Winning Progressive

Over the past few days, more newspapers, including ones in critical states such as Ohio and Michigan, have endorsed President Obama’s re-election because of his impressive record of accomplishments and strong and steady leadership, and because President Obama has the best plans moving forward for creating jobs, promoting economic growth, and keeping our nation safe.

Below are excerpts from some of the most recent endorsements.  For excerpts of Obama endorsements from other newspapers, see our previous posts here and here.

Please take action to help win this election by sharing these endorsements with anyone you know who is undecided, commenting on and sending letters to the editor supporting these endorsements, and volunteering with the Obama campaign to help get out the vote.

Youngstown (OH) Vindicator – For President: Barack Obama

If there is one corner of Ohio that should vote overwhelmingly for the re-election of President Barack Obama, it is the Mahoning Valley.

We say that not for the tired old reason that the Valley almost always votes Democratic. We say it because when the question “are you better off today than you were four years ago” is asked, the Mahoning Valley can answer yes. And President Obama has earned much of the credit.

. . . .

Under the adage that all politics is local, the Valley’s resurgence would be reason enough to re-elect President Obama. But in addition, Obama has shown a political courage in tackling health care reform, a deep understanding of international issues, and a willingness to compromise — even if it was rejected by Republicans in Congress — that enhance his stature.

Detroit Free Press – Top Reasons to Re-elect President Obama

What’s the best case Barack Obama can make for re-election? Let’s start with the stunning record of accomplishments he has compiled over the last four years

. . . .

The country is safer. Its economy and its largest industry have been restored to health. And health care reform, fought out over 50 years in the U.S. Congress, has at last begun in earnest. When Republicans say pejoratively that Obama “can’t run on his record,” they’re peddling partisan nonsense and indulging a myopic fiction.

. . . .

Obama’s first term proved he can deliver at home under the worst imaginable circumstances, battling multiple crises that individually would have sunk lesser presidents; abroad, Obama has restored American credibility and influence that was frittered away by former President George W. Bush. With a refocus on job creation and long-term sustainability, his second four years could impress even more.

Toledo (OH) Blade – Re-Elect President Obama

During his administration, President Obama has provided pragmatic, steady, centrist leadership that has served the nation well. He has dealt effectively with economic recession at home and turmoil abroad, much of which he inherited from his predecessor. The stimulus he promoted — along with the auto and bank bailouts — helped prevent the recession from becoming a depression.

. . . . .

Jobless rates are still too high. But imagine what the economies of Ohio and Michigan would look like today if Mr. Obama had not presided over the federal rescue of Chrysler and General Motors as they emerged from bankruptcy in 2009.

That rescue was vital to Ohio, which depends on the auto industry for 850,000 jobs — one of every eight. It has preserved and created assembly and parts production jobs in Toledo and across the state.

. . . .

President Obama’s health-care reform is poised to insure tens of millions of Americans who now lack medical coverage, while reducing the federal deficit. The financial reforms he guided into law are curbing the abuses on Wall Street that contributed greatly to the national and global economic meltdown.

. . . .

In foreign affairs, the President has ended one war begun by his predecessor in Iraq, and is overseeing an orderly troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. He ordered the attack that killed Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 2001 terror attacks on this country.

Mr. Obama assembled the international coalition that helped free Libya from four decades of Moammar Gadhafi’s tyranny, without putting U.S. troops in harm’s way. The tough economic sanctions Mr. Obama and U.S. allies have imposed on Iran offer the prospect of forcing that country to give up its development of nuclear weapons.

San Jose (CA) Mercury News – Re-Elect President Obama

Barack Obama deserves a second term as president. Mitt Romney does not come close to measuring up to him as an honest, forthright and compassionate leader.

. . . .

The cool professor is a bit too dispassionate in these contentious times. He would be in a far better position for re-election if he had shown more fight. But better cool than reckless. Better understated compassion than overt disregard for 47 percent of Americans. And better to push breakthroughs in green technology and the novel concept of diplomacy to defuse world hot spots than to pretend that repeating the word “terrorism” over and over will eliminate it.

. . . . .

