218 reasons NOT to vote for Obama

There was recently a post on Forbes going around the Internet called “218 reasons to vote for Obama.” In the interest of fairness and equality I thought it would be helpful to provide 218 reasons not to vote for Obama, and unlike many of the exaggerated or deceptive or completely inaccurate reasons in the original list, I am providing linked citations for every one of my claims.

I tried to avoid sensational and activist blogs and websites and stick to reputable sources. I avoided distractions about birth certificates or quotes from Michelle; I avoided many strong philosophical disagreements I have with President Obama (with the major exception of #71); I avoided connections to Jeremiah Wright or Bill Ayers or anything in Obama’s past. I primarily stuck to things that Obama and his administration have done or not done from his presidential campaign through his first presidential term, highlighting the kinds of things that liberals hated about Bush but grudgingly accept in Obama. These are the kinds of things that I reasonably expect would continue with four more years of Obama, and as such are good reasons not to vote for him.

I am also emphatically not promoting Mitt Romney through this list, as I find little reason to believe that he would not also become guilty of most of the reasons outlined below. This is simply an attempt at an intelligent response to a silly, inaccurate list that was somehow important enough to get circulated around the Internet. I welcome criticism of this list but I ask that you apply the same level of analysis to the pro-bama list. (It’s true that Obama personally didn’t do many of these things, but he also personally didn’t do many of the things on the pro-bama list, and besides, they are still things that happened under his administration that would probably continue to happen if he was re-elected.) Shall we begin?

Foreign Policy

1. Continued the practice of indefinite detentions for alleged terrorists without review (linklink)

2. Dropped threat to veto NDAA (link) and signed it, encoding severe government power advances into law (link)

3. Announced “Withdrawal Plan” that leaves more troops in Afghanistan than when he started (link)

4. Authorized military intervention in Libya without the approval of Congress (link)

5. Did this after emphatically stating as a presidential candidate that the president did not have the authority to do that (link)

6. Defended intervention in Libya by redefining the word “hostilities” (link)

7. Revived “Prompt Global Strike” weapons system, considered too controversial by Bush Administration (link)

8.Announced a $60 billion sale of arms to the Saudi Arabian dictatorship, the largest arms deal in history (link)

9. Sold arms to abusive Bahrain regime and used legal loophole to avoid telling Congress about it (link)

10. Granted a waiver allowing four countries to continue receiving US military aid even though they use child soldiers (link)

11. Argued that the widespread use of Predator drones is a justifiable form of self-defense (link)

12. Claims ACTA could be ratified without Congressional approval and that it would override US law (link)

13. Ordered drone attacks in Yemen (link)

14. Ordered a cruise missile and cluster bomb attack in Yemen that killed women and children, suppressed the civilian casualties, and then imprisoned a journalist who revealed the truth (link)

15. Would seek international permission for intervening in Syria before consulting Congress (link)

16. Broke promise to reject the Military Commissions Act (link)

17. Continuing policy of maintaining thousands of troops at over a thousand military bases around the world (link)

Honorable Mention: Backed off on his promise to close the prison at Guantanamo (link(Yes, I know you can blame Congress for this. But he backed away from it while Democrats still controlled Congress, and his promise to close Guantanamo was often cited as a reason to vote for him.)

Civil Liberties and Homeland Security

18. Authorized the assassination of US citizens abroad, an unprecedented declaration of executive power (link)

19. Says American citizens can be targeted for killing without judicial review (link)

20. Assassinated an American citizen without due process (link(Yes I know he was a terrorist who wanted to kill me, but the government can make mistakes and I don’t want the government having the power to make mistakes about killing American citizens with no limits)

21. Two weeks later, assassinated that citizen’s 16-year-old son (link)

22. Announced the rules about assassinating American citizens, basically telling the other branches of government whats its own limitations are (link)

23. Requested thousands of secret spying warrants (link)

24. Defended the use of warrantless wiretapping (link)

25. Tried to stop the Supreme Court from hearing a challenge of warrantless wiretapping (link)

26. Pushed to overhaul federal law making it easier to wiretap (link)

27. Refused to declassify a secret memo regarding the president’s power for warrantless spying (link)

28. Defended the use of warrantless GPS vehicle tracking, which was ruled unconstitutional (link)

29. Continued and expanded Bush’s police state (link) (You could really make multiple reasons from all the examples in this article)

30. Allowed TSA to continue and expand its outrageous security theater (link)

31. Specifically requested additional money for more TSA full-body scanners (link)

32. Helped pay for surveillance of Muslim neighborhoods (link)

33. Unaccountable, unjustifiable drug war spending (link)

34. Heavy crackdown on medical marijuana (link)

35. Raided Gibson Guitar Factory without filing charges (link)

36. Supports mandatory DNA testing of those arrested for crimes, regardless of whether they have been convicted (link)

37. Allowed weapons to pass into the hands of Mexican drug cartels which were later linked to deaths of American border patrol agents (link)

38. Sealed records on the death of one of those agents (link)

39. Signed Trespass Bill, making it a federal offense to be “disruptive” at political events (link, link)

40. Pushing for creation of “Internet ID” for every American (link)

41. Signed extension of the Patriot Act with snooping provisions intact (link, link)

42. Invoked “government secrecy” against a lawsuit by AT&T customers “who claim federal agents illegally intercepted their phone calls” (link)

43. Raided homes of peace activists in Minneapolis (link)

44. Wants warrantless access to cell phone location data (link)

45. Sought access to private e-mail correspondence without needing to go through a judge (link)

NEW! Honorable Mention: Allowed FDA to secretly monitor thousands of private emails of its own scientists (link)

Ethics and Transparency

46. Broke promise to allow five days of public comment before signing bills, repeatedly (link)

47. Broke promise to broadcast health care negotiations on C-SPAN (link)

48. Broke promise to reduce earmarks to 1994 levels (link)

49. Broke promise to create a public “contracts and influence” database (link)

50. Issued signing statement that he would not abide by provisions in a budget bill regarding “czar” funding (link)

51. Issued signing statement that he did not need to abide by provisions addressing aid for the IMF and World Bank (link)

