An Accounting of Obama's Hopey-Changey Successes

Our brothers and sisters on the right ask us daily "how's that hopey-changey thing working for ya?" as our good friend Sarah Palin phrased it recently.

The Daily Kos has a very good poll right here with a reply that might surprise you (even when given the fact that Kos is no friend of the Lovely Miss Sarah's.

Here's some of what O'Bama's done (based on several Web sources):

• Passed healthcare reform (less than what I wanted, hell of a lot more than we had)
  
• Passed tax cuts for 95 percent of Americans
• Agreed with Russia to dismantle some (though not all) nuclear weapons
• Authorized health insurance coverage for all children (SCHIP)
• Saved stock market from collapse
• Ended a travel ban on people with AIDS
• Put a halt to the summary dismissal of gays in the military who are honest about their sexual preference (and strengthened the military in the process)
  
• Stopped prosecuting those who dispense medicinal marijuana in California and abiding by state law
  
• Passed mortgage fraud protections
• Ended Bush's stem cell ban
• Passed student aid reform and used the savings to increase financial aid
• Started talking to some of our enemies (and even some of our friends who hated Bush)
• Elevated our standing with other countries from what must have been a 100-year low
  
• Passed a clear and understandable bill that reforms banks' credit card abuses and predatory practices
• Stopped the bleeding on job losses and is actually seeing some gains
• Started getting troops out of Iraq; began a concentration on Afghanistan (where it should have been in the first place); and began preparing Guantanamo Bay prison camp for closing
• Saved the American automobile industry from collapse (look at GM!)
• Saved the banks (though he needs to line up some executives and flog them in public; that may be next)
• Approved new, lower automobile mileage standards
• Put an emphasis on a green economy that could be huge in the future
  

That's in a little more than 18 months. Hopey-changey? I'd say.