Obama has faced a level of personal animus unseen toward a president in living memory. It has come mainly from the right, but liberals have been little help. The fact is, Obama’s actions and positions paint him as — gasp — a classic moderate. This once was a good thing in a president. It should be again.

Look at who these men are, what they stand for and who stands with them. Barack Obama is the leader for these times. If he wins a second term, then maybe, just maybe, Republicans will return to putting country before party and recall the value of compromise. That is and always has been how America moves forward.

Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader – Re-Elect President Obama

Barack Obama has a record as president, and though he has not led us to his post-partisan promised land, he has provided steady, principled leadership during an economic crisis.

Obama’s approach — tax cuts for working people and businesses combined with stimulus spending — pulled us back from a depression. If you doubt it, look at Europe which chose austerity over stimulus and keeps sliding back into recession, while the U.S. economy slowly digs out of a very deep hole.

. . . . .

Despite Republicans’ determination to deny him any victories, Obama has a list of accomplishments that speak well for his priorities: Consumers have new protections against rip-offs by credit card and mortgage companies. The student loan program is freeing up $62 billion over 10 years by cutting out banks as subsidized middlemen

. . . .

Despite Republicans’ determination to deny him any victories, Obama has a list of accomplishments that speak well for his priorities: Consumers have new protections against rip-offs by credit card and mortgage companies. The student loan program is freeing up $62 billion over 10 years by cutting out banks as subsidized middlemen

. . . .

As for protecting America from external threats, Obama has been smart and strong, as evidenced by Romney’s embrace of Obama’s foreign policy in their last debate. That might have been just for public consumption, though; Romney has surrounded himself with belligerent neoconservative advisors who led the previous president disastrously astray.

Taking office as the economy was cratering, facing two wars and other crises abroad, and being fought at every turn by determined congressional Republicans has tested President Barack Obama.

For this weekend’s reading, we have the New Yorker’s endorsement of President Obama, interviews with our President, the threat GOP obstructionism poses to our democracy, and a profile of the man behind their voter suppression efforts

The Choice – The New Yorker magazine’s comprehensive and compelling endorsement of re-electing President Obama.

Obama and the Road Ahead: The Rolling Stone Interview – a wide-ranging interview of President Obama about his thoughts on the campaign, what he would do with a second term, Multiple Choice Mitt’s constantly changing views, and how Ayn Rand’s writings are not emblematic of “what’s best in America.”

Dear Republican Friends – A great explanation of why anyone who cares about our democracy should use their vote to reject the GOP’s cynical obstructionism of the past 4 years.

President Obama Releases Transcript of Register Interview – the transcript of President Obama’s initially off the record interview with the editorial board of the Des Moines Register.

Who Created the Voter-Fraud Myth? – a profile of Hans von Spakovsky, who has been a front line leader of conservative efforts to suppress voter turnout in Democratic areas.

In a close election such as this one, newspaper endorsements can provide the type of independent validation of a candidate that is important to an undecided voter.  Over the past few weeks, a growing number of major newspapers have provided such independent validation of President Obama’s bid for re-election.

These endorsements tend to make three basic points: (1) that President Obama has offered strong, steady leadership in bringing our country out of the economic and foreign policy messes that the Bush-Cheney Administration left us with, (2) that the Obama Administration has an impressive track record of accomplishments on keeping our nation safe, improving the economy, supporting the middle class, expanding access to health insurance, promoting equality, etc., and (3) that Romney bounces between promoting a reactionary redux of the Bush-Cheney years and changing his positions so often that no one really knows what he believes.  In summary, they provide a compelling case for re-electing President Obama.

In a previous post, we highlighted endorsements of President Obama from a number of newspapers.  Below are excerpts from more endorsements, including from Utah’s largest newspaper, and papers in states as varied as Pennsylvania, California, West Virginia, Texas, and Michigan.

Please take action to help win this election by sharing these endorsements with anyone you know who is undecided, commenting on and sending letters to the editor supporting these endorsements, and volunteering with the Obama campaign to help get out the vote.  And if your local newspaper has endorsed President Obama, please let us know in the comments section below.

