10 things you won't see the mainstream media talk about in the last 100 days of Obama's presidency

Last week, Yahoo.com's homepage featured a story celebrating in advance the last 100 days of Barack Obama's presidency.

An aside about Yahoo!: It used to be a decent place to get a quick glance at what is going on in the world, but it has been degenerating into a pathetic collection of shallow, banal, gossipy tabloid-style articles designed to divert, distract, or titillate rather than to educate or inform, much less edify. The present article is a case in point. It listed ten “firsts” achieved by Obama.

The article (by Yahoo's chief Washington correspondent, no less) was a superficial puff piece more appropriate to a fan magazine than a serious journalistic outlet. Rather than cite any substantial achievements in public policy, the article cited such vacuous “firsts” by Obama as: first president to travel north of the Arctic Circle; first to have his own Facebook page; first to give a Commencement address at Rutgers; first commander in chief to appear on a late-night talk show; and (drum roll, please!) “first to be photographed for the cover of an LGBTQ outlet, the magazine ‘Out.’”

 (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Well, whoopy-doo.

Let’s get serious here as we inch closer to the much-to-be-desired conclusion of the Obama presidency, and take a look at ten of his most significant “achievements”–policies that will be viewed positively by hard-core leftists and negatively by right-minded Americans.

1. The non-stimulating stimulus. Obama’s $750,000,000-plus stimulus plan retarded economic recovery, but it did manage to shatter by gargantuan amounts the record for annual federal budget deficits and set us on the path of approximately doubling the national debt during Obama’s eight years.

2. The unconstitutional takeover/reorganization of General Motors and Chrysler. Obama shredded over 200 years of settled bankruptcy law by placing unsecured creditors (UAW) ahead of the secured creditors (bondholders) of those companies.

3. Seizing defeat from the jaws of victory. Obama abandoned the winning Bush/Petraeus surge strategy in Iraq, destabilizing that key country, pushing it closer to Iran as well as opening the door for Isis.

4. Allowing the American military to fall into a state of disrepair. Well, at least he has made sure that the Navy is using expensive biofuels instead of cheap petroleum.

5. Loss of American stature in the world. Jimmy Carter-like, he has sought to charm America’s enemies (the Castros and the Iranian ayatollahs) while disrespecting old allies like the UK and newer allies like Poland. Through his indecisiveness with Syria, his bumbling interference in Libya, his capitulation to the Iranian mullahs, his passive acquiescence to Putin’s takeover of Crimea, and his obvious belief that America owes the world apologies instead of strong leadership, he has greatly reduced respect for our country around the globe.

6. Obamacare. ‘Nuff said.

7. Dodd-Frank and its wicked spawn, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Ditto.

8. Hostility to fossil fuels. Using the EPA and other regulatory agencies, he has done everything he could to cripple the domestic production of cheap, reliable fossil fuels and given subsidies to political cronies and others producing green boondoggles.

9. Disrespect for our system of government. He has shown contempt for our Constitution, for anyone who resists his power grabs, and for the American people, particularly the middle class. He seems to have tried to reduce the United States of America to a banana republic by governing in the manner of a Latin American caudillo.

10. Weak support for police and an increase of racial tensions. You know it’s bad when the executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations is so frustrated that he publicly accuses the President of the United States of waging “war on cops.”

Unfortunately, I could keep going and make Obama’s list of major “accomplishments” even longer. His presidency has brought great harm to our country and to our people, and the sooner his last 100 days in office pass, the better.

Mark Hendrickson is Fellow for Economic and Social Policy with the Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College.

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