52. Did this despite promise not to use signing statements to nullify instructions from Congress (linklinklink)

53. Tried to force a New York Times reporter to reveal confidential sources (link)

54. Claimed the government can never be sued for surveillance that violates federal law, a position more radical than the Bush Administration’s (link)

55. Failed to disclose visits by industry executives while crafting health care reform legislation (link)

56. Tried to block a ruling that White House visitor logs had to be released to the public (link)

57. Eventually released the records and claimed that release was evidence of his “transparent” government, despite the fact that he went to court to keep them secret (link)

58. Frequently met with lobbyists off campus to hide from the public and keep visits out of White House visitor logs (link)

59. Tried to block a court-ordered release of detainee abuse photos (link)

60. Cited exceptions to open records laws thousands of times more than Bush (link)

61. Repeatedly invoked “state secrets” privilege to get cases thrown out of court after criticizing Bush for doing the same (link)

62. Blocked Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests regarding ties with Monsanto (link)

63. Refused FOIA request to reveal who was on the Intelligence Oversight Board (link)

64. Aggressively fighting FOIA requests with long delays, blocking release whenever possible, and using bolder arguments than the Bush administration (link, link, link)

65. Appointed 5 RIAA lawyers to the Justice department (link)

66. Appointed serial tax dodger Timothy Geithner to be his Treasury Secretary (link)

67. Appointed Monsanto executive Michael Taylor to the FDA (link)

68. Appointed H&R Block CEO Mark Ernst to the IRS, where he wrote tax regulation to require licensed tax preparers. Congress never gave the IRS authority to do that, but this regulation benefits H&R Block, who had lobbied for it. (link)

69. Told the Air Force it was illegal for their families to read Wikileaks (link)

70. Did all of these things after promising that his administration would be “the most open and transparent in history.” (link)

Honorable Mention: Accused of violating subpoenas related to thousands of documents (link)

NEW! Honorable Mention: 36 Obama staffers are delinquent on more than $800,000 in taxes (link)

NEW! Honorable Mention: Lied (until they were caught) about connection to an ad that accused Romney of being responsible for a man’s death (link)

Health Care Reform

71. Required American citizens, for the first time, to purchase a product from a private business through the “individual mandate.” I don’t care if Republicans came up with the idea first; I don’t care if you need it to make the health care bill work; and it’s not like state car insurance, either. It is (I believe) a severe and unconstitutional overreach that sets a dangerous precedent of almost unlimited government, and conservatives and liberals alike should agree that this insurance company hybrid system is a far worse health care solution than either free-market or government-run “single payer” systems. (link)

72. Argued the individual mandate penalty was not a tax increase to make the bill more attractive and then argued that the penalty was a tax increase to justify its constitutionality under the commerce clause (linklink).

73. Cut a benefit program from health care reform that was supposed to reduce the overall cost after realizing it would actually dramatically increase it (link)

74. Established unreasonable requirements on organizations and then granted over 1500 waivers from those requirements to those with the connections or resources to get approved (link), with labor unions receiving the overwhelming majority (link)

75. Broke promise to require employers to provide seven days paid sick leave (link) (From my bias I’m actually glad this promise was broken. I’m including it because the pro-bama list actually uses this promise as a reason to vote for Obama. Seriously? I could make up 218 nice-sounding promises. That’s not a reason to vote for me. But if I become president and break those promises? That’s definitely not a reason to vote for me again.)

76. Broke promise to allow imported prescription drugs (link)

Budget and Finances

77. Broke promise to cut deficit in half by the end of his first term. (link) (All of Obama’s deficits are larger than all of Bush’s, and not just because of the inherited crisis – his projected deficits for the next four years are still much larger.)

78. Broke promise to repeal Bush tax cuts for high earners, signing bill to extend them (link)

79. Broke promise that families making less than $250,000 a year would not see “any form of tax increase” (link)

80. Broke promise to end no-bid contracts over $25,000 (link)

81. Loaned $500 million at a low rate to an unsustainable green company that went bankrupt (link)

82. The program behind that loan has only created a few thousand jobs compared to the 65,000 promised (link)

83. Reneged on accepting public financing limits for his presidential campaign (link)

84. Broke promise to expand the child and dependent care credit (link)

85. Broke promise to end income tax for seniors making less than $50,000 a year (link)

86. The Senate has not passed an annual budget for over 1000 days, including the second year Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress, (link) and a 2011 budget proposal from the White House was so bad it was rejected by the Senate 97-0. (link)

87. Broke promise to form an international group to help Iraq refugees (link)

Ethics and Transparency, Part II: Whistleblowers

88. Prosecuted whistleblower Bradley Manning for disclosing video, cables, and intelligence reports (link)

89. Obstructed investigation into Bradley Manning’s inhumane treatment (link)

90. Prosecuted whistleblower Thomas Drake, who helped reveal an ineffective $1.2 billion NSA contract that could have been done for $3 million (link)

91. Prosecuted whistleblower Stephen Jin-Woo Kim for “allegedly leaking nuclear information about North Korea” (link)

92. Prosecuted whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling for “allegedly disclosing unauthorized national defense information” (link)

93. Prosecuted whistleblower John Kiriakou for “allegedly leaking to reporters the names of two agency operatives” (link)

94. Launched a criminal investigation against Paul Hardy for blowing the whistle on safety problems with a breast cancer detection device (link)

95. These prosecutions are more than all previous presidents combined (link)

96. These prosecutions are happening after Obama formerly praised whistleblowers, represented one as a young law and vowed to strengthen whistleblower protection laws (linklink).

Various and Sundry Administrative Overreaches

97. Used executive order to establish “Intellectual Property Enforcement Advisory Committees” (link)

98. Seized and suspended websites without due process (link, link)

99. Gave permits to BP and other oil companies, exempting them from environmental protection laws (link)

100. Granted waivers to 10 states that failed to meet education standards if they accepted administration-approved policies (link, link)

101. Forced CEO of General Motors to step down (link)

102. Announced the Home Affordable Modification Program which the New York Times called a “colossal failure” (link)

103. Sued four states over immigration laws (link, link, link, link). I can’t find solid proof one way or the other, but I’m fairly sure this is more states sued than by any previous administration.