Salt Lake City Tribune – Tribune Endorsement: Too Many Mitts – Obama Has Earned Another Term

In considering which candidate to endorse, The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board had hoped that Romney would exhibit the same talents for organization, pragmatic problem solving and inspired leadership that he displayed here more than a decade ago. Instead, we have watched him morph into a friend of the far right, then tack toward the center with breathtaking aplomb. Through a pair of presidential debates, Romney’s domestic agenda remains bereft of detail and worthy of mistrust.

Therefore, our endorsement must go to the incumbent, a competent leader who, against tough odds, has guided the country through catastrophe and set a course that, while rocky, is pointing toward a brighter day. The president has earned a second term. Romney, in whatever guise, does not deserve a first.

Los Angeles Times – Obama For President

[Obama] has confronted two inherited wars and the deepest recession since the Great Depression. He brought America’s misguided adventure in Iraq to an end and arrested the economic downturn (though he did not fully reverse it) with the 2009 fiscal stimulus and a high-risk strategy to save the U.S. automobile industry. He secured passage of a historic healthcare reform law — the most important social legislation since Medicare.

Just as important, Obama brought a certain levelheadedness to the White House that had been in short supply during the previous eight years. While his opponents assailed him as a socialist and a Muslim and repeatedly challenged the location of his birthplace in an effort to call into question his legitimacy as president, he showed himself to be an adult, less an ideologue than a pragmatist, more cautious than cocky. Despite Republicans‘ persistent obstructionism, he pushed for — and enacted — stronger safeguards against another Wall Street meltdown and abusive financial industry practices. He cut the cost of student loans, persuaded auto manufacturers to take an almost unimaginable leap in fuel efficiency by 2025 and offered a temporary reprieve from deportation to young immigrants brought into the country illegally by their parents. He ended the morally bankrupt “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that had institutionalized discrimination against gays in the military.

The nation has been well served by President Obama’s steady leadership. He deserves a second term.

San Antonio Express-News – Obama Deserves a Second Term

We believe President Obama has demonstrated a better grasp of the essential issues and offers a better vision for the United States. Voters should give him a second term in the White House.

. . . . .

No candidate has all the right policies — that includes Barack Obama. But having weathered the challenges of the last four years, we believe he is in a better position to guide the nation over the next four years — and has earned from voters the privilege to do so.

Philadelphia Inquirer – Obama Will Do A Better Job

America doesn’t need an Etch A Sketch president whose positions change with the type of audience he’s speaking to. It also doesn’t need a president who makes foreign-policy speeches suggesting the nation needs to become entangled in even more foreign disputes. Families are tired of seeing their sons and daughters in the armed forces venture into harm’s way for causes that no longer seem as important, especially with the nation continuing to struggle to end an economic crisis. If anything, polls show, most Americans think the troops in Afghanistan and elsewhere can’t come home soon enough.

In that regard, Obama deserves more than the grudging credit Republicans are giving him for being the commander in chief who finally got Osama bin Laden. America is safer as a result of that. America will be healthier, with more people insured, as a result of Obamacare. More Americans are employed, although not nearly enough, because of Obama’s saving the auto industry and promoting policies that are creating jobs. What Obama has already been able to accomplish in the face of unrelenting partisan opposition suggests he could have a remarkably successful presidency if given a second term

BARACK OBAMA is the better candidate in the presidential race. A vote for him is an investment in a strong future, which is why The Inquirer endorses his reelection.

Muskegon (MI) Chronicle – The Country Needs Barack Obama

The Obama we are endorsing is the man who oversaw and expanded the bailout of the auto industry that was initiated in the final weeks of the George W. Bush administration. We are endorsing the Obama who knew that bailing out an industry that provided more than 2 million industrial and related jobs and 3.6 percent of our gross national product was the right thing to do.

We are endorsing the man who stood up to naysayers in Congress, and Mitt Romney who placed his opinion, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt,” in the national spotlight, because what was on the line was more than a financial crisis, it was a way of life in Michigan that would have been wiped out, sending shock waves into every other industry and business and into government services such as police, fire and education. There’s no way Michigan or the other industrial states would be in the slow, but steady recovery they are experiencing today if GM and Chrysler had been forced to liquidate.

