understand that #13 is an extremely misleading statement because you are simply saying that ONE of the many terrorist organizations targeting our nation has had no success, but are ignoring the fast rise of many other anti-American terrorist groups that have been created DURING the Obama administration and have carried out successful attacks against our people in our own land. Let's be real now.

The Doanld on January 16, 2017:

This article is PURE Liberal TRASH.

NEVER has ANY president had a growth rate of less than 3%...until O.

We are FAR less safe in our own country (and abroad) than any time in living history. The entire world laughs at us because of O.

Obama has embraced hate groups like BLM and the Muslim Brotherhood while vilifying the police.

Even though he could have used his race/position to UNITE us, he has decided to DIVIDE us at every turn.

OBAMA WAS...IS...AND ALWAYS WILL... BE A TOTAL FAILURE.

Only Herbert Hoover comes close.

Pamela Biafora on January 16, 2017:

The best President we have had since the Clinton era. President Obama, Thank you for steady hand, for your professionalism, your honest and sincere concern for middle class americans. With such Class you ran this country. Looking out for our best interest and keeping us safe. I want to impeach trump on his first day.

Lela from Somewhere near the heart of Texas on January 13, 2017:

Why do the right wing politicos NOT believe these facts? What is blocking their sense of right and wrong? We really need to get to the bottom of all this obstructionism and hatred.

@BK - "What about keep you doctor keep you plan? Millions of people lost their doctors and insurance plans."

All you have to do is ASK your doctor which plan he/she accepts and then SIGN UP for that plan! It's a simple thing. So, YES, you can keep your doctor.

LAC on January 13, 2017:

Why do the right wing politicos NOT believe these facts? What is blocking their sense of right and wrong? We really need to get to the bottom of all this obstructionism and hatred.

GA Loren on January 11, 2017:

J, you sound frustrated. You criticize Obama on what.....jobs? I wish you would be more specific. For instance, are you saying Obama hasn't created real high paying jobs? Actually, the biggest problem with putting a man back to work, who is over 50 yrs old and lacks the technical skills for today's workforce, is a pipe dream. Let's look at today's world. In Asia, people with college degrees are making $10-$15 bucks an hour. So if you are a businessman, do you build a plant/office/tech business in that nation with cheap talented labor, or do you build your business in the USA and hire HS grad for $35 an hour? What would Trump do? Sadly, any jobs coming back to America will be taken by robots. No pay, no health care, no 401k, no vacation, no down time. Sadly, our older, uneducated workers in the USA are going to have to flip burgers, or drive for Uber

Dj on January 11, 2017:

Liberal wet dream. Clueless. Separating fact from opinion. Your numbers are so misleading and your extinction and lack of mentioning one mitigating factors shows how dishonest or stupid you are. Decide which. I guess if so many people hadn't dropped out of the work force and have of Obama's jobs were part time jobs that dominated the market as a result of the policy abortion Obamacare.

GALoren on January 11, 2017:

Funny, but the author of this articl asked anyone posting, to use facts, rather than hyperbole, to back up an opinion. I have seen a lot of posts here that are basically shout downs trying to bully posters who do use facts. Grow up bullies and do some research. This forum is for educated ideas, not trash talk.

GALoren on January 11, 2017:

Try to come up with one Obama or Hillary Clinton scandal. You say Hillary had her emails left unprotected? Well, if that is so, tell us what do those emails reveal. Secret government info? If that is true, what was revealed? So far, there has not been a single piece of evidence from a Clinton email that has compromised national security. Mr Comey of the FBI seems to have controlled all the information and turned the emails into a fake news scandal, not once, but twice. His 2nd expose of Hillary Clinton, one week before the election, finally accomplishing the job to take Clinton out.

Bush, (take your choice of either one) we're both failures when it came to economics 101. So is Donald Trump. If he was such a successful business tycoon as he claims to be, lwould have revealed his taxes BEFORE he ran for President. After all, Trump is a showoff as we all know. I find it comical that the people who voted for Trump were mostltly white, unemployed, uneducated, over 50 yrs olds and their wives voted for Trump also, hoping Trump would bring back American industry that left over the last few decades. These poor white guys voted fo a billionaire who will do nothing to improve the lives of these people who once held high paying factory jobs. These jobs are gone forever. Robots will now perform menial labor. As we all know, there are tens of thousands of jobs for these people, but only if they have the tech skills to fill today's high paying jobs, of which thousands exist, but lack candidates due to required skills/education.

So let's get back to Trump. He has a disgraceful record of immoralality, insulting people and also of pedophile activity when it comes to entering dressing rooms of Miss Teenage contests while contestants were undressed. This alone should have put Trump behind bars, locked up for years and placed on a sexual predator watchlist

JP on January 11, 2017:

You're right, they would call it BS yet fail to provide factual data to debunk your claims, just puppet echoing the mindless propaganda passed out by his opponents. The problem with Americans and their political affiliations is that they (both party followers) don't do the due diligence to find out facts before taking sides. They just repeat the misleading information posted without bothering to research and verify.