104. Did not tell Arizona about plans to sue; Arizona governor found out through an interview Secretary of State Clinton did in Ecuador (link)

105. Plans to sue Apple and other publishers over e-book pricing (link)

106. Record amount of prosecutions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, pushing the boundaries and getting multiple cases thrown out of court (link, link, link)

107. Raided Amish farm selling raw milk (link)

108. Brought a lawsuit against a manufacturing company for creating jobs in a non-union state (link) and then refused a congressional subpoena for information about that lawsuit (link)

Honorable Mention: banning imported rifles (link)

NEW! Honorable Mention: Cut off funding to a Texas health program as retaliation for a state anti-abortion bill even though 29 other states have similar laws and continue to receive funding (link)

NEW! Honorable Mention: Tried to ban children from farm chores despite a huge decrease in youth farm injuries (link)

Ethics and Transparency, Part III: Lobbyists

109. Granted waivers to lobbyists to get around his own supposed restrictions on lobbyists (link)

110. After attacking auto, financial, and health lobbyist Steve Ricchetti for his political connections, Obama appointed him as Biden’s top aide (linklink).

111. Appointed former lobbyist Islam Siddiqui as America’s Chief Agriculture Negotiator (link)

112. Appointed telecom lobbyist Eric Holder to attorney general (link). Holder was also a top fundraiser (link)

113. Appointed education lobbyist Tom Vilsack to secretary of agriculture (link)

114. Appointed defense lobbyist William Lynn to deputy defense secretary (link)

115. Appointed anti-tobacco lobbyist William Corr to deputy health and human services secretary (link)

116. Appointed energy lobbyist David Hayes to deputy interior secretary (link)

117. Appointed Goldman Sachs lobbyist Mark Patterson as chief of staff to treasury secretary Geithner (link)

118. Appointed variety lobbyist Ron Klain as chief of staff to Joe Biden (link)

119. Appointed lobbyist Mona Sutphen to deputy White House chief of staff (link)

120. Appointed civil rights lobbyist Melody Barnes to domestic policy council director (link)

121. Appointed Hispanic lobbyist Cecilia Munoz to director of intergovernmental affairs (link)

122. Appointed union lobbyist Patrick Gaspard to political affairs director (link)

123. Appointed lobbyist Michael Strautmanis to chief of staff to the president’s assistant for intergovernmental relations (link)

124. Appointed lobbyist Erik Hirschhorn to the Commerce department (link)

125. Appointed lobbyist Michael Punke to represent the US before the WTO (link)

126. Appointed lobbyist Jacqueline Barrien to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (link)

127. Appointed lobbyist Emmitt Beliveau to Deputy Assistant for Advance at the White House (link)

128. Appointed lobbyist Cassandra Butts to Deputy Counsel at the White House (link)

129. Appointed lobbyist Martha Coven as Special Assistant at the White House (link)

130. Appointed lobbyist Phillip J. Crowley as assistant secretary for public affairs at the State Department (link)

131. Appointed Fannie Mae lobbyist Thomas Donilon as Deputy National Security Adviser at the NSA (link)

132. Appointed lobbyist Derek Douglas as Special Assistant for Urban Affairs at the White House (link)

133. Appointed lobbyist Jocelyn Frye as Director of Policy and Projects at the Office of the First Lady (link)

134. Appointed education lobbyist Gabriella Gomez to assistant secretary at the Department of Education (link)

135. Appointed lobbyist Krysta Harden to assistant secretary at the Department of Agriculture (link)

136. Appointed lobbyist Alan Hoffmann to Deputy Chief of Staff to the vice president (link)

137. Appointed AT&T lobbyist Sean Kennedy as special assistant at the White House (link)

138. Appointed MPAA lobbyist Jon Liebowitz as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (link)

139. Appointed lobbyist Robert Litt to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (link)

140. Appointed lobbyist Demetrios J. Marantis as deputy U.S. trade representative (link)

141. Appointed lobbyist Dennis McDonough as deputy assistant to the president (link)

142. Appointed lobbyist Leon Panetta as director of the CIA (link)

143. Appointed Audubon Society lobbyist Robert Perciasepe to deputy commissioner of the EPA (link)

144. Appointed lobbyist Daniel Poneman to deputy secretary at the Department of Energy (link)

145. Appointed lobbyist Peter Rundlet to deputy assistant at the White House (link)

146. Appointed lawyer lobbyist Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services (link)

147. Appointed lobbyist Susan Sher to chief of staff at the Office of the First Lady (link)

148. Appointed lobbyist Dana Singiser to Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs (link)

149. Appointed lobbyist Nancy Stoner to Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water at the EPA (link)

150. Appointed lobbyist Thomas Strickland to assistant secretary at the Department of the Interior (link)

151. Appointed lobbyist Karl R. Thompson as a lawyer at the Department of Justice (link)

152. Appointed lobbyist John Trasvina to assistant secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (link)

153. Appointed lobbyist Dan Turton to Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs at the White House (link)

154. Appointed lobbyist Christine Varney to Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust at the Justice Department (link)

155. Appointed lobbyist Richard Verma to assistant secretary at the State Department (link)

156. Appointed lobbyist William J. Wilkins to Chief Counsel at the IRS (link)

157. Appointed Tom Daschle to health and human services. Daschle was not technically a lobbyist but received millions advising health insurers and hospitals (link), and was also severely delinquent on his taxes (link)

158. Not only did he appoint all these lobbyists, but he did this after vowing to ban them (link)

Honorable Mention: Hired Keystone pipeline lobbyist as a top adviser to his reelection campaign (link)

Petty Hypocrisy

159. Insisted that Americans should not be required to buy health insurance during campaign before championing health care bill that does just that (link)

160. Signaled support for taxing employer health benefits after severely criticizing McCain for the same thing (link)

161. Slammed Bush for high gas prices in campaign and now is upset that the GOP is doing the same to him (link) (Note: I don’t think the President has that much power either way)

