100 Days - 100 Mistakes

In an effort to keep this simple, I have not provided any references, attributions or links. My apologies to those whom I've quoted without attribution. It's my fault, I waited until Day 98 to put this article together. The items listed here are in no particular order. I tried to group some items together on the basis of content (i.e., inaugural address, stimulus package, foreign policy, etc). There were more I could have thrown in, and had a tough time deciding which were the most offensive and/or well-known.

1-Obama said in his inaugural address that "44 Americans have now taken the presidential oath." The correct number is 43. Grover Cleveland served as both the 22nd and 24th President. As a "progressive", apparently Obama has no interest in or concern about history.

2-He angered the Chinese during his inaugural address with references to Communism. Chinese TV broke away from Obama on several occasions and deleted those sections from their "official" transcript.

3-He said in his inaugural address we must honor our troops and veterans, then was the first president to skip the 'Salute to Heroes' Inaugural Ball, which recognizes Medal of Honor recipients, angering vets. Over the past 56 years and 14 inaugurations, dating back to Dwight Eisenhower, no president has skipped this Inaugural Ball, until Obama.

4-He spent $49 million of taxpayer money on his inauguration -- triple the amount of Bush's first inauguration (for which Bush was highly criticized as being extravagent).

5-He waited until March 21st to repay Chicago for the $1.74 million cost of his November victory celebration in Grant Park. This, despite the fact that his city, like most cities, was struggling with the impact of the recession.

6-He ordered the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility without knowing how to deal with the terrorists being held there. The order led to a widespread NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) response from Senators and Congressmen, none of whom want the terrorists relocated to their state or district.

7-He suggested that the terrorists at Guantanamo Bay should be tried in U.S. courts, despite the fact that experts say there is no way to obtain battlefield evidence against enemy combatants. The trials could also result in the public dissemination of classified information.

8-He met with the military and ordered the withdrawal of troops from Iraq according to a timetable, thus allowing Iraq's enemies to wait out the U.S. troop withdrawal. If conditions on the ground deteriorate before the scheduled withdrawal date, Obama may have to reverse himself, and he will look foolish in the process.

9-He issued an executive order authorizing embryonic stem cell research which has been proven to be less promising than adult stem cell research. Embryonic stem cells are difficult to control and often mutate into cancer cells.

10-He signed a spending bill that contained more than 8,500 earmarks in it, costing taxpayers more than $7.7 billion, immediately after saying that the Democratic leadership was addressing earmark abuses but needed to do more. No kidding.

11-He insulted the British people by giving a set of 25 DVDs as a gift to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Brown gave Obama a carved ornamental penholder from the wood of the anti-slavery ship HMS Gannet. Worse yet, the DVDs don't work in Europe because they require a different format.

12-One of his State Department officials, when asked by the Sunday Telegraph about the DVDs, said "There's nothing special about Britain. You're just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn't expect special treatment," which angered the Brits even more.

13-He gave the Queen of England an iPod full of videos of his own speeches. Even if the Queen did indeed ask for the iPod as some have suggested, it was a still a sign of bad taste, made only worse by his self-centeredness.

14-After saying he wouldn't have lobbyists in his administration, Obama made 17 exceptions in his first two weeks in office.

15-He nominated Bill Richardson for Commerce Secretary, but the New Mexico governor was forced to withdraw his name amid a grand jury investigation into a state contract awarded to his political donors.

16-He nominated Timothy Geithner for Treasury Secretary to oversee the Internal Revenue Service, but who had only recently paid $34,000 in back income taxes. Geithner was finally confirmed by the Senate after days of controversy.

17-He nominated Tom Daschle for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) only to find out that Daschle was his second major appointee who failed to pay all their taxes. Daschle finally paid $128,203 in back taxes plus $11,964 in interest. Concerning the Daschle nomination, Obama went so far as to admit, "I screwed up."

18-He nominated Nancy Killefer for Chief Performance Officer and as a Deputy Director at the Office of Management and Budget. Like Daschle, she withdrew her name from consideration when it was reported that the D.C. government had filed a tax lien on her home in 2005 for failure to pay unemployment compensation tax on household help. She resolved the tax error five months after the lien was filed, but administration officials refused to say whether her tax problems extended beyond that one issue.

19-He nominated Judd Gregg for Secretary of Commerce, a New Hampshire Republican viewed by most as an adversary to Obama on the policy matters that he would be tasked with formulating. The Gregg nomination was a fight waiting to happen.