. . . . .

The American people must demand leadership from the president on down. It must demand that elected officials reach out to each other and create solutions to our problems that will help all Americans, not just the 1 percent or the 47 percent.

Hoping for change is not enough. Flip-flopping on issues in an effort to get elected is not enough. Following the tenets of political parties is not enough.

Action is what we need. Now.

Washington Post – Four More Years for President Obama

By contrast, the president understands the urgency of the problems as well as anyone in the country and is committed to solving them in a balanced way. In a second term, working with an opposition that we hope would be chastened by the failure of its scorched-earth campaign against him, he is far more likely than his opponent to succeed. That makes Mr. Obama by far the superior choice.

Sacramento Bee – Barack Obama For President

Voters often say they want their elected leaders to keep their promises and, at crucial moments, show real political backbone. President Barack Obama deserves a second term largely because he has delivered on both of these fronts.

. . . .

While some critics on the left say he should have gone further, by breaking up banks and launching an ambitious New Deal-style jobs program, it should be remembered that even Obama’s modest “stimulus” package was fought tooth and nail by Republicans in Congress. As has been well documented, the Republican strategy was to block all of the president’s efforts at economic recovery, even if it kept unemployment high for an extended period. As a coldblooded political strategy, it has worked, and millions of Americans have paid the price.

We think Obama is a brilliant statesman who has uplifted America after the debacle of the Bush-Cheney epoch.

. . . .

(By The Pragmatic Pundit)

During the presidential debate in 2004, President Bush and Senator John Kerry agreed that:

“The single, largest threat to American national security today is nuclear weapons in the hands of a terrorist network.”

The bipartisan 9/11 Commission warned that,  

“The greatest danger of another catastrophic attack in the United States will materialize if the world’s most dangerous terrorists acquire the world’s most dangerous weapons.” 

The Commission also found that Al-Qaeda had been trying for a decade to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

While the Cheneys blitzed the media accusing the President of making America less safe, Sarah Palin screeched that he was “paling around with terrorists”, and Republicans were chanting that he was “afraid” to say we are at war, behind the scenes, President Obama was quietly working to fulfill his goal of securing all vulnerable nuclear material around the world within four years.  Limiting access to weapons-usable materials greatly reduces the threat of nuclear terrorism.

Since President Obama delivered his speech in Prague’s Hradcany Square, April 6, 2009, six countries have given up their highly enriched uranium; nuclear materials that could have been used for 120 bombs.  By the end of last year, 111 pounds of highly enriched uranium were removed from three sites in Ukraine alone.  Progress has been made  in reducing and removing highly enriched uranium from Russia, Serbia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, and Mexico.

Despite the looming threat and the success of the program, House Republicans have made brutal cuts to the national security programs designed to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists. Retired Army Lt. Gen. Robert Gard of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation says:

“Cong. Paul Ryan is making it easier for terrorists to get nuclear weapons.”  He calls the cuts “reckless.”

Said Ryan:

“Washington can cut spending without compromising our national defense…I think the biggest threat we have to our national security is our debt…it is critical that we prioritize spending and address our nation’s most pressing fiscal, economic, and security challenges.”

Something tells me he had a similar rationale when Republicans cut funding for the State Department’s security budget directly impacting the outcome in Benghazi.

The Strategy

The Obama Administration has continued and stepped up a “loose nukes” strategy that includes:

•  Securing sites. The United States has been helping Russia since 1991 to install modern security systems at nuclear material storage sites. That job is largely finished.

•  Securing nuclear material.  Nuclear warheads and bomb-grade plutonium and uranium have been gradually consolidated to more secure sites in Russia.

•  Reducing quantities. Through the “Megatons to Megawatts” program, Russia converts highly enriched uranium used in bombs into low-enriched fuel suitable for power reactors. It is then shipped to the USA and sold to power companies.  The self-financing program has converted 287 tons of highly enriched Russian uranium into reactor fuel. An additional 265 tons will be converted and sold on the U.S. market over the next seven years.