162. Changed his mind about opposing Super PACs and urged fundraisers to support them (link)

NEW! Honorable Mention: Now trying to expand the Export-Import Bank, one of the few government programs he said should be scaled back as a candidate, calling it “corporate welfare” (link)

Honorable Mention: Telephoned a liberal activist when she was called a slut by a conservative commentator but didn’t do anything about a conservative commentator who was called a slut by a liberal commentator. He also accepted a $1 million Super PAC donation from Bill Maher, who has called conservative women worse things. (link, link)

Ethics and Transparency, Part IV: Top Fundraisers

163. Appointed top fundraiser Cynthia Stroum as ambassador to Luxembourg, who wasted time and money hunting for a fancy residence and remodeling its bathrooms (link)

164. Replaced Stroum with top fundraiser Robert Mandell (link)

165. Appointed top fundraiser Nicole Avant as ambassador to the Bahamas, who was largely absent from post (link)

166. Appointed top fundraiser Donald Gips as ambassador to South Africa, while his company received millions in government stimulus contracts (link)

167. Appointed top fundraiser Dan Beyer as ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein (link)

168. Appointed top fundraiser Julius Genachowski to chairman of the FCC (link)

169. Appointed top fundraiser Steve Spinner to the Energy Department. Spinner also happened to push for the loans to the now-bankrupt Solyndra (link)

170. Appointed top fundraiser Matthew Barzun as ambassador to Sweden (link)

171. Appointed top fundraiser Jeff Bleich as ambassador to Australia (link)

172. Appointed top fundraiser Richard Danzig to the foreign policy board (link)

173. Appointed top fundraiser William Eacho as ambassador to Austria (link)

174. Appointed top fundraiser Howard Gutman as ambassador to Belgium (link)

175. Appointed top fundraiser Scott Harris to the Department of Energy (link)

176. Appointed top fundraiser William Kennard as ambassador to the European Union (link)

177. Appointed top fundraiser Spencer Overton as the Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General (link)

178. Appointed top fundraiser Thomas Perrelli as Associate Attorney General (link)

179. Appointed top fundraiser Abigail Pollack to the Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of the American Latino (link)

180. Appointed top fundraiser Charles Rivkin as ambassador to France and Monaco (link)

181. Appointed top fundraiser John Roos as ambassador to Japan (link)

182. Appointed top fundraiser Francisco Sanchez under the Secretary of Commerce for International Trade (link)

183. Appointed top fundraiser Alan Solomont as ambassador to Spain and Andorra (link)

184. Appointed top fundraiser A. Marisa Chun as deputy associate attorney general (link)

185. Appointed top fundraiser Gregory Craig to the White House counsel (link)

186. Appointed top fundraiser Norman Eisen to the special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform (link)

187. Appointed top fundraiser Michael Froman as deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs (link)

188. Appointed top fundraiser Mark Gallogly to the Economic Recovery Advisory Board (link)

189. Appointed top fundraiser Max Holtzman as senior adviser to the Agriculture secretary (link)

190. Appointed top fundraiser James Hudson as director of the European bank for Reconstruction and Development (link)

191. Appointed top fundraiser Jeh Johnson to the Department of Defense (link)

192. Appointed top fundraiser Samuel Kaplan as ambassador to Morocco (link)

193. Appointed top fundraiser Nicole Lamb-Hale to the Commerce Department (link)

194. Appointed top fundraiser Andres Lopez to the Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of the American Latino (link)

195. Appointed top fundraiser Cindy Moelis as the director of the Commission on White House Fellows (link)

196. Appointed top fundraiser William Orrick as counselor to the assistant attorney general (link)

197. Appointed top fundraiser John Phillips as chairman of the Commission on White House Fellows (link)

198. Appointed top fundraiser Penny Pritzker to the Economic Recovery Advisory Board (link)

199. Appointed top fundraiser Bob Rivkin to the Transportation Department (link)

200. Appointed top fundraiser Desiree Rogers as the White House social secretary (link)

201. Appointed top fundraiser Louis Susman as ambassador to the United Kingdom (link)

202. Appointed top fundraiser Robert Sussman to the Environmental Protection Agency (link)

203. Appointed top fundraiser Christina Tchen as director of the White House Office of Public Engagement (link)

204. Appointed top fundraiser Barry White as ambassador to Norway (link)

205. Appointed top fundraiser Preeta Bansal to the Office of Management and Budget (link)

206. Appointed top fundraiser Laurie Fulton as ambassador to Denmark (link)

207. Appointed top fundraiser Fred Hochberg as President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (link)

208. Appointed top fundraiser Valerie Jarrett as senior adviser to the president (link)

209. Appointed top fundraiser Kevin Jennings as assistant deputy secretary of Education (link)

210. Appointed top fundraiser Steven Rattner as Treasury Department adviser (link)

211. Appointed top fundraiser Miriam Sapiro as deputy U.S. trade representative (link). Sapiro was also a VeriSign lobbyist (link)

212. Appointed top fundraiser Vinai Thummalapally as ambassador to Belize (link)

213. Appointed top fundraiser David Jacobson as ambassador to Canada (link)

214. Appointed top fundraiser Ronald Kirk as U.S. trade representative (link)

215. Appointed top fundraiser Rocco Landesman to the National Endowment of the Arts (link)

216. Appointed top fundraiser Susan Rice as ambassador to the United Nations (link)

217. Gave jobs to over 200 top fundraisers after vowing to banish “special interests” (link)

218. Appointed as many top fundraisers to administrative posts in 2 years as Bush did in 8 (link)

Vice-President

BONUS. Voting for Obama also means voting for four more years of Vice President Joe Biden. Biden’s gaffes include calling Tea Partiers terrorists after Democrats called for an end to violent rhetoric, calling “J-O-B-S” a three letter word, sounding woefully misinformed in a point about the President and television in 1929, blessing the dead soul of the very-much-alive Irish prime minister’s mother, and much more. (Most recently he told people at a $10,000-plate fundraiser that Republicans don’t know what it means to be “middle class”.) Do you really want four more years of this? (link, link) (And if there’s actually something to the rumors that Obama will drop Joe for Hillary, well, there are plenty of reasons not to vote for four years of Hillary.)

obama-bush-mashup

The Little Soapbox

Well, thanks for reading (or at least skimming) this far. I sort of padded the list with lobbyists and fundraisers, but I think I actually did Obama a favor because he has appointed so many of them I could have filled the list with nothing else. Additionally, many of the links for the regular reasons go into more shady details and actions than I mentioned in my summaries. I honestly don’t know how you can read what the Obama administration has done with regards to civil liberties and still support his presidency. Regardless, if you see any inaccuracies or mistakes, or if you have any better reasons I left out, please let me know in the comments.