BK on January 11, 2017:

Funny how the liberals forget that they created a lot of the financial disaster they love to lay at Bush's feet. They were warned that letting Fanny May and Freddie Mac give house loans to people who couldn't afford the mortgages was going to lead us into a big recession. They would disclaim those warnings, saying that Republicans didn't want people to own homes. They got what they were warned about and blamed Bush. Exactly why they lost the Presidency, House, Senate, and Governorship's. Keep up the good work!

Suse G on January 11, 2017:

Hummm, seems like we all have our facts about President Obama. The last eight years have brought the lowest labor participation rates since the '70's with 95 million Americans out of the labor force. Over 11 million more Americans are on food stamps since he became president and more than 43 million Americans now live in poverty. When he leaves office he will have added more to our national debt than all the other presidents before him combined. What about keep you doctor keep you plan? Millions of people lost their doctors and insurance plans. This year Affordable Care Act premiums are exploding by 25 percent on average. Foreign Policy, there is basically none. Can he say "ISIS" no he says "ISIL", who says that? So you see my facts are very different than yours. How wonderful would it be if we all stopped perpetuating this great divide between Republicans and Democrats and become one, one for our great county we call "America".

GA Loren on January 10, 2017:

These last eight years have been amazing. We have seen our nation grow after the terrible eight years of war and near financial disaster that proceeded Barack Obama. Thank you Mr President!

G A Loren on January 10, 2017:

President Obama saved us from another Republican disaster. George W Bush was a disaster. Bush did not protect us on 9/11, let the banks and lending institutions nearly bankrupt America, attacked Iraq based on pre fabricated lies, raised unemployment to almost 11% and left Obama with a nearly impossible task to save our nation from financial disaster Thank you President Obama. God help us when Trump and Pence reverse all the good Obama accomplished

Keith Taylor on January 10, 2017:

Pure crap. Dude is the worst president in US history. Jimmy Carter is a far distant second.

Cuba, Iran, Syria, Iraq, Russia, retarded health plan, anti police, anti military, perpetuating poverty thru giveaways (Obama phones, etc), etc. etc.

Thank God we survived his elitist run. He is just garbage.

George Tallabas on January 08, 2017:

Under Obama the national debt is the highest in the history of our nation, exceeding 22 trillion. Thousands of manufacturing jobs were lost and that is why the upper mid-west where a lot of those jobs were lost voted for Trump. Obamacare left hundreds of thousands unable to afford health care, International relationships deteriorated and large corporations went overseas to create plants due to over regulation and taxation.

Randy in Portland on January 07, 2017:

Your slant is clear and your bias is noted. Your statements that give this guy credit for everything good that occurred during his presidency remains ridiculous. Remember, government has no money. All money belongs to the people. Always has. When someone gets something given to them, it is funded by the American people.

James on January 06, 2017:

I appreciate that you try to always discern fact from opinion but the majority of your research is only secondary, citing news articles. Even though the author of this article has a conservative bite, he cites statistics from government bureaus and it paints a different picture:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/435093/barac...

PG on December 30, 2016:

And the US standing in the world has taken a severe beating as there has been error after error , added to which the Free Trade agreements have proved to be the last thing that any country wants .

Bernie Seeman on December 26, 2016:

Interesting analysis, a lot of truth. It's too bad that Hillary didn't stress these points instead of insulting half the populations as "deplorable." Not a way to run a winning campaign!

Randy Sage on December 23, 2016:

15. Under Obama, government stats were totally dummied up and used as propaganda.

spencer chad on December 22, 2016:

Reagan had nothing to do with the interest rate. Paul Volcker cranked up the interest rate at the fed, and that's one of the biggest reasons Carter lost to Reagan. He raised it even higher when Reagan took office and it led to a recession. It took several quarters but eventually that move cooled down inflation and set off the turnaround you give Reagan credit for. Volcker was as much the hero as anything Reagan did.

Regarding fewer Americans owning homes? Really? Remember 2006-2008? We all know why fewer Americans own homes now. This destroys the credibility of everything you say. Blaming Obama for the housing crisis? Pitiful.

We all know why the recovery was slow. When you have two handcuffs named McConnell and Boehner obstructing everything you want to do that is exactly what happens. Reagan had congressional leaders who we're willing to work with him. Besides, today you right wing extremists would have laughed Reagan off the ballot.

cjimmytotal on December 17, 2016:

Sounds like this came right out of Obama's White House. Who wrote this, Valerie Jarrett?

times on December 13, 2016:

yea i agree not hahah

me on December 08, 2016:

Thats a lot of Obama down your throat lol.