•  Border control. With U.S. help, Russia and neighboring countries have installed equipment designed to detect smuggled nuclear materials. There have been attempts to smuggle material but no known successful thefts.

•  Port security. A “megaports” initiative is adding new cargo-screening devices at ports in Rotterdam, Netherlands; Piraeus, Greece; Freeport, Bahamas; and Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Security initiatives allow the United States and allied governments to block shipment of nuclear materials or technology to other countries.  In 2003, the program helped block a shipment of nuclear centrifuges from Malaysia to Libya. The incident led to the arrest of Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan and a secret proliferation network.

At the 47-nation Nuclear Summit, several countries, including Ukraine, Mexico and Canada, declared their intention to give up highly enriched uranium. Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili revealed that his government has thwarted eight attempts to sell uranium on the black market.  A criminal gang was caught in a sting operation trying to sell highly enriched uranium.

The plan is to move materials from 35 countries where it is concentrated …they’ve cleared 19 countries and have 16 more to go. About a year ago, Rachel Maddow interviewed Thomas D’Agostino, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration,  about the secretive mission to  capture highly enriched uranium from around the world.  According to D’Agostino, they have accomplished more than 50% of the mission and expect to fulfill their commitment by the end of President Obama’s term.

In an election as close as this year’s Presidential race (where the polls in virtually every swing state are within the margin of error), newspaper endorsements can be important.  While they are unlikely to sway a supporter of one candidate or the other, a compelling newspaper endorsement can provide the type of independent validation of a candidate that is important to an undecided voter.  And picking up even a small number of undecided voters can be the margin of victory, especially in a close swing state.

Over the past few weeks, a growing number of major newspapers, many located in swing states like Ohio and Florida, have endorsed President Obama’s bid for re-election.  These endorsements tend to make three basic points: (1) that President Obama has offered strong, steady leadership in bringing our country out of the economic and foreign policy messes that the Bush-Cheney Administration left us with, (2) that the Obama Administration has an impressive track record of accomplishments on keeping our nation safe, improving the economy, supporting the middle class, expanding access to health insurance, promoting equality, etc., and (3) that Romney bounces between promoting a reactionary redux of the Bush-Cheney years and changing his positions so often that no one really knows what he believes.  In summary, they provide a compelling case for re-electing President Obama.

Below are excerpts from a sampling of the recent newspaper endorsements of President Obama.  We will provide excerpts from additional endorsements in our next post.  In the meantime, please take action to help win this election by sharing these endorsements with anyone you know who is undecided, commenting on and sending letters to the editor supporting these endorsements, and volunteering with the Obama campaign to help get out the vote.  And if your local newspaper has endorsed President Obama, please let us know in the comments section below.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch – Obama For President: A Second Term for a Serious Man

Four years ago, in endorsing Democrat Barack Obama for president, we noted his intellect, his temperament and equanimity under pressure. He was unproven, but we found him to be presidential, in all that that word implies.

In that, we have not been disappointed. This is a serious man. And now he is a proven leader. He has earned a second term.

Winston-Salem (NC) Journal – Obama is Best Choice for President

Americans have a clear choice between two presidential candidates with starkly different ideas for spurring the economy, providing for the health of our people, defending our interests abroad, educating our children and protecting our environment. We believe that President Barack Obama’s progress on these issues merits him a second term in the White House.

Four years ago on this page, we endorsed Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona over Obama. We wrote that we were impressed with Obama, but McCain would “bring the Iraq war to a successful conclusion, work to end American dependence on foreign oil, reduce America’s output of climate-changing gases and begin the rebuilding of our economy.”

The Democratic president has done all those things and more. He is calm under pressure and courageous in standing up for the rights of all Americans, including the poor, veterans, the elderly, women, gays and immigrants. In contrast, we’ve sometimes found it hard in the last few weeks to tell just what Obama’s challenger, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, really stands for.

Lincoln (NE) Journal-Star – Obama Best for Middle Class

Months before the presidential election in 2008, the world’s financial system ground to a standstill — thanks to a system so devoid of regulations and enforcement that banks and financiers no longer trusted each other.