As I said before, this is certainly not an endorsement of Mitt Romney. If anything, this post is also a list of reasons not to vote for either of them, as I believe each of them would likely continue the ethical, transparency, budgetary, and civil liberty abuses perpetrated by Bush and continued by Obama (see my post on how Obama and Romney are pretty much the same). That is why I support candidates like Gary Johnson; though I disagree with him on various details, he understands the abuse of power which is my most important issue. In the general election I will most be likely be promoting a third party candidate or third party voting in general; the greater percentage of people we can get to stop voting between two power abusers, the greater chance we can have of reform. If you still want to stick with Team Red or Team Blue at least demand some honesty and integrity out of them. Don’t look at candidate promises. Don’t look at their rhetoric. Look at their records. Have they been faithful with little? Only then might they be faithful with much. Thanks for reading.

Sources include: Libertarian subreddit, EnoughObamaSpam subreddit, Politifact, EFF, @tpcarney, @jonahNRO, Google, and Bing.

94 thoughts on “218 reasons NOT to vote for Obama”

  1. This was really well put together. May I request something similar but on the Republican candidates, maybe a top 20 why/why not to vote for them?
    Again, great work.

  2. Good list but you lost me when you suggested we should vote for that nut job Ron Paul.

    1. George Orwell must be gleefully smiling in his grave knowing that there are people who actually believe that abiding by the rule of law; The Constitution, as someone who is considered a “nut job?” I used to be sheep like you so I understand where you are coming from. But once you understand what true Freedom is, you could never go back to accept passive tyranny.

      Voters who want wars, torture, assassinations, “humanitarian” bombings in oil rich countries, indefinite detentions, drone attacks that kill the innocent, erosion of civil liberties, domestic war on the people (drug war), out-of-control debt and spending, graft and greed, crony capitalism, pandering to special interests, bailouts, more of the same, must NOT vote for Ron Paul.

      Voters who want peace, a humane foreign policy, restoration of civil liberties, an end to the war on drugs, sound money, balanced budgets, honesty, integrity and transparency in government, and a President wholly committed to Constitutional government can vote for Ron Paul.

      It’s not that difficult of a choice.

  3. Very well done, although I would not give up completely on the Republican Party. Some of us who want reform are attempting from within the party — see my blog posting as to why, in part, I have moved from the Reform Party to the Republican Party this election. I have bookmarked your page, and I will refer to it frequently during my campaign.

    Regards,

    Chuck Meyer
    Republican Primary Candidate for Congress
    TX-36 CD

    1. Because of the many ways in which Obama has been as bad or worse than Bush, especially regarding issues that many liberals were quick to criticize Bush on (7, 11, 25, 29, 54, 60, 61, 64, 218…)

  4. This is an outstanding resource. Even if I don’t disagree with some of the policies, the sheer number of things he has done that he said he would not should give anyone who voted for him pause. You could easily turn this list into an Obama-vs-Obama website like the Romney-vs-Romney one.

    A minor point on #72: As I understand it, Obama’s argument that the individual mandate is a tax makes use of the Tax & Spending Clause rather than the Commerce Clause. Even if it is not allowed by the latter, it could be allowed by the former.

  5. Great work. Thanks so much for this, now I have a more consolidated list to provide to my pro-Obama friends (like there is a point in trying anyway).

  6. Just used ctrl+F to search for “Broke Promise”…came up 14 times!

  7. Is that all? Let’s pull together to purge the White House of the current insane occupant.

  8. Seems an interesting play of photo-shop. The image is a combination of Geo. W. Bush and Obama features. If this is to make his face less pleasing,
    then nice job.

  9. The Czars! Don’t forget the Czars! Each of these unelected and un-confirmed-by-Congress people wield powers not considered by the framers nor sanctioned by the Constitution. Their parallels in the FDR administration were refered to by FDR himself as “dictators”. They represent a totalitarian mindset completely alien to the ideals of a self governing free people. That mindset is the single most salient reason not to reelect Obama, any others are trivial by comparison.

    1. In the spirit of the author who pointed out that his list is NOT an endorsement of Romney, I would like to point out that the “Czar” argument, equating “Czar’s” with “dictators”, makes you a gullible victim of political theater.

      1. “Czar” or “Tzar” or “Tsar” is the real name for Russian kings, prior to the Bolsheviks., who were killed by Bolsheviks (right or wrongly).

      2. “Czar” is the “joke” term created by Media Pundits some years back to describe Dept heads. So when Bill Bennett was head of Education, he was called the “Education Czar”. This did not mean he had “special powers” beyond that of any other Sec of Education.

      You may feel that ALL executive branch departments except War aka “Defense” should be abolished — that’s a different discussion. Even corporate CEOs can create committees and appoint leaders and staff. And some of them MAY turn out be “a-holes” or “dictators”.

      I mean, if the President creates an exec branch committee on Youth Physical Exercise, then of course the President would appoint the head.

      Presidents have always appointed department heads to executive branch departments and committees. Congress has some say-so on some, like DoD etc. but not necessarily over ALL of them.