Jim Perconi on December 06, 2016:

Propanda. Not true at all. He is the worst president in US history.

W on December 06, 2016:

You better do your homework about these so called accomplishment. You might want to tell the truth!

Kuffer on November 28, 2016:

About employment, due to normal population growth, we consider 250000 jobs a month as normal.

So POTUS created nothing! Plus he should be stripped of his Peace Nobel Prize. Ask Yemen or Afghanistan...

Junebug on November 22, 2016:

It is very sad that Conservatives twist the facts & statistics & beleive that 44 previous WHITE PRESIDENTS did a good job, some outstanding from your point of view but PRESIDENT OBAMA is the worst presi dent you have ever witnessed & in the history of the USA however Trump is going to best he will make America great again we'll hold on to your hats because we are going on a wild ride & whatever happens I pray that it will af fect the fools that voted for him & not the rest of us! Too bad you let your rac ism blind you & you can't see that Am erica is great because of its diversity & the knowledge & creativity that all eth nic groups bring to the table there is nothing special about Anglo Saxons you have taken, pilfered, raped, fooled as sets from every nation on this planet tried to make yourselves exclusive elit ists & claim your superiority & that's why we are hated all over the world you idiots!

KnittingDiva on November 16, 2016:

You forgot one - Obama will go down as the only President in United States history to never have a year of GDP growth more than 3% in any year of his administration.

Nora Olave-Shibusawa on November 12, 2016:

Mr. President, ever since you decided to run for President over eight years ago I decided you were the best: You and your family made us PROUD. You showed us how to overcome racism, how to respond with grace, respect and intelligence when many pretended to humiliate you because you happen to have dark skin. I am incredibly proud of having put my grain of sand to get you elected and re-elected: I did it with GUSTO and PRIDE. I know it was only a few hours of work, but I did it with the conviction that you deserved it. I thank you for the Christmas cards and other examples of your gratitude that I have the pleasure to receive from you, and that I treasure because they mean a lot to me and my family. May God bless you and your family Mr. President. All the best,

Nora Olave-Shibusawa

Michael Oliver on November 11, 2016:

PRESIDENT OBAMA WILL NEVER GET THE ACCOLADES HE DESERVES. DOESN'T MATTER HOW GOOD THE FACTS ARE! SOME (MAYBE MOST) AMERICANS ARE BLINDED BY ETHNICITY!

dave Iava on November 04, 2016:

wow, incredible how you cherry picked stats. The way unemployment is calculated now is completely different than it was 30 years ago. for example Reagan had 10.8% unemployment. Lowered it to 3.2% in 8 years. US population was 220 million. Obama lower it from 10.1% to 5.3% not 4.3% with a us population of 330 million. Now here is the odd part. Reagans economic recovery created 20 million new jobs. Obamas Recovery created 9 million. Would you care to explain the math.

Also the worst economic down turn since the great depression is fiction and promoted by the media and the liv\beral left.

US stock market lost 50% reagan faces 70% collapse. Interest rates were at 6% for obama and a high of 21.5% for reagan. Inflation was at 3.2% for obama and 18.5% for reagan.

You can try to rewrite history all you want but the Office of Budget and Management keeps all the stats. Obama also has the slowest post recession recovery in US history. Reagan the fastest in history. Under Obama US wealth (all citix\zens value vs Debt) fell almost 1.3 trillion dollars. Under Reagan the US increased its net wealth by 25.7 trillion in adjusted dollars. for the record keepers out there thats more wealth than was created in the entire history of the United States in the previous 2oo years. This is not a recovery it is a status quote.

The economy is a house of cards build on the shaky foundation of quantitative easing and the central planning of energy restrictions. When the fed bumped interest rates 1 quarter of 1 percent the stock market fell almost 1,500 points. That's a house of cards and a stock bubble. why do you think businesses are hording profits as cash on hand. Watch after the election. The feds havent bumped interest rates for political reasons. We are going to take a massive hit before christmas then we will revisit this nice little peice of fiction

George Vreeland Hill on November 03, 2016:

You can post all the great numbers you want, but the country is still not in great shape.

Obama is the only U.S. chief executive in history not to preside over even a single year with 3 percent GDP growth.

During the Obama years, the number of Americans below the poverty line is up 3.5 percent.

Real median household income: down 2.3 percent. Americans on Food Stamps — 33 million then, 46 million now: up 39.5 percent.

Americans who own homes: down 5.6 percent.

National debt — $10.63 trillion then vs. $19.19 trillion last Wednesday: up 80.5 percent.

George Vreeland Hill

Hragus on November 03, 2016:

don sallee Since 1961 our economy has produced 66 million jobs , 24 million during Republican administrations. Do I need to say more!

SmokedWeed on November 02, 2016:

not weed