That’s the mess Barack Obama stepped into when he took office in 2008. Obama engineered a turnaround. In the hands of a president less pragmatic, less cool under pressure, it might not have happened.

After his first four years, Obama is a proven leader.

. . . . .

Republican nominee Mitt Romney at times makes us optimistic that he would do a creditable job as president. But he changes positions on issues so frequently we’re uncertain what he actually would do in office.

Obama has been tested and found equal to the task of being president. We think the country is in better shape than it was four years ago, and we think it will be in even better shape if he wins another term in office.

Cleveland Plain Dealer – On the Basis of Sound Leadership, Re-Elect Obama

Obama has shown that he favors engagement over bluster, and practical solutions over easy bromides. That’s what the country needs.

Consider a defining moment early in Obama’s first term — one with special resonance in Ohio: The outgoing Bush administration had used TARP funds to throw a lifeline to General Motors and Chrysler, but the two automakers were still at death’s door. They wanted more cash and offered vague promises to change their ways. Public opinion opposed another bailout. Romney urged the companies to file for traditional bankruptcy — at a time when private-sector credit was frozen even for healthy firms.

Obama told the companies to restructure using the Bankruptcy Court and set conditions for government financing: GM’s chairman had to go. Excess plants and dealerships had to close. Chrysler had to be bought out by Fiat. Contracts had to be renegotiated.

It was unpopular but gutsy. And it worked. Ohioans today are making cars in Lordstown and Toledo. They’re making parts and steel for Ford, Honda and other automakers. They’re back on the job.

That’s leadership that deserves a chance to finish the job. Re-elect President Obama.

Tampa Bay Times – Obama For President

Four years ago, Barack Obama offered an inspiring message of hope and change to an uneasy nation bogged down in two wars and facing economic collapse. The rosy idealism quickly gave way to the harsh realities of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The recovery has proven more difficult than anyone imagined. But conditions would be far worse without the president’s steady leadership. This is not the time to reverse course and return to the failed policies of the past. Without hesitation, the Tampa Bay Times recommends Barack Obama for re-election as president.

. . . . . .

Obama has capably steered the nation through an incredibly difficult period at home and abroad, often with little help from Congress. The next four years will not be easy for whoever occupies the Oval Office, but Obama has been tested by harsh circumstance and proven himself worthy of a second term.

Akron (OH) Beacon Journal – Obama For President

What matters are his real accomplishments and the direction he proposes for the years ahead.

On both those counts, he has succeeded far more than his critics contend. We recommend the re-election of Barack Obama on Nov. 6.

Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times – Allow Obama to Build on Progress

President Obama entered office with two wars raging and the economy in freefall. The U.S. auto industry was collapsing, and Osama bin Laden remained at large. The solutions to the first two issues were far from perfect, but show progress. The solutions to the latter two we’d say are a success.

Slow progress is better than no progress. We feel the pillars are in place for more, and hopefully quickened, progress in the days ahead.

We feel the best way to continue that progress to re-elect President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden on Nov. 6.

Santa Fe New Mexican – For President, Barack Obama

And it is that word — progress — that we urge voters to keep in mind when casting their ballots. Voters are not simply choosing between two men — President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney — they are selecting two philosophies of governing and of life.

In the world of Barack Obama, raised by a single mother and grandparents, propelled to the top through his own hard work, intelligence and drive, we all do better when we come together. He has never forgotten the struggles of his youth, understanding better than most the necessity of individual initiative. To Obama, government is not the enemy. It is not dispenser of all wisdom or wealth, either. Government is the safety net that catches the weak, the sick, the old and the very poor. It is also our collective will in action — building, defending and securing our nation. Obama will not privatize Social Security or reduce Medicare to a voucher system that costs too much while not guaranteeing treatment. He understands that Medicaid, which underwrites medical care for the very poor, must be protected from budget slashers who think nothing of leaving sick people at the emergency room door while asking for more tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.

