3 Things You May Not Have Noticed Obama Doing

Whether you like him or not – whether you agree with his politics or not, you must admit he has a lot on his plate. From managing two wars to staving off economic collapse with health care reform in-between, this President certainly has his work cut out for him.

On top of working long hours and most weekends, President Obama also has the added annoyance of his critics complaining about everything the man does. If he uses Medicare as a model for health care, they scream about waste and fraud. When waste and fraud are identified and savings in Medicare are proposed, they scream “Told you he was going to cut Medicare.” Indeed, with all the complaints about Obama, literally stretching from his birth to his recent Nobel Peace Prize, you’d think not much was getting done. But while the obstructionists are playing Six Degrees of Separation, the President has been busy “gittin’ er dun”.

Behind the headlines and the loud noises from the temper tantrums being thrown by those no-mongers that would thwart his desire to fix what needs fixing, President Obama has been quieting doing many other things. Here are ten things he’s been quietly working on that will help shape the citizen-centric America of the next several years:

1# Obama Moves to Protect Consumers via Antitrust Enforcement, Reversing Bush Era Policies

Noticing that the Bush Administration’s policy on antitrust issues strongly favored defendants against antitrust claims, the head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, Christine A. Varney, said that the Bush administration policy “lost sight of the ultimate goal of antitrust laws — the protection of consumer welfare.” The Obama administration is returning to a consumer-centric, aggressive policy in dealing with antitrust issues such as those that challenged the IT giants in the 1990s.

In fact, the Justice Department has been going so strongly in this direction, some are concerned it may slow down the economic recovery. The new enforcement policy reverses the Bush administration’s approach, which strongly favored big business. Headway in this area will increase competition by disbanding companies practicing monopolistic strategies. Increased competition is a good thing.

#2 Obama’s Concern for Civil Rights Results in Increased Enforcement

In August of this year, the American public was so distracted with the loud gnashing of teeth over health care that the administration’s announcement concerning the reversal of another Bush Era policy was hardly notice in circles other than those concerned with such things.

The current administration intends to resurrect high-impact civil rights enforcement against policies in different areas where statistics show minorities receive disproportionately poorer results. Bush appointees discouraged such generalized enforcement, focusing on individual cases where intentional discrimination was evident.

3# Administration Tackles Mountaintop Coal Mining & Other Mining Issues

With the previously unheard of coordinated approach between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Interior (DOI) and the Army Corps of Engineers, the Obama administration announced in June that it will be taking steps to reduce environmental impacts of the worst type of coal mining known as “mountaintop coal mining”. This effort will span six Appalachian states: Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The Bush Era Policies in regard to mountaintop coal mining included little oversight, disregard for environmental impact, disregard for ground water contamination, impact on human health and safety issues, and disregard for the impact this crude mining has on nature. The Obama administration’s approach will focus more on the impact of this type of “rape mining” on American citizens living within the zone of impact as well as on nature within the zone of impact.

As early as April of 2009, overturning a Bush Era regulation allowing mining companies to dump their waste near rivers and streams was targeted by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. He instructed the Justice Department to seek a court order to overturn the regulation, calling it “legally defective”. The EPA lost in court. The administration will seek legislation to deal with the issue.

In August of 2009, the EPA very quietly approved one of six major mountaintop removal permits, sending mixed signals to the industry and to environmentalists alike.

Mountaintop mining is the crudest and most environmentally unsound mining practices in the world, forever changing the landscape, the biodiversity and the quality of life for people living in the “zone of influence”.

President Obama and his multitude of special assistants, cabinet members, and agency personal have been very active behind the loud wailing of the opposition. Next time someone says Obama hasn't gotten anything done, you can bring up these three things.

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References:
Obama Takes Tougher Antitrust Line
Administration Plans to Strengthen Antitrust Rules
Antitrust Chief Hits Resistance in Crackdown, Recession Worries Cited
Justice Department to Recharge Civil Rights Enforcement
Eric H. Holder Jr.
Obama Administration Takes Unprecedented Steps to Reduce Environmental Impacts
Salazar Seeks to Vacate Bush-Era Mining Rule: Disposal of Mountaintop Waste Was Eased
Judge rebuffs Obama administration on mining rule
Obama EPA approves another mountaintop removal mine
The Coalfield Uprising
Obama steps up push for consumer protection agency