20-He listened to those on the Left who protested Judd Gregg's nomination because it might affect the 2010 United States Census. As a result, Obama announced that the White House would move the Census out of Gregg's jurisdiction. This public humiliation led Gregg to withdraw his name from consideration. Gregg said he could not in good conscience support some of Obama's key economic priorities.

21-He apparently could not find his way into the Oval Office on January 28th. He attempted to enter from the outside through a paned window rather than the door which was a few feet to his right.

22-He has appointed to key positions a wide array of "collectivists and statists" which has concerned many that Obama is putting America on a path to socialism.

23-He has appointed to key positions a lot of old-timers from the Clinton administration which is contrary to his message of "change", and is in direct opposition to his nomination acceptance speech where he said: "the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result."

24-He offered the position of Surgeon General to Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, in January. In March 2009, Gupta withdrew his name from consideration for the post.

25-He nominated Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State who went to Russia with a "Reset" button that didn't actually say "Reset" but rather "Overcharge".

26-He appointed Larry Summers to Director of the White House National Economic Council, who fell asleep during a recent meeting with credit card executives, and who now predicts "the economy will continue to decline" for some time. Yipee!

27-He selected Robert Gibbs to be White House spokesperson, who is perhaps the worst speaker of all time. Gibbs stumbles and pauses, looking for the right words which is agonizing to listeners. One of his favorite lines is: "I'll have to get back to you on that."

28-He selected gaffe-prone Joe Biden to be his Vice President. Biden has embarrassed the Obama administration on numerous occasions, with such favorites as: "If we do everything right, if we do it with absolute certainty, if we stand up there and we really make the tough decisions, there's still a 30% chance we're going to get it wrong."

29-He appointed Samantha Power, who resigned from the Obama campaign after calling Hillary Rodham Clinton a "monster," to a position on the National Security Council.

30-His Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner nominated Annette Nazareth for Deputy Treasury Secretary, but she withdrew her name for undisclosed "personal reasons" after a monthlong probe into her taxes.

31-His Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner also nominated Caroline Atkinson, for Undersecretary of International Affairs in the Treasury Department, but she also withdrew her name blaming the long vetting process.

32-His Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner still has a skeleton crew at Treasury, with no one qualified -- or willing -- to take jobs there.

33-He selected Janet Napolitano to head the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) who issued a report defining right-wing extremists as people who object to abortion, illegal immigration, and favor states' rights over federal authority. The report warned law enforcement agencies across the country that returning vets could be the targets of recruitment activity by extremist organizations and should be monitored, again angering vets.

34-His DHS Secretary Napolitano also said "suspected or known terrorists have entered our country across a border, it's been across the Canadian border," implying that the 9/11 hijackers came across the Canadian border. But the 9/11 hijackers did not come across the Canadian border, angering Canadians.

35-He used scare tactics to try and get support for his stimulus package describing the economic situation as a "crisis" and "tragic". He said the economy is "sick" and a "failure", making people "fear" and "worry". His "doom-and-gloom" rhetoric was in direct opposition to his promise of "hope" and pushed the Dow below 7,000 a level from which it is only now recovering.

36-He forced passage of the $787 billion stimulus package literally in the "dark of night". The final wording of the nearly 1100 page document was not posted on the web until 10:45 PM on the night before it was voted on in the House at 2:24 PM. This was in direct opposition to Obama's promise of allowing all legislation to be available for public review for at least 5 days before any vote. The web posting was also not a "searchable" document that would allow interested parties to look for key words or phrases.

37-His stimulus package was approved by people who never read it, and who voted for it mainly along party lines (no Republicans voted for it in the House and only 3 voted for it in the Senate). He failed to work on the stimulus package with Republicans in a bi-partisan manner, breaking another campaign promise. He rejected Republican suggestions for the stimulus package, telling Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona, “I won” (a reference to the election). In doing so, Obama was effectively saying: "It's my way or the highway."

38-His stimulus package contained more than $200 billion that went directly to states and cities, but nearly 70% of that went to education and healthcare spending. Only 24% went to infrastructure spending. But the states and cities in the most trouble already spend too much on education and healthcare, pushing taxes up and sending private industry away. They don't spend nearly enough on infrastructure, which attracts the private sector and builds the real economy.

39-He rejected a Republican alternative to the stimulus package which analysis showed would have created 6 million jobs versus the 3 million jobs created by the Democratic plan. The analysis used a methodology employed by President Obama's own nominee for Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, Dr. Christina Romer.

40-His stimulus package contained very little immediate stimulus. According to the CBO, more than half of the proposed $787 billion will not get into the economy before 2011. The package was also loaded with pork projects that will do nothing to stimulate the economy.