Mitt Romney’s world is very different, one of privilege and wealth, where in his view, 47 percent of all citizens are takers who won’t assume responsibility for their lives. He had the good fortune to be born in a two-parent home, and should be credited for taking his comfortable start and building a fortune with it. He is a model of a citizen, a good father, husband and church member, contributing to his greater community with both his time and treasure. However, his vision for the United States — with almost half the population moochers — will not lift the least of us up. Instead, it will continue to divide the country along class lines, further splitting us between the haves-a-lot and everyone else.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 rejuvenated plans for the Fulton Street Transit Center in lower Manhattan. The project is set for completion in June 2014. Photo credit: Josh Marks

(By Josh Marks, cross-posted at Green Forward)

Republicans keep falsely claiming President Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus, officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), was a massively wasteful failure. Right now the GOP is using all the money from their right-wing billionaire donors to inundate swing state voters with their anti-stimulus, pro-austerity message.

But in reality the stimulus is a smashing success. It is more than 50 percent bigger than Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and has begun to profoundly change the United States of America in ways many of us are just beginning to realize. The economic stimulus has kickstarted our transition to a 21st Century economy built to last. For example, $90 billion was pumped into the clean energy sector. To put that in perspective, a decade earlier President Clinton proposed a modest $6.3 billion clean energy initiative that was shot down. The Recovery Act is also one of the most transparent pieces of legislation in history. Contrary to the Republican lies, there is very little fraud or abuse associated with ARRA thanks to unprecedented levels of oversight. Click here to go to Recovery.gov and track how Recovery funds are being spent and report fraud, waste or abuse.

Time Magazine senior correspondent and award-winning environmental journalist Michael Grunwald’s new book “The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era” investigates the story behind The Recovery Act. The author argues that the economic stimulus represents everything Obama meant when he was talking about hope and change, but also exposed the ugly political reality of Washington partisanship fueled by Republican rage at anything associated with Obama.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment of 2009 helped start construction of the Second Avenue Subway on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, once dubbed “The Line That Time Forgot” for its many false starts over the decades. Photo credit: Josh Marks

Perhaps more than any other legislative achievement, The Recovery Act alone is reason enough to reelect President Obama. We should all celebrate the passage of historic health care and financial reforms, but the economic stimulus is doing more to move America forward than any other victory during Obama’s first term. Oh, and it also saved us from another Great Depression.

So why is this change so hidden? Why do so many Americans ask where this change is actually taking place? Grunwald argues that partly the Administration could do a better job selling the stimulus, but also there aren’t any Hoover Dam or Golden Gate Bridge-type public works projects that capture the public’s imagination. But that doesn’t mean nothing is going on. In fact, there are significant infrastructure, energy and other important projects taking place right now that are making a difference and improving our lives in ways we might not have paid attention to.

Here are just some of the over 100,000 projects, both large and small, being financed by The Recovery Act. Read “The New New Deal” for a fuller picture of the change taking place, but hopefully this list will give you an idea of some of the amazing progress being made in the United States of America thanks to The Recovery Act. For decades we neglected our infrastructure, transportation system, renewable energy, power grid, education and medical systems. The stimulus is finally starting to rebuild this great country.

Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)

This new agency housed within the Department of Energy brings the best and brightest scientists, engineers, researchers and entrepreneurs to think outside of the box to solve some of our biggest energy challenges. They have already created a new scientific discipline by taking Biofuels to the next level. The program is called Electrofuels.

Brooklyn Bridge Restoration

During the month of July I lived in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and many times took the East River Ferry to lower Manhattan. As we would pass underneath the Brooklyn Bridge I would wonder what all that tarp, scaffolding and construction was all about. It turns out The Recovery Act is partially funding a badly needed upgrade to the iconic but deteriorating span linking New York’s two famous boroughs. The rehabilitation will be finished in 2014. Click here from more info from the NYC Department of Transportation on rebuilding the Brooklyn Bridge.

Photo credit: Josh Marks

California High-Speed Rail Project

The Recovery Act is investing $8 billion in a new high-speed rail (HSR) network as well as upgrading and improving existing passenger train service across the country. The most high-profile project is in California where the nation’s first bullet train is being built that will eventually connect Anaheim and Los Angeles to San Francisco via the Central Valley. The 520-mile rail line will be finished in 2020 and reach speeds of 220 mph, zipping passengers from L.A. to S.F. in under 2 hours and 40 minutes. Phase II will extend HSR service south to San Diego and north to Sacramento by 2026. The Recovery Act is also funding upgrades to existing Amtrak passenger rail corridors such as the Pacific Surfliner Corridor to improve on-time performance, reduce pollution and create a more comfortable experience for passengers.