  10. Nice job. I wasn’t interested in the birth certificate problem either until I discovered that the one he finally provided after $6 million worth of legal blockage turned out to be a forgery made with photoshop, as any forensic specialist can easily show. He timed the publishing of it at the date Osama Bin Laden was shot, apparently fearing media attention might be given to it. Careful inquiry will show that the location of Bin Laden was known years prior to that date, which conveniently took place just before the next campaign season. He therefore takes credit for killing him yet seems to have deliberately preserved his life for his own political gain. The word “insidiously evil” comes to mind when I consider it. I’m not sure I would use those words on Romney or the others, even though I don’t plan to vote for either them or Ron Paul.

    1. Given the large number (five) of statements from VIP think tanks in official reports and Senate testimony PRIOR TO SEPT 11 that a future (hypothetical) Pearl Harbor type event would be necessary, vital, good, a blessing, miraculous, and then some of these people were appointed to “counter-terrorism” positions by Bush, and the numerous people who said that 9/11 was actually a GOOD thing, in some ways in retrospect, and the numerous others who said in some form WE NEED ANOTHER 9/11 … and the mainstream Media NEVER REPORTED ON IT … I think this constitutes “EVIL” and also good evidence to launch an investigation for “treason” and complicity.

      The first one is listed in the official Congressional Record, having been the subject of Ron Paul’s “Neo-Connned” speech (though Paul says this does not constitute an “inside job”)
      ——
      – Machiavelli on Modern Leadership – Michael Ledeen, American Enterprise Inst (AEI a parent of PNAC “project” and linked to Heritage Foundation) (“we could always get lucky … providentially … like Pearl Harbor …”)
      – Apathetic Internationalism – James M. Lindsay, CFR, Brookings (a terror attack might “do the trick”)
      – The Grand Chessboard – Z. Brzezinski, CFR, Foreign Affairs (various, in somewhat ambiguous language, on how democratic society rejects imperial wars, a serious problem when imperial wars are considered “vital”)
      – Rebuilding America’s Defenses – PNAC, a “project” of AEI, primarily William Kristol, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Richard Perle, Gary Schmitt, etc.)
      (150 signers/members, including Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, John Bolton, others) (four years of statements pressuring to invade Iraq) (famous “new Pearl Harbor” statement on P.70 of “Rebuilding America’s Defenses”)
      – Senate Armed Svcs Cmte, hearings, by Andrew Krepinevich of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments and CFR (we need “a latter-day ‘Pearl Harbor’ of sorts”) (source: History Commons)

      This list also is connected to the 20 some articles and letters published by PNAC from 1997 to 2001 pushing for a full-scale military invasion of Iraq, including an open letter to Cllinton advocating immediate invasion, some describing America as “cowardly” for not toppling Saddam.

      Heritage Foundation also was the host of three Afghan mujahideen lobby groups in the 80s, doing PR for what we now call “Al-Qaeda”, with supposed distinctions from the generic “mujahideen”. Heritage Foundation and American Enterprise Institute share this same building. AEI members of the Kagan family later “wrote” the initial invasion strategy and the “surge” strategy for Bush.

  11. Excellent work! If only the MSM were as thorough as you’ve been!

    I’m passing on this link at every opportunity.

  12. Excellent list! Extremely well organized with titled categories. Aside from the fact that all of Obama’s Czars should also be included. My only problem is with Joshua Hedlund’s endorsement of Ron Paul which will surely give Obama another four years to continue his damage to our country.

  13. The more you work to support voting for a third party, no matter how meritorious your motives, the more you work to ensure Obama’s re-election.

  14. Wow! You really did your homework Joshua! I love it!Hopefully, this list will awaken a few pro-bamer’s!

  15. You didn’t mention planned parenthood. He nods his head to abortion, and fights for these people.

    1. Because only oddly enough, women have rights, abortion is legal and its a human rights violation to try to control how many kids a women has.

      Which is why I’ll always vote for the Dems. Republicans can try to say its all about “jobs and the economy” but since taking the House, they’ve attempted to pass far more bills on women issues than jobs.

      So you can sit and argue that voting for Obama would make me jobless but voting Republican would make me jobless and cut off my access to health care. (Since orgs like Planned Parenthood do far more than abortion but they want to cut it all off.)

      1. It’s a human rights violation to commit murder, too.

        Pro-life activists are not trying to control how many babies a woman has – that’s up to her. If she doesn’t want any more babies, she should get on birth control or something to that effect. Getting pregnant and aborting a baby – one of the most helpless things on the planet – is not the way to go. And if a woman does get pregnant and doesn’t want the baby, then there’s plenty of parents who can’t have children and who would be happy to adopt.

        And let me as all you “pro-choice” people out there – what’s the difference between a fetus and a baby besides location or age? What if someone decides killing two-year-olds is okay, just because they’re two?

        And did you know that 10-20 percent of babies survive abortions? And they’re just left there to die on the floor. Are they still not human to you?

  16. My first Presidential election was in 1963 and I was lied to by the person I voted for, Lyndon Johnson, who promised “If you elect me I will not escalate the war in South Vietnam” a lie of monumental proportions.
    Lo and behold every subsequent President since then has not only lied to the point of having a nose like Pinocchio’s but each has wrested more and more power without any regard for the Constitution which everyone of them has sworn to uphold.
    We as citizens no longer matter as we are now the United States of the Fortune 1000.
    Voting has I sadly regret become a waste of time.
    In closing I would love to know if the Constitution has a reset button!!!

  17. Pingback: Anonymous
  18. Great work…. But just imagine if you do that for every President or candidate what would you find. They all make false promises to get elected. Those appointments are done by every last President. That’s why they donate and raise money in return they get something not cause they love out country. Since 9-11 our freedoms and liberties have been slowly erased. That military and intelligence. Remind them that a lot of compromise was done to get small things in motion because of the deliberate attemp to stop anything he does worth anything. If these things wasn’t expected by both Dems and Rep he would be brought up for impeachment

  19. Don’t forget his promise to label genetically modified foods. Another broken promise.

  20. A lot of time and great work here. Thanks! I take exception to just a few things.
    # 78 / a broken promise is a promise broken, but not increasing taxes is not a complaint. Lower taxes produce more investment, hiring, spending and MORE tax revenue. Tested and proven by “roaring 20s”, and end of ‘great depression”, and strong economy, low unemployment during Reagan years.
    #88 / Manning should be tried for treason. Unfamiliar with the other “whistleblowers”, but of course, they should be treated Constituionally and humanely.
    Am wondering why you make no mention of Obama’s war on energy. There are many, many reasons to not vote for him in that field which increase energy costs, cause job losses, subjugate U.S. and stifle economy…His non response, then heavyhanded treatment of Gulf disaster. Statement “under my plan, energy prices would necessarily skyrocket” and that he was only concerned that gas prices rose SO QUICKLY in 2009.
    His goals for alternative energy may be a good thing but they are unreasonable and unrealistic when no truely viable alternatives exist. In the meantime, they hurt us all.
    I would like to excerpt this on my fb and send links to friends,family, if thats okay.