41-He pushed Congress for weeks to pass the stimulus package, then when it was ready for signature, with the "Audacity of a Dope", he left town for a three-day vacation.

42-He claimed at a photo-op when visiting Caterpillar, Inc. that: "[Jim Owens, the CEO], said that if Congress passes our [stimulus] plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off." Jim Owens however retorted: "I think realistically... No. The truth is, we're going to have more layoffs before we start hiring again."

43-He angered our trading partners around the world with a "buy American" provision in the stimulus package that implied a new protectionist policy. Obama was forced to modify the "buy American" provision in response to world-wide pressure.

44-He signed Executive Order 13502, a special interest handout to organized labor that limits competition and raises construction costs by as much as 20 percent. This means that an estimated $30 billion of the proposed $150 billion in construction spending contained in the stimulus package will be wasted. Union-only project labor agreements (PLAs) drive up costs for American taxpayers while unfairly discriminating against the 84% of American construction workers who choose not to join a labor union.

45-He apologized to the Muslim world for past American behavior in his first formal TV interview, which he chose to conduct with the Al-Aribya network, saying: "To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect."

46-He bowed to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at the G-20 meeting in London, an act that American protocol has ruled out going back to perhaps the Revolutionary War against the King of England.

47-He said he is considering dropping a key demand on Iran, allowing it to keep its nuclear facilities open during negotiations.

48-He wrote a secret letter to Dmitri Medvedev, President of Russia, suggesting that the U.S. might drop plans for a missile shield in Europe in exchange for Russia's help to resolve the nuclear weapons issue with Iran. Medvedev not only made the letter public, but said he would not "haggle" on Iran and the missile shield, thus embarrassing Obama.

49-He apologized to Europeans for America saying, "In America, there is a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive."

50-After trying to impress Europeans with his humble apologies, Obama made an impassioned plea for more troops in Afghanistan. Only the UK offered substantial help, most others refused.

51-He promised a strong response to the North Korean missile test but did nothing except support a "limp-wristed" UN resolution that accomplished nothing.

52-He considered dropping the embargo on Cuba without any preconditions. Cuba of course, is an oppressive communist country with major human rights violations, including the long-term imprisonment of political opponents. After preliminary signs of thawing relations from Raul Castro, Fidel Castro said Obama "misinterpreted" his brother's words, and that Cuba would not be willing to negotiate about human rights.

53-He directed the easing of restrictive measures against Cuba, including the lifting of all restrictions on the ability of individuals to visit relatives and to send cash remittances, despite the rebuff from Fidel.

54-He said at a press conference in Turkey, that although the United States has "a very large Christian population -- we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation..." This was news to the 62% of Americans who, in a recent poll (since Obama took office) said that America is indeed a Christian nation. A poll taken last year showed that 69% said America was a Christian nation. Another older survey showed that 86% of Americans consider themselves to be "Christian".

55-He sat at the Americas Summit and listened to a 50-minute rant by Daniel Ortega against the United States, who went so far as to call Obama the "president of an empire." Did Obama get up and leave the room embarrassed for himself and his country? No. Instead, he sat there listening to it all, and in reference to a comment about the Bay of Pigs he said, “I’m grateful that President Ortega did not blame me for things that happened when I was three months old.”

56-He acted, at the same summit, like he was the long-lost buddy of Hugo Chavez. There were handshakes and warm smiles all around. This, despite the fact that Hugo Chavez nationalized (i.e., stole) CITGO, an American corporation. This, despite the fact that the radical Colonel Chavez who, in 1992 (like Adolf Hitler), led a failed putsch against the elected government of Venezuela. Following the summit, Chavez said, "It would seem that the changes that started in Venezuela in the last decade of the 20th century have begun to reach North America." Of course the "changes" Chavez refers to are his moves towards socialism. I guess that's the "change" Obama was talking about during the campaign.

57-He proposed a $3.5 trillion budget that shocked almost everyone, including Democrats, with its huge deficit-spending programs. His budget included a $635 billion 'place-holder' for a universal health care system, even though there were no details about what such a program might look like.

58-He increased the FY-2009 budget deficit from $569 billion to $1.8 trillion. His programs create annual deficits that will never again fall below $500 billion and will increase dramatically after 2012.

59-He caused the nation-wide Tea Parties by frightening or angering a large portion of middle-class Americans with his reckless spending proposals, tax hike proposals, bail-outs, and moves towards socialism. Attendance at the April 15th "Tax Day" Tea Parties were estimated to range from a half-million to a million participants.

60-He said he didn't know about the Tea Parties on April 15th which made him look stupid, out-of-touch, or in a state of denial.

