Archief - 2012: het jaar van de Amerikaanse presidentsverkiezingen

• Extended child tax credits and marriage-penalty fixes
• Created an Advanced Manufacturing Fund to invest in peer-reviewed manufacturing processes
• Required economic justification for tax changes
• Implemented “Women Owned Business” contracting program
• Changed standards for determining broadband access
• Established a credit card bill of rights
• Expanded loan programs for small businesses
• Extended the Bush tax cuts for lower incomes
• Killed Osama bin Laden
• Extended the 2007 Alternative MinimumTax patch
• Closed the “doughnut hole” in Medicare prescription drug plan
• Expanded the Senior Corps volunteer program
• Required insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions
• Gave tax credits to those who need help to pay health premiums
• Required large employers to contribute to a national health plan
• Required children to have health insurance coverage
• Expanded eligibility for Medicaid
• Expanded eligibility for State Children’s Health Insurance Fund (SCHIP)
• Required health plans to disclose how much of the premium goes to patient care
• Established an independent health institute to provide accurate and objective information
• In non-competitive markets, forced insurers to pay out a reasonable share of their premiums for patient care
• Eliminated the higher subsidies to Medicare Advantage plans
• Expanded funding to train primary care providers and public health practitioners
• Increased funding to expand community based prevention programs
• Reinstated executive order to hire an additional 100,000 federal employees with disabilities within five years.
• Increased the Veterans Administration budget to recruit and retain more mental health professionals
• Expanded the Veterans Administration’s number of “centers of excellence” in specialty care
• Appointed a special adviser to the president on violence against women
• Fully funded the Violence Against Women Act
• Directed military leaders to end war in Iraq
• Began removing combat brigades from Iraq
• Created a military families advisory board
• Ended the abuse of supplemental budgets for war
• Made U.S. military aid to Pakistan conditional on anti-terror efforts
• Opened “America Houses” in Islamic cities around the globe
• Allocated Homeland Security funding according to risk
• Created a real National Infrastructure Protection Plan
• Increased funding for local emergency planning
• Extended monitoring and verification provisions of the START I Treaty
• Appointed a White House Coordinator for Nuclear Security
• Initiated a grant and training program for law enforcement to deter cyber crime
• Improved relations with Turkey, and its relations with Iraqi Kurds
• Launched an international Add Value to Agriculture Initiative (AVTA)
• Created a rapid response fund for emerging democracies
• Granted Americans unrestricted rights to visit family and send money to Cuba
• Restored funding for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne/JAG) program
• Established an Energy Partnership for the Americas
• Expanded the Nurse-Family Partnership to all low-income, first-time mothers
• Required new hires to sign a form affirming their hiring was not due to political affiliation or contributions.
• Provided affordable, high-quality child care
• Recruited math and science degree graduates to the teaching profession
• Reduced subsidies to private student lenders and protect student borrowers
• Encouraged water-conservation efforts in the West
• Increased funding for national parks and forests
• Increased funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund
• Encouraged farmers to use more renewable energy and be more energy efficient
• Expanded Pell grants for low-income students
• Pursued a wildfire management plan
• Removed more brush, small trees and vegetation that fuel wildfires
• Expanded access to places to hunt and fish
• Pushed for enactment of Matthew Shepard Act, which expands hate crime law to include sexual orientation and other factors
• Repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy
• Restored funding to the EEOC and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
• Reformed mandatory minimum sentences
• Created a White House Office on Urban Policy
• Fully funded the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
• Established program to convert manufacturing centers into clean technology leaders
• Established ‘Promise Neighborhoods’ for areas of concentrated poverty
• Worked toward deploying a global climate change research and monitoring system
• Funded a major expansion of AmeriCorps
• Created a Social Investment Fund Network
• Bolstered the military’s ability to speak differentlanguages
• Appointed the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer
• Provided grants to early-career researchers
• Worked to overturn Ledbetter vs. Goodyear
• Created a national declassification center
• Appointed an American Indian policy adviser
• Created new financial regulations
• Increased funding for land-grant colleges
• Banned lobbyist gifts to executive employees
• Signed a “universal” health care bill
• Created new criminal penalties for mortgage fraud
• Required 10 percent renewable energy by 2012
• Released oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve
• Raised fuel economy standards
• Invested in all types of alternative energy
• Enacted tax credit for consumers for plug-in hybrid cars
• Asked people and businesses to conserve electricity
• Required more energy-efficient appliances
• Created a ‘Green Vet Initiative’ to promote environmental jobs for veterans
• Created job training programs for clean technologies
• Required states to provide incentives for utilities to reduce energy consumption
• Supported high-speed rail
• Supported airline service in small towns
• Invested in public transportation
• Equalized tax breaks for driving and public transit
• Considered “smart growth” in transportation funding
• Shared environmental technology with other countries
• Doubled federal spending for research on clean fuels
• Provided grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes
• Increased funding for the Environmental Protection Agency
• Raised the small business investment expensing limit to $250,000 through the end of 2009
• Extended unemployment insurance benefits and
• temporarily suspend taxes on these benefits
• Supported network neutrality on the Internet
• Reversed restrictions on stem cell research
• Doubled funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a program that encourages manufacturing efficiency
• Included environmental and labor standards in trade agreements
• Created an international tax haven watch list
• Made permanent the Research & Development tax credit
• Required automatic enrollment in 401(k) plans
• Required automatic enrollment in IRA plans
• Created a consumer-friendly credit card rating system
