Barack Hussein Obama II

Barack Hussein Obama II Political Party: Democrat State Elected From: Illinois Dates in Office: 2008- Vice President: Joe Biden Born: August 4, 1961 (age 48)Honolulu, Hawaii

(1) Election of 2008

Looking at this map it gives the impression that the Republicans won the election handily, since there is rather more red on the map than there is blue. In fact, however, the reverse is true – the Democrats won by a substantial margin. The explanation for this apparent paradox, as pointed out by many people, is that the map fails to take account of the population distribution. It fails to allow for the fact that the population of the red states is on average significantly lower than that of the blue ones. The blue may be small in area, but they represent a large number of voters, which is what matters in an election. • Using a cartogram, a map in which the sizes of states are rescaled according to their population. (drawn with size proportional to population not acreage)states with more people appearing larger than states with fewer, regardless of their actual area on the ground. On such a map, for example, the state of Rhode Island, with its 1.1 million inhabitants, would appear about twice the size of Wyoming, which has half a million, even though Wyoming has 60 times the acreage of Rhode Island. Here are the 2008 presidential election results on a population cartogram of this type

Random info about the President • (1 cont.) He is the first African American to hold the office. • Obama previously served as the junior United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned after his election to the presidency in November 2008. • Originally from Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School. (wow!!)

(2) American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (2009) (aka the Stimulus Bill) • Obama signed economic stimulus legislation in the form of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009. The U.S. economy has grown for the past two successive fiscal quarters after several quarters of a severe economic recession, although unemployment remains high. The Act distributed the $787 billion and includes federal tax cuts, expansion of unemployment benefits and other social welfare provisions, and domestic spending help in education, health care, and the energy sector. • California has received the most at $23,026,644,548 for 5,261 projects • MS got 1,137 projects/$3,276,645,225 • New Hampshire has received the least at $1,046,745,895 for 471 projects

(3) 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. *The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to U.S. President Barack Obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” *The Committee announced the award on October 9, 2009, citing Obama's promotion of nuclear nonproliferation and a "new climate" in international relations fostered by Obama, especially in reaching out to the Muslim world. Obama is the fourth U.S. President to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, after Theodore Roosevelt (1906) and Woodrow Wilson (1919)—both of whom received the award during their terms—and Jimmy Carter (2002), who received the award 21 years after leaving office.

National Defense?

Somali Pirates took over a US cargo ship and they were pointing the AK-47s at the captain,“ Somali Pirates • Sometimes, even small international dust-ups can generate big consequences for a commander in chief. History is peppered with cases where an American president was forced to deal with an emergency in a faraway place that wouldn't have amounted to much if handled correctly but damaged his reputation when the job was botched. • Barack Obama's decision to use force against Somali pirates fits into the success category. Above all, the plan worked, giving Americans a feel-good moment and showing off the new president's coolness under pressure, his good judgment, and his decisiveness. "The United States government's policy is to not negotiate,” US Navy Seal snipers were told to end it and they did. 3 dead pirates and one in jail

BarackObama has paired modest advances in nuclear-arms control with bold rhetoric, hoping that the spirit of his message will move the world away from atomic weapons. I hope all the other countries agree to "a world without nuclear weapons"

(4) Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka. Health Care Act) • Signed March 23, 2010. • The law includes a large number of health-related provisions to take effect over the next four years, including expanding Medicaid eligibility, subsidizing insurance premiums, providing incentives for businesses to provide health care benefits, prohibiting discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, establishing health insurance exchanges, and support for medical research. The costs of these provisions are offset by a variety of taxes, fees, and cost-saving measures, such as new Medicare taxes for high-income brackets, taxes on indoor tanning, cuts to the Medicare Advantage program in favor of traditional Medicare, and fees on medical devices and pharmaceutical companies;there is also a tax penalty for citizens who do not obtain health insurance (unless they are exempt due to low income or other reasons). The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the net effect (including the reconciliation act) will be a reduction in the federal deficit by $143 billion dollars over the first decade.

(4) Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka. Health Care Act) cont’d. • In the case National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius(Kathleen Sebelius was the director of the Dept. of Health and Human Services) the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the mandate that everyone be required to buy health insurance. • States were allowed to choose whether to extend their Medicaid coverage or not – many chose not to

(4) Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka. Health Care Act) cont’d. • The Republicans then tried to defund Obamacare– almost led to a government shutdown • After the first sign-up period, problems with the health care web site eventually led to the resignation of Kathleen Sebelius.

(5) Osama bin Laden killed • May 2, 2011 Osama bin Laden was killed inObbottabad, Pakistan. • Bin Laden was killed by members of Seal Team Six during a raid on the home he was hiding in – the operation was known as Operation Neptune Spear.

(6) Benghazi Attack • On the night of September 11, 2012, a heavily armed group of between 125 and 150 gunmen attacked the American diplomatic mission at Benghazi, Libya, killing U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and another diplomat • Initially, it was reportedthat the Benghazi attack emerged from a spontaneous protest against a video • It was later determinedthat there was no protest and that the attack was a planned terrorist attack launched by Islamist militants.

(7) Edward Snowden • In 2013, Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee and National Security Council private contractor released thousands of classified documents to the media, exposing a global surveillance run by the NSA • Snowden, who had already fled the country, was charged with espionage – he currently has asylum in Russia.

(8) Syria • TheSyrian Civil Waris an armed conflictwhich began in 2011 between forces loyal to the Muslim government and rebels seeking to overthrow it. • The government is supported by Hezbollah and Russian President Vladimir Putin. • Chemical weapons have been used in Syria on more than one occasion, triggering strong international reactions • President Obama threatened to invade Syria but eventually the Syrian government agreed to hand over its chemical weapons to Russia.

(9) The Crimean Crisis • The Crimean crisis is an ongoing international crisis involving Russia and Ukraine. • The Crimean Peninsula is a multi-ethnic region populated by an ethnic Russian majority that want to reunite with Russia, which the minority of both ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars do not want to happen. • Russia has faced economic sanctions from many countries, the U.S. included, because of its support of the Russian’s in Ukraine.

Barack Hussein Obama II