But California isn’t the only state making passenger rail progress thanks to The Recovery Act. Last Friday in Illinois a Chicago-St. Louis Amtrak train reached 111 mph in a test run — a 30 mph increase over its previous speed. And the money right-wing governors in Florida, Wisconsin and Ohio foolishly rejected for rail improvements is being redirected to 15 other states that are happily taking the money to provide their citizens with world-class passenger rail service.

Shepherds Flat Wind Farm

U.S. renewable power from solar and wind has doubled since The Recovery Act passed. The stimulus financed the world’s largest wind farm in Oregon. The 845 megawatt Shepherds Flat Wind Farm opened for business in September and features an array of 338 American-made General Electric turbines. The wind farm is generating enough green energy to replace two coal plants and is estimated to have an economic impact of $16 million annually for Oregon.

The Recovery Act is investing in many more renewable power and energy efficiency projects across the country — from biofuels to geothermal to advanced batteries to LED lighting and more.

Moynihan Station

The Recovery Act is helping transform New York City’s main post office into Moynihan Station — a 21st Century replacement for aging Penn Station. If you have ever had to take an Amtrak train into or out of Penn Station, then you know the cramped, rundown corridors and waiting area that is not befitting of the greatest city in the world. Visitors coming from places in Europe and Asia with world-class train stations must be surprised to see the confusing layout and decrepit conditions of the busiest train station in America. Before catching a train to Washington, D.C., Boston, Albany or other destinations, hundreds of passengers stand in front of the big board announcing what gate to go to when the train arrives. When the gate number shows up on the board, usually about five to ten minutes before departure, everyone rushes towards a tiny escalator on either side and aggressively crams onto the escalator. The insane process repeats itself hundreds of times every day and is comical in its inefficiency. So converting the James Farley Post Office Building across Eighth Avenue from Penn Station into Daniel Patrick Moynihan station, what will be a world-class high-speed rail hub, could not come soon enough for weary New York train travelers.

Photo credit: Josh Marks

Second Avenue Subway

This past summer I lived in Brooklyn and worked on Manhattan’s Upper East Side so I would take the F or 6 train up Lexington Avenue and then walk east across Second Avenue. Thanks to The Recovery Act, the Second Avenue Subway is finally under construction. This is a project that has been on the drawing board since 1929 but has never been able to get going. That is until Obama’s stimulus jumpstarted the project that used to be known as “The Line that Time Forgot.” The Second Avenue Subway will relieve crowding along the Lexington Avenue lines by offering straphangers another option on the Upper East Side.

Here is a list of more projects moving forward with stimulus funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

• Staten Island Ferry Rehabilitation – New York, NY
• Fulton Street Transit Center — New York, NY
• New eco-friendly U.S. Coast Guard headquarters building — Washington, D.C.
• San Francisco‐Oakland Bay Bridge Seismic Retrofit project — Bay Area, California
• New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway widening — New Jersey
• Renovation of Wilmington, Delaware Amtrak train station — Wilmington, Delaware
• New Algae Biofuel Refinery — Peoria, Illinois
• Combined heat and power (CHP) plant at the Texas Medical Center — Houston, Texas
• Bean Federal Center rooftop solar panel installation project — Indianapolis, Indiana
• Country’s first net-zero energy historic building — Grand Junction, Colorado

And nationwide The Recovery Act is funding the transition to electronic health records by providing incentives and penalties to push physicians to move from paper charts to digital medical records. Race to the Top is reforming the education system to close the achievement gap by boosting the lowest-performing schools. Lastly, The Recovery Act is bringing high-speed satellite broadband service to rural, unserved and underserved areas across the country. For the first time, residents and businesses in these rural areas will be able to access low-cost, high-speed Internet service.

Out of the many reasons to re-elect President Barack Obama, strong consideration should be given to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as the number one reason.