When the White House sends out its advisers to make the rounds on Sunday talk shows they are armed with talking points surrounding President Obama’s policies.  We decided to review the salient policies and talking points and measure them against achievements.  We found the following while conducting the analysis:

• WH Talking Point:  Passed the largest recovery act to put Americans back to work
• Counter Point: The $787 recovery act, did little for the economy and we have the largest unemployment rate in decades reaching for 10 % nationally and over 17 % in Detroit
• WH Talking Point: Financing to help stabilize the credit system throughout financial markets and a housing plan so people can keep their homes
• Counter Point: Banks are still failing at a record rate; FDIC is running out of money and we have the largest number of home foreclosures ever
• WH Talking Point: Started the process to end the war in Iraq
• Counter Point: Military surge under previous administration worked; however, soldiers are still in Iraq and dying
• WH Talking Point: Put in place a policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan that will change the areas and take fight to the terrorists
• Counter Point: Request for military surge in Afghanistan under Obama original policy delayed; soldiers dying at increased rate while waiting for decision; administration evaluating new policy and will not initiate a surge until it determines it has a partner in Afghanistan, e.g. election controversy that will not be resolved till end of year
• WH Talking Point: We started the credit flowing to small business
• Counter Point: There have been no bailouts for small business while there have been for major corporations, e.g. auto industry; financial institutions and banks; small business loans virtually not existent; while small business created 77 % of the jobs prior to the recession and since the recession 65% of the jobs
• WH Talking Point: The time for Health Care Reform is now; we cannot afford to wait; need public option (government run health care); bills in House and Senate being merged; confusion surrounding cost ($2 trillion), government run health care and tax increases reaching into the middle class, even among the Democratic controlled Congress
• Counter Point: Messages coming out of White House, the Senate and House regarding Health Care Reform are confusing to everyone, at best; disingenuous at worst with respect to public option, cost, taxes, option to keep your present doctor and the use of QUARY – quality adjusted remaining years
• WH Talking Point: We want a bipartisan bill; WH position is that the Republicans are a party of no, and when you’re the party of never, and of no new ideas, that’s not constructive
• Counter Point: The Republicans claim that the Democratic controlled Congress is cutting them out; to date one lone Republican voted for a bill that came out of the Senate Finance Committee without the public option

Although achievements are few when you look at the stats, President Obama has done well in self-promotion.  As we have said before in this column, “We Have A President The World Adores . . . but ignores.”

Perhaps it is the number of apologies he has made for American past practices – that he is trying to distance himself from -  that foreign countries like about him.  But even in this area of self-achievement, where foreign leaders flock to meet with him and feel better about him than his predecessor, his mea culpa nor his foreign policies have done much to get what he wants or what the United States needs.