61-He insulted the intelligence of Americans by proposing to cut a mere $100 million from his $3.5 trillion budget, apparently in response to the Tax Day Tea Parties. The $100 million would represent a mere .0027% of the budget. Whoopee!

62-He changed the name of the "Global War on Terror" to "Overseas Contingency Operations". What does that mean? Are we fighting "terrorists" or "contingencies"?

63-He changed the term "acts of terrorism" to "man-made disasters". Give me a break.

64-He had the EPA issue a ruling that greenhouse gases "endanger public health and welfare", knowing full well that water vapor is the most abundant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Not only that, but water vapor contributes 36-72% to the greenhouse effect, while CO2 contributes only 9-26%, methane 4-9%, and ozone 3-7%. I'm surprised that Obama didn't have EPA declare water as a danger to public health!

65-On Earth Day, he took (2) flights on Air Force One and (4) on Marine One to get to Iowa, burning more than 9,000 gallons of fuel in the process. So much for his "carbon footprint".

66-He worried the Chinese with his massive borrow-and-spend programs. The Chinese hinted that they do not intend to buy any more Treasury bills since they already own approximately $800 billion of American debt. They told the U.S. that they want America to protect China's investment.

67-He allowed the Federal Reserve to begin buying up U.S. Treasury bills. Since the Fed does not have any money to purchase the Treasuries, it must print money to purchase them thus devaluing the dollar. While this may prevent deflation in the short run by creating artificial inflation, it also creates a dangerous "Treasury Bill Bubble". Brokers now own record amounts of T-bills which could become worthless when the Fed decides to dump its holdings in Treasuries. If the Fed is unable to sell its T-bill holdings when the economy turns around, it could lead to massive inflation worse than that seen during the Carter administration.

68-He has worried countries around the world with the falling value of the American dollar. Some countries such as Russia and China have suggested that the world needs a new "reserve currency" other than the dollar. China recently said the global currency system, dominated by the dollar, is the root cause of the global financial crisis.

69-He is becoming known as the "teleprompter president" because he relies so strongly on the device whenever he gives a speech. He has had some teleprompter goof-ups including directing to his associates to "speed up", and starting to give a speech other than the one he was supposed to give.

70-He proposed a plan that would require veterans to obtain private insurance, where the carriers would reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs for the treatment of troops injured in the line of duty. This once again angered veterans groups who say the government is morally obligated to pay for service-related medical care.

71-He laughed about the economy during a '60 Minutes' interview with Steve Kroft. Kroft said, "You're sitting here. And you're -- you are laughing. You are laughing about some of these problems... I mean: Explain. Are you punch-drunk?"

72-His administration, his Treasury Secretary, and the Democrats in Congress were fully aware that AIG was going to pay huge bonuses to its top executives, but they did not get indignant about it until there was a huge outcry from citizens across the country.

73-He has hinted to Congress that he could support taxing some employee health benefits to pay for health care reform, even though he blasted John McCain for suggesting such an idea during the campaign.

74-He directed Robert Gates to cut defense spending during a time of war. He wants to transfer the money from defense to domestic spending.

75-He directed defense officials to sign a pledge stating they will not share 2010 budget data with individuals outside the federal government.

76-He announced that he would cut our missile defense systems the day after the North Koreans launched a test missile showing that they had the capability of reaching parts of the United States.

77-His three candidates for ambassador to the Vatican -- including Caroline Kennedy -- were turned down by the Holy See because they support abortion.

78-He directed the Georgetown University administration to cover up all Christian signs and symbols (including the letters "IHS" in gold - a symbol for Jesus), before giving a speech there on April 14th.

79-He toured the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, taking off his shoes as tradition requires, showing more respect for the Muslim religion than he does for the Christian religion.

80-He repeated his pledge to students in Turkey that he intends to rebuild relations between the United States and the Muslim world. "I am personally committed to a new chapter in American engagement," Obama said. He again apologized for America saying that despite its flaws and past mistakes, the United States is poised for a fresh start with Muslims and the rest of the world.

81-His $15.4 billion government loan to GM.

82-His firing of Rick Wagoner as president of GM.

83-His directions to GM as to what kind of cars they should now build (i.e., "the next generation of clean cars").

84-His statement that "The United States government has no interest in running GM," followed almost immediately by his statement that "Your [GM] warranty will be safe. In fact, it will be safer than it's ever been, because starting today, the United States government will stand behind your warranty."

85-He said during his first State Of The Union address, "And I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it." Unfortunately, a German invented the automobile.