• Created a $60 billion bank to fund roads and bridges
• Required full disclosure of company pension investments to employees
• Provided easy-to-understand comparisons of the Medicare prescription drug plans
• Invested in electronic health information systems
• Phased in requirements for health information technology
• Required that health plans utilize disease management programs
• Required providers to report measures of health care costs and quality
• Held hospitals and health plans accountable for disparities in care
• Implemented and funded proven health intervention programs
• Prevented drug companies from blocking generic drugs
• Allowed Medicare to negotiate for cheaper drug prices
• Worked with schools to create more healthful environments for children
• Improved recruitment of public health workers
• Mandated insurance coverage of autism treatment
• Fully funded the Combating Autism Act and Federal Autism Research Initiatives
• Doubled federal funding for cancer research
• Increased participation in cancer-related clinical trials
• Fully funded the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
• Set a national goal to provide re-screening for all 2-year-olds for developmental disorders
• Commissioned a study on students with disabilities and their transition to jobs or higher education
• Set goals and timetables for implementing Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act
• Created a best practices list for private businesses in accommodating workers with disabilities
• Launched educational initiative for employers on tax benefits of hiring employees with disabilities
• Reduced the threshhold for the Family and Medical Leave Act from companies with 50 employees to companies with 25 employees
• Provided a $1.5 billion fund to help states launch programs for paid family and medical leave
• Required employers to provide seven paid sick days per year
• Streamlined the Social Security disability approval process
• Expanded Veterans Centers in rural areas
• Established standards of care for traumatic brain injury treatment
• Made the Veterans Administration a national leader in health reform
• Reduced the Veterans Benefits Administration claims backlog
• Instituted electronic record-keeping for the Veterans Benefits Administration
• Expanded housing vouchers program for homeless veterans
• Launched a supportive services-housing program for veterans to prevent homelessness
• Expanded the Family Medical Leave Act to include leave for domestic violence or sexual assault
• Fully funded debt cancellation for heavily indebted poor countries
• Created a fund for international small and medium enterprises (SME)
• Launched robust diplomatic effort with Iraq and its neighbors
• Provided $30 billion over 10 years to Israel
• Limited Guard and Reserve deployments to one year for every six years
• Ended the “Stop-Loss” program of forcing troops to stay in service beyond their expected commitments
• Fully and properly equipped troops
• Created a Civilian Assistance Corps that would organize private sector professionals to help in times of need
• Included humanitarian international missions in long-term budgeting
• Reviewed weapons programs
• Modernized ships and invested more in small vessels
• Set standards for when the government should hire defense contractors
• Restored the government’s ability to manage contracts by rebuilding our contract officer corps
• Created a system of incentives and penalties for defense contracts
• Establish a Global Education Fund
• Strengthened the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) aimed at stopping spread of weapons of mass destruction
• Organized successful Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in 2010
• Expanded federal bioforensics program for tracking biological weapons
• Developed a comprehensive cyber security and response strategy
• Mandated standards for securing personal data
• Required companies to disclose personal information data breaches
• Worked to persuade the European Union to end credit guarantees to Iran
• Seek to negotiate a political agreement on Cyprus
• Restructured and streamlined USAID
• Increased the size of the foreign service
• Urged China to stop manipulation of its currency value
• Pressed China to end its support for regimes in Sudan, Burma, Iran and Zimbabwe
• Created a public “Contracts and Influence” database
• Required Cabinet officials to host Internet town hall meetings
• Conducted regulatory agency business in public
• Promoted more pre-school education
• Expanded Early Head Start and Head Start
• Reformed No Child Left Behind
• Doubled funding for Federal Charter School Program and require more accountability
• Addressed the dropout crisis by giving schools incentives for more dropout prevention
• Created Teacher Residency Programs that will send teachers to high-need schools
• Expanded teacher mentoring programs and provide incentives for more planning time
• Promoted innovative ways to reward good teachers
• Simplified the application process for financial aid
• Increased the number of high school students taking college-level courses
• Created incentives for tree planting and promote carbon sequestration
• Improved water quality
• Regulated pollution from major livestock operations
• Strengthened federal environmental justice programs
• Increased funding for organic and sustainable agriculture
• Partnered with landowners to conserve private lands
• Created a community college partnership program
• Increased funding for progams that conserve lands and habitat for select species such as the Osceola turkey
• Supported wetlands protection
• Promoted economic development in Mexico
• Supported repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
• Vigorously pursued hate crimes and civil rights abuses
• Signed the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act into law
• Supported regional innovation clusters
• Helped low-income areas get phone and Internet service
• Created a Homeowner Obligation Made Explicit (HOME) score for mortgage comparisons
• Increased the supply of affordable housing throughout metropolitan regions
• Invested in transitional jobs and career pathway programs
• Fully funded the COPS program
• Improved emergency response plans
• Capped interest rates on payday loans and improve disclosure
• Expanded public/private partnerships between schools and arts organizations
• Improved climate change data records
• Supported improved weather prediction program
• Offered prizes for advances in consumer technology
• Encouraged contests and programs to interest students in science
• Increased research opportunities for college students
• Strengthened the levees in New Orleans
• Directed revenues from offshore oil and gas drilling to increased coastal hurricane protection
• Shook loose federal money for rebuilding the Gulf Coast

Bron: Forbes magazine