‘You Know That I Do What I Say I’m Going to Do’

Obama’s campaign slogan used to be ‘change we can believe in,’ but the past four years include quite a few broken promises.

Two weeks ago in Ohio, President Obama said, “You know I mean what I say. You know that I do what I say I’m going to do.”
Actually, we know otherwise. A review of his first term reveals that Obama has broken many promises.
In 2009, Obama said, "I am pledging to cut the deficit we inherited by half by the end of my first term in office." He said he would pay for his programs: "I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime — by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less."
Since Obama took office, the total federal debt has surpassed $16.2 trillion, an increase of 52 percent. The deficit is projected to reach $901 billion in the fiscal 2013 budget, over the promised amount of about $700 billion. Defenders of Obama say he inherited such a mess that cutting the deficit proved to be impossible. But Obama knew how bad the economy was when he said in February 2009 that he’d cut the deficit — just before his inauguration he described the economic downturn as “a crisis unlike any we have seen in our lifetime.”
The health care plan wasn’t as promised. Obama said in his 2008 speech at the Democrats’ national convention, “If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums.” Health care premiums continue to rise. Obama said “if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan,” but in fact, that won’t be the case for many.

Obama said ‘if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan,’ but in fact, that won’t be the case for many.

On immigration, Obama said, “what I can guarantee is that we will have in the first year an immigration bill that I strongly support and that I'm promoting.” The 2008 Democratic Party platform stated, "We are committed to pursuing tough, practical, and humane immigration reform in the first year of the next administration." But in that year, no major immigration bill supported by Obama was introduced to Congress.

Read more: http://www.american.com/archive/2012/november/you-know-that-i-do-what-i-say-im-going-to-do