86-He entered into "direct negotiations" with Fiat to sell off Chrysler -- an American auto company -- to a foreign competitor.

87-He selected Eric Holder to be his Attorney General who said, "Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards."

88-He selected Adolfo Carrion to be Director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs. Carrion is serving under a cloud after allegations that he accepted thousands of dollars in cash from developers whose projects he approved.

89-He released the previously classified Bush "torture" memos, giving America's enemies (present and future) a good idea of exactly how far U.S. interrogations will go. Release of the memos also negatively impacted morale at the CIA according to Michael Haydin, former Director of the CIA, engendering fears of retribution for past actions.

90-He visited the CIA, thanked employees for their work and said they're invaluable to national security. He explained his decision to release the memos, then told everyone not to feel bad because he was now acknowledging that mistakes had been made. He was talking of course, about their mistakes and not his. "That's how we learn," Obama said, as if he were talking to toddlers.

91-He promised the CIA employees that his administration would not go after anyone for doing their jobs during the previous administration, then less than 48 hours later he flip-flopped (apparently under pressure from George Soros and MoveOn.org) saying that he would leave open the possibility of investigations by Congress or an independent "Truth Commission" and, based on their findings, let Attorney General Eric Holder decide whether to prosecute.

92-His release of the "torture" memos opens up American citizens to international tribunals. A UN lawyer said that the US is obliged to prosecute lawyers who drafted the memos or else violate the Geneva Conventions.

93-His release of the "torture" memos opens the door to potential witch hunts of Bush administration officials from lawyers who advised the administration on the legality of "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques", up to and including Bush and Cheney themselves. Some pundits have said this is "unprecedented" in American history and smacks of a "bannana republic" mentality where incoming regimes criminalize the outgoing regime.

94-His release of the "torture" memos endangers national security, and a Rasmussen poll says 58% of Americans concur with that sentiment. The poll also found that only 28% believe the release of the memos helps America’s image abroad. And only 28% think the Obama administration should do any further investigating of how the Bush administration treated terrorism suspects.

95-He forced banks that didn't want TARP money to take it, then added on stipulations about executive pay and government control after the fact. He secretly forced the Bank of America to buy Merrill Lynch, then allowed the bank to be criticized for overpaying. He is preventing profitable banks from paying back TARP funds. He wants to convert the shares of Preferred Stock the government acquired in the banks into Common Stock, which will give the U.S. government voting rights and thus management control.

96-He authorized "stress tests" on the banks, the results of which may cause a run on banks with the weakest grades, or alternatively, will allow the government to force more banks to take TARP money hence giving the government even greater control over the banking system of the United States.

97-He enrolled his daughters in a D.C. private school, but directed Education Secretary Arne Duncan not to admit any new students into the D.C. voucher program, which would allow low-income children to attend private schools (including the one his daughters attend). Even Juan Williams of NPR is baffled by Obama's move and says it hurts minority children.

98-He announced the need for comprehensive immigration reform during the middle of a major recession when American unemployment numbers are increasing monthly.

99-He remains in campaign mode rather than governing. He's still trying to blame things on Bush and divert attention from himself. It's time for him to grow up and move on.

100-He nominated Harold Koh for the position of Legal Adviser of the Department of State. Koh is a "transnationalist" who believes in the supremacy of international law over Constitutional law. He has argured that "concepts like liberty, equality and privacy are not exclusively American constitutional ideas but, rather, part and parcel of the global human rights movement." He believes that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands takes precedence over U.S. courts. He has consistently urged the U.S. to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), also located in the Netherlands. If the U.S. were to join, the ICC’s prosecutor could bring war crimes indictments against American soldiers. He has argued that the UN should have the final say over U.S. military decisions. He believes the will of the international community takes priority over American sovereignity.

These mistakes give us frightening insight into the man who is now the President of the United States. He is clearly a "rookie". He is partisan. He is duplicitous. He is a panderer. While claiming to be a "Christian" he disdains his own religion in favor of Islam. He snubs our traditional allies while sidling up to petty dictators and repressive thugs. He is arrogant and self-centered. He dismisses anything "before Obama". He is naive and believes his own personal charisma will transform people, opinions, foreign leaders and even enemies. [Failure to be transformed is your problem, not his.]

He is clearly a socialist, statist and globalist. He is easily manipulated by left-wing individuals and groups such as George Soros and MoveOn. He has little regard for the military or veterans. He has no regard the Constitution or American sovereignity. He basically does not like America, seeks to distance himself from its greatness, and feels the need to apologize for its behavior. He has a hidden agenda which seems to include nationalization of the banks and the auto industry. This man is frightening indeed.