  21. Actually, I’ll not excerpt it, but post it in entirety with caveat re my exceptions. All in all there are 1000’s of reasons to not vote Obama and that’s the point.

  22. Unreal article. Loved it. It’s a shame the media gives this guy such a free pass. If he were just about any other candidate they would be calling for his head. Crazy world we live in.

    1. Wonky anti-Bush insiders like me knew a WHOLE LOT of bad stuff about Bush in 2003-2004. Most of the absolutely horrible stuff about Bush was revealed by the far far Right, the “patriot radio” types.

      A few strong criticisms of Bush and especially the War in Iraq started coming to the mainstream news, front and center, AFTER the 2nd election.

      For example, a whole slew of top brass from the Pentagon disagreed with Rumsfeld and Bush on the Iraq War, either on the war itself or on the substandard strategy of trying to hold the entire country with a shoestring of troops, 150,000 soldiers to police 25 million people. Many people quit the Pentagon in protest, but was that reported? Yes and no. If it had been reported widely and loudly, it would have caused ordinary people to question why the White House was rejecting so much hard experience and strong dissent from so many experienced officers, and why he was launching a war for which he later admitted that none of their stated reasons were true, leaving the vague generic excuses that cannot Constitutionally justify waging pre-emptive aggressive war, a war crime, that Saddam was “a dictator” or a “bad guy” or we had to “spread democracy”.

      A few newspapers reported that when NATO & Obama attacked Libya with missiles, that while Libya was not a “democracy” it was *functioning* and The LA times reported that the rebel groups that NATO was helping were in fact “Al-Qaeda” … the same gang that Reagan and Bush armed and backed in Afghanistan, and that Clinton armed in the Balkans, and even Bush Junior helped in some ways, such as by eliminating Al-Qaeda’s enemy Saddam Hussein and, as Congress discovered, most of the money the enemy uses in Afghanistan today is supplied by the Pentagon itself, because WE pay THEM via local contractors & bribes.

      Most of the populist local anger at Qhaddafi was over his partial acceptance of the “Washington Consensus” and IMF’s economic demands, and because a minority of Islamic fundamentalists believed Qhaddafi was too multi-cultural and secular. (This is not because “Obama is Muslim” this is because YET AGAIN we continue to use Radical Islam as a proxy force to cause regional chaos, and so we can have future enemies to fight.)

      The MSM will pick up on some of this AFTER the election, but not the worst aspects. Mostly they won’t admit that they knew this stuff all along, they will act as though surprised by a few new revelations.

  23. If you think this is bad just wait and see what will happen if you vote for me instead!!! 🙂

  24. There are a number of other reasons not to vote for the Moron that currently
    resides in the White House, but not for long, with his ugly, fat, whining and
    unapprocitative wife. For the past 4 years, he has not maintained a proper budget,
    which indicates to me that this is another part of his personal secrecy program in the same vein as not revealing his personal documents to the American people, which is a sure indication that he is a poor businessman and this one proof why the U.S. remains in the shits. In addition, why has not a congressional or outside
    committee, implemented a complete investigation into the Moron’s and George
    Soros’ paper trail. Soros is attempting to implement the policies of “THE NEW
    WORLD ORDER,” and “THE SHADOW GOVERNMENT,” through his disciple,
    the Moron and is succeeding. Both Soros and the Moron are bent on destroying
    the United States’ econonmy and capitalism as we know it and then inserting a
    new world, non-election president to rule as a dictator, similar to the Russian
    President, Putin, if you follow. We American citizens need to be privy to this
    Moron’s personal records in order to make an acute assessment of his character,
    and from what I have maintained in the 6 years that I have been monitoring this
    Moron’s rise in politics at the highest level, this Moron prefers to associate
    himself with Communists (he himself is a Communist), Anarchists, Marxists,
    Socialists and Criminals, and in addition, will this Moron be vetted before the
    2012 election. He was not vetted before the 2008 election. Why not. Perhaps
    because he was Black, the Senate did not want to hurt this Moron’s feelings and
    therefore, gave him a pass which has continued for 4 years. This Moron has not
    earned another 4 years as indicated by his non-record of positive accomplishments, and therefore, you can answer the question, “ARE YOU BETTER OFF NOW, THAN YOU WERE 4 YEARS AGO”? And the answer is
    obviously no. This Moron that is substituting for the real POTUS, is nothing
    more than a closet, non-American Muslim infiltrator whom is fulfilling the
    prophecy of the Muslim world, that the fall of the United States will not come
    from without, but from “WITHIN.” This Moron is positively, America’s
    “MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE.” Therefore, do the research on the Moron and
    George Soros, and you will find that I do not speak with a “FORKED TONGUE.”

    1. With all due respect, sir, you are crazy. I find it amusing that after four years people still insist that Obama is a “Muslim infiltrator.” How many more Muslim terrorists AND civilians does he have to kill with drone strikes in multiple countries before this silly lie disappears? But of course it never will, as it is rather unfalsifiable…

    2. Read the definition of: Socialist, Marxist, Communist, Anarchist and Muslim.

      Comparing Obama to a Socialist is like comparing Mitt Romney to a member of the KKK.

