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White House News
2015: President Obama Gets Almost Everything He Planned To Do..Done
A look back at the big policy stories of the past year reveals a story that we all knew would be true under our 44th Presi- dent of the United States: The Obama administration got most of what it wanted. From overtime regulations to food rules to international trade, af- fecting virtually every aspect of American life.
A decidedly Obama- friendly agenda broke through with executive actions, regula- tions, court rulings and even an occasional legislative ac- complishment in the Republi- can Congress. Whether it was re-establishing ties with Cuba, negotiating a 12-nation trade pact spanning the Pacific Rim or winning court cases on gay marriage and Obamacare, there were more policy victo- ries for President Barack Obama than losses.
The 2 major issues yet ful- filled were the failed attempt to move the ball on gun con- trol and immigration.
Supporters of Obamacare outside the Supreme Court after the victory again for Af- fordable Health Care.
Obamacare is upheld ...
and then sustains fresh wounds: The Affordable Care Act survived another major legal challenge in June when the Supreme Court sided with the Obama administration and upheld government subsi- dies to residents in the 34 states that rely on Health- Care.gov as a marketplace. The King v. Burwell case could have resulted in more than 6 million Americans los- ing financial assistance to pur- chase health coverage, but Chief Justice John Roberts once again sided with the court’s four liberals in backing the administration’s position — and this time joined them. Only six months later, though, the law sus- tained serious damage after
Congress voted to delay or kill several elements of its financ- ing as part of a massive spend- ing bill.
War rages against ISIL:
Even before a San Bernardino, California, couple inspired by ISIL went on a deadly ram- page, the U.S. campaign against the Islamist group had steadily escalated, with more than 3,500 U.S. troops now in Iraq and special forces operat- ing in and out of Syria. The de- ployments signal the lengthy fight still ahead. But while the President isn’t recommitting a large ground force, the ramped-up deployments — along with the 10,000 U.S. troops still in Afghanistan — underscore the reality that the U.S. fight in the Middle East will be far from done when the President leaves office in January 2017.
Clean power plan: In Au- gust, the Environmental Pro- tection Agency issued sweeping climate change reg- ulations for power plants, the biggest source of temperature- raising pollution. The regula- tions aim to ratchet down carbon dioxide emissions. They also push electricity pro- ducers away from coal toward clean-burning natural gas, while accelerating the growth of solar, wind and other re- newable power sources. Inter- nationally, President Obama used the rules to help cajole China and India to join an international climate agreement in Paris earlier this month.
FCC OKs ‘free’ Internet:
President Obama won his top technology priority in Feb- ruary, when the Federal Com- munications Commission voted along party lines to ap- prove regulations that treat broadband like a utility and ensure all Web traffic is treated equally. The move gave the FCC clearer authority to act as an Internet traffic cop and introduced new protec- tions for consumers and con- tent companies such as Netflix. Internet providers like AT&T and Verizon said the rules would dampen innova- tion. Cable, telecom and wire- less trade groups brought suit in March to throw out the rules. A three-judge panel
heard arguments this month and is expected to rule in the first half of next year.
12-nation trade deal clinched: After more than five years of talks, the Obama administration concluded the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal in October, which would tear down trade barriers with 11 countries in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region, including Canada, Mexico and Japan.
Worker wins: The Labor Department unveiled a rule to make millions of American workers newly eligible for overtime. The regulation, to be finalized next July, covers vir- tually all workers who earn below $50,440 per year.
The flags of Cuba and the United States fly over each embassy again.
U.S.-Cuba relations re- stored: President Obama continued chipping away at the 53-year-old Cuba embargo this year, following through on an initiative he launched in December 2014.. The two countries restored diplomatic ties and reopened embassies, although Cuba has made it clear that full normalization will require complete lifting of the Cold War-era embargo.
The Obama Administra- tion achieved a large foreign policy goal in the restoration of relations with Cuba.
Genetically engineered fish OK’d: The Food and Drug Administration’s ap- proval of a salmon genetically altered to reach market size twice as quickly as conven- tional fish represents the first time the agency has approved a genetically engineered ani- mal for human consumption. The November decision is likely to open the door for other such approvals.
Fed hikes rates for first time in a decade: The Fed-
eral Reserve raised interest rates in December by a modest 0.25 percent, ending almost a decade without an increase in borrowing costs and signaling confidence the nation has fi- nally recovered from the 2008 financial crisis.
Combat jobs opened to women: In a historic move, Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered the military to admit women to all combat jobs, fulfilling the President’s promise to make the military more inclusive.
No more No Child Left
Behind: It took eight years since its expiration, but Con- gress finally overhauled the nation’s overarching K-12 ed- ucation law, shifting decision- making power back to the states. The new law preserves annual testing in reading and math for kids in the third through eighth grades, but the feds will have less ability to dictate what goes on in schools. States will still have to report how minority students and those from low-income families do on tests, as a way of holding schools account- able.
Green light for gay mar- riage: The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to make same-sex marriage legal nationwide, with Kennedy writing the majority opinion and provid- ing the swing vote. The June decision on Obergefell v. Hodges came against the backdrop of polls showing Americans increasingly sup- portive of gay marriage.
Keystone XL pipeline KO’d: After seven years of delay, the Obama adminis- tration rejected a permit for TransCanada to build the Key- stone XL oil pipeline. The $8 billion, 1,179-mile Alberta-to- Texas pipeline had achieved an “overinflated role in our
political discourse," Presi- dent Obama said, as he made a public show of killing the project in the Roosevelt Room, alongside Secretary of State John Kerry.
Deal on five-year high- way bill: The agreement, the biggest transportation infra- structure bill in a decade, pro- vides more than $300 billion for federal transportation pro- grams and sets out the policies that will govern highway, tran- sit and rail spending for the next five years
‘Doc fix’ done: In April, Congress finally overhauled the formula for paying doctors who treat Medicare beneficiar- ies, ending the perennial fight over the “doc fix.” The legisla- tion, passed with overwhelm- ing bipartisan support, establishes a payment system designed to reward doctors who deliver good outcomes.
Permanent tax credits:
The most important tax bill of the year came at the very end: a $680 billion tax cut Con- gress approved just before leaving for the year. The legis- lation delayed Obamacare’s unpopular "Cadillac" tax; made several big, but tempo- rary business tax breaks per- manent (a win for Republicans); and made stim- ulus-era expansions of the earned income and child tax credits part of the tax code (a move that appeased Democ- rats). It will likely be the last big tax deal until the next ad- ministration.
Drone rules: Fearing as many as a million new drones may have landed under Christmas trees, the adminis- tration announced just before the holidays that it will require consumers to register their craft — and pay a small fee de- rided as a “drone tax” by early next year.
President Barack Obama Is Most Admired Man In The World
President Barack Obama is the most admired man in the world in 2015, according to a new Gallup survey.
b President Obama topped the poll this year by wide mar- gins, with the Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton being named the most-admired woman for the 20th time with 13 percent, according to poll results released Mon- day. President Obama earned 17 percent and has made the list now eight times.
A random selection of 824 adults was surveyed for the poll this year by telephone between Dec. 2 and Dec. 6. The margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confi- dence level.
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