The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises

The Promise:

Will "place the weight of (his) administration behind...a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity."

Update November 5th, 2013:

Senate moves ahead on measure to stop job discrimination against gays and lesbians

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The Promise:

"I'll give an annual 'State of the World' address to the American people in which I lay out our national security policy."

Update October 31st, 2013:

Six years after promise, still no 'State of the World' address

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The Promise:

"But to the issue of Iran, as long as I'm president of the United States, Iran will not get a nuclear weapon."

Update October 18th, 2013:

Too soon for final ruling on nuclear Iran, but progress is being made

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The Promise:

"I've told Congress, let's steer federal aid to schools that are doing a good job keeping tuition affordable and provide good value and serve their students well. If you're getting federal student loans -- colleges and universities -- you shouldn't just be loading up a whole bunch of debt on your students. You've got to figure out how are you working to make sure that they can afford their education."

Update August 23rd, 2013:

Step #1: Build a yardstick to measure performance

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The Promise:

"He set a goal to lead the world in college graduates by 2020, and cut the growth of college tuition and fees in half over the next 10 years, a goal that will save the typical student thousands of dollars a year, and proposed bringing together community colleges and businesses to train 2 million Americans for good jobs that actually exist now and are waiting to be filled."

Update August 23rd, 2013:

While waiting on congress, the White House is taking steps

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The Promise:

"Reforming the corporate tax code to bring down tax rates on domestic manufacturers by nearly a quarter -- while closing tax preferences and loopholes to pay for it."

Update August 9th, 2013:

President proposed it in Chattanooga speech, though odds in Congress are long

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The Promise:

"I’ve said that I want to consolidate a whole bunch of government agencies. We should have one secretary of business, instead of nine different departments that are dealing with things like getting loans to SBA [the Small Business Administration] or helping companies with exports. There should be a one-stop shop. Now, the reason we haven’t done that is not because of some big ideological difference. It has to do with Congress talking a good game about wanting to streamline government, but being very protective about not giving up their jurisdiction over various pieces of government."

Update August 8th, 2013:

President is asking Congress for powers to reorganize agencies

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The Promise:

"Setting a standard for utility companies to that 80 percent of the nation's electricity comes from clean sources by 2035"

Update August 2nd, 2013:

Congressional inaction makes new standards unlikely

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The Promise:

Will support "repeal (of) the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions."

Update August 2nd, 2013:

Supreme Court decision sends this from 'Promise Broken' to 'In the Works'

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The Promise:

"He set a goal to lead the world in college graduates by 2020, and cut the growth of college tuition and fees in half over the next 10 years, a goal that will save the typical student thousands of dollars a year, and proposed bringing together community colleges and businesses to train 2 million Americans for good jobs that actually exist now and are waiting to be filled."

Update August 2nd, 2013:

Goal will be hard to meet, but we found some positive signs

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The Promise:

"As president, Barack Obama will close the detention facility at Guantanamo."

Update August 2nd, 2013:

New developments, but congressional opposition remains

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The Promise:

"I want to create a veterans job corps, so we can put our returning heroes back to work as cops and firefighters in communities that need them."

Update July 23rd, 2013:

Congress isn't going for Obama's veterans job corps plan

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The Promise:

"Ending tax deductions for companies shipping jobs overseas, and using the saving to create a new tax credit for companies that bring jobs home."

Update July 15th, 2013:

Tax reform efforts fall victim to congressional gridlock

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The Promise:

"Will expand and fund AmeriCorps from 75,000 slots today to 250,000 and they will focus this expansion on addressing the great challenges facing the nation." These additional slots will enable AmeriCorps to establish five new Corps: Classroom Corps to help teachers and students, with a priority placed on high-need and underserved schools; Health Corps to improve public health information and outreach to areas with inadequate health systems such as rural areas and inner cities; Clean Energy Corps to promote energy independence through efforts like weatherization, renewable energy projects and educational outreach; Veterans Corps to help keep America's sacred trust with its veterans; and Homeland Security Corps to help communities plan, prepare for and respond to emergencies.

Update May 1st, 2013:

Big increases envisioned in law never materialized

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The Promise:

"We need to have a tax code where secretaries aren't paying a (higher) tax rate than their bosses. "

Update April 12th, 2013:

Proposal is mentioned in Obama's 2014 budget

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