      Because Obama introduces extremely watered down social care policy, and thinks millionaires should pay the same rate they did under Reagan, that makes him a Socialist. This is like saying “Because Mitt Romney is for preservation of gun laws and a tougher stance on immigration that makes him a white supremacist”.

    3. Excellent synopsis of current events! I am puzzled as to the blind sheep that continue follow this corruption…they truly are blinded and stupified…or, could it be, that they actually agree? I much prefer to believe that Americans that would vote for Obama again are blind and ignorant than that they agree…of course, if they agree, it only means that they are blind and ignorant (meaning uninformed, whether unintentionally or not). But it also means that they have no thought of their own on important matters…they only listen to what others tell them. When I see those people standing behind Obama, shouting and clapping in a frenzy, I wonder what they heard. He hasn’t said anything…the majority of his “speeches” are insults and mockery, instigating laughter at the truth. What makes people laugh at something that isn’t funny? Very bizarre behavior. Laughter aside, does anyone remember the depth of evil brought about by the followers of Hitler? Yes, this is mind set of followers, even when they, in their heart of hearts, don’t agree or believe what they are being told…they will do it regardless. More bizarre behavior.

    4. You’re nuts. I’ll pray for you, LOL. In the meanwhile, I suggest you do a little soul searching. Why do you REALLY hate PRESIDENT Obama? Your post is nothing short of insanity, disrespect and …. well … garbage. I can’t believe people still spew this stuff. You probably also believe in BIG FOOT, LOL!

      Sorry I couldn’t refute your claims point for point but there is nothing to refute. It’s all nonsense….

      Good luck with that, LOL

  25. It seem’s to me that 3/4 of this list are current positions held by the Republican Party, or things that the GOP have also been accused of.

    As a Libertarian resource I can understand the position. Why GOP people are leaving comments I don’t know. Re-read and ask yourself “Did Bush agree with this too?” and “What would Mitt Romney do differently?” and tell me what you come up with.

  26. Many, many excellent comments to this compliation of reasons not to vote for Obama. And I’m sure there are many reasons to view the Republicans in the same way…HOWEVER, I think a critical point is being missed. This is not the time to be evaluating the “parties”, but the men that are our current choices, one of which will become the next president of the United States. Though I also like Ron Paul and agree with the Libertarian policies, it will cost our nation dearly if we even remotely expect them to win. It should be quite evident that a vote for anyone but Mitt Romney will inevitably add votes for Obama. His base is not divided, so they are strong. We Republicans and Libertarians are so divided, we are defeating ourselves. I would vote for my big toe before I would vote for Obama, and I would cower in shame if I did not go to the poles and vote for Romney, as that is only an indication of ignorance in the enormity of consequences if Obama has another four years to totally destroy our country. Please, people, wake up…you must vote for Romney, then all of us need to band together to make sure the Republican Party live up to their promises, and bring our Libertarian policies to their attention. There are still some honest people in Congress, and those are the people that we must implore upon to change from the inside out.

  27. Wow. An impressive list no doubt. Thank you..this is the ideal page to help me with a libertarian based book I’ve been writing for nearly over a year now. Keep it up.

  28. You really think this is credible work? You cite opinion columns and junk sites as the vast majority of citation for your claims? This is laughable! No, really….it is….

    Where are the studies? Where’s the proof, other than some jerk off somewhere said so? News websites employ different staff to write their OPINION. It’s not fact and this is all speculation. But good job though, I’m sure it took quite a while to compile such far fetched claims…

    I’ll be surprised if this gets approved, LOL

    1. I know I shouldn’t feed trolls, but I’m in a good mood today. Every reason in this post either comes from a non-opinion, factual article in a reputable newspaper such as the New York Times, USAToday, Washington Post, or LA Times, or comes from an opinion analysis about a fact which is itself linked from a reputable newspaper. I deliberately avoided “junk sites,” but that’s not good enough for people who refuse to believe that it is possible for bad things to occur under the Obama administration. If you can point to a single reason that is based on a falsified event that has not been verified by multiple reputable newspapers, I will remove it from the list.

  29. It is interesting to see the spin people put on politics. I checked several of your links. Saying, for example, that you avoided activist blogs and used reputable sources was in itself a spin. One, for example, is from the President of a highly conservative group that calls itself non-partisan in the same sentence it talks about increasing and supporting conservative values. Another tells us how the President promised to do something but didn’t do it when a BETTER alternative was found. Well, those kinds of promises SHOULD be broken. And transparency in government should not ever be at the risk of national security, so whether people want to know certain information or not, our government and President Obama should keep certain information sealed, just like every other president has done. I do appreciate how much time and effort you put into this, even though each of your points could be refuted or reasonably explained (with links) just as easily.

  30. For the arms deal and Libya ones. It is untrue that congress did not know about it because I was with a task force that was out there to show off the weapons and we new about the sale. Plus it is the largest “legal” arms deal in history unlike George Bush who did “not” get the approval of congress to make some deals Obama has and surprisingly Romney supports it. Plus selling off our old military equipment to our allies provides thousands of jobs to build new equipment.
    One last point the President can go to war without the approval of congress but congress can repeal that decision (which they never did).

    Other than that like the rest.

  31. You forgot one hypocrisy

    That Obama would bring the troops home as soon as possible, as soon as he took office! Ended up following the same time table of withdrawal that president Bush had in place.
    Link:

  32. Gee and all I can think of is ONE reason not to have voted for Obama. Mitt Romney is a f***ing idiot and would have destroyed the US economy just like the last time the psychotic members of the GOP had power.

    Unless you think people should have voted for that nut case Ron Paul. A man so mindlessly libertarian that he actually thinks that Americans should compete against Chinese slave labor to see who will work cheaper.

    If either of those lunatics had won we wouldn’t be talking about how sluggish the economic recovery is. (Due to Republicans who would have been voted out of the House if not for gerrymandering btw.) We’d be talking about how things seemed to be getting better until Republicans got back in and drove the economy BACK over the cliff.

  33. can someone send this to every major press in the world so everyone can hate obama more than bush so we can all get rid of him before his term is done

    1. If you put a gun in your mouth we can get rid of you before the end of Obama’s term.

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