The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has come out with a commercial (dubbed “Mitt v. Mitt”) cataloguing the flip-flops and inconsistent positions of former Gov. Mitt Romney. This is entirely fair for them to do.
But it’s also entirely fair to do the same with respect to President Barack Obama. So, here we go, “Obama v. Obama” on elections, health care, defense, taxes and spending, energy, civility, and other topics.
(Warning: This list is not intended to be a comprehensive account of all Obama’s flip-flops. It’s just the first few dozen I could come up with off the top of my head and with the help of PolitiFact.)
ELECTIONS & VOTING RECORD
Obama’s presidential run began with a flip-flop. In November 2004, after being elected to the U.S. Senate, Obama insisted that he would not run for President in 2008, calling the idea “silly”.
In 2007, Obama pledged to seek public financing for his presidential campaign. In 2008, he rejected public financing, even though his opponent — Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) — accepted public financing.
In 2010, Obama decried senate candidate Scott Brown’s (R-MA) record of voting with Republicans 96% of the time, saying it showed Brown was not “independent”. When he himself was in the senate, Obama voted with Democrats 96% of the time.
HEALTH CARE
In the 2008 campaign, Obama rejected the idea that an individual mandate (i.e., requiring individuals to purchase health insurance) should be part of health care reform. In 2010, he signed into law an individual mandate.
In 2008, Obama outlined a health care reform plan including a public option. In 2010, he signed into law a plan without a public option.
In 2003, as an Illinois state senator, Obama said, “I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health care program”. In 2009, Obama said, “I have not said that I was a single-payer supporter”.
In 2010, Obama signed into law health care reform that was passed via reconciliation, contrary to his 2007 insistence that health care reform should not be passed by a bare “50 plus one majority”, and his 2005 rejection of the ‘nuclear option’ in the Senate.
In 2008, Obama said, when it came to crafting health care reform, “we’ll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN”. Many crucial negotiations pertaining to health care reform were not televised.
In 2008, Obama criticized his presidential opponent, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), saying, “for the first time in American history, he wants to tax your health benefits”. In 2010, Obama signed into law health care reform legislation that puts a 40% tax on some health insurance policies.
In 2008, Obama said that, as president, his health care reform would allow Americans to import cheaper prescription drugs. The health care reform he signed into law does not allow this.
FOREIGN POLICY & DEFENSE
In 2007, Obama said, “The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.” In 2011, he unilaterally authorized the military campaign in Libya.
In 2008, Obama’s campaign said that, as president, he would “close the detention facility at Guantanamo”. And, in January 2009, Obama signed an executive order calling for the Guantanamo Bay facility to be closed. It is still open.
In the 2008 campaign, Obama said that, as president, he would end the use of military commissions with respect to terrorism suspects and detainees. However, they are still in use.
In January 2007, Obama said the Iraq ‘surge’ wouldn’t “solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it’ll do the reverse”, and that, “we can send 15,000 more troops, 20,000 more troops, 30,000 more troops, I don’t know any expert on the region or any military officer that I’ve spoken to privately, that believes that that is going to make a substantial difference on the situation on the ground”. In January 2008, after the number of Iraqi civilian and U.S. troop deaths had plummeted, Obama said, “I had no doubt, and I said at the time, when I opposed the surge, that, given how wonderfully our troops perform, if we place 30,000 more troops in there, then we would see an improvement in the security situation, and we would see a reduction in the violence”.
In April 2009, the Obama administration said it planned to release photos depicting abuse of detainees being held by the U.S. overseas. The administration then reversed its decision, and said it would resist court rulings demanding the release of such photos (in essence, adopting the position of the prior Bush administration).
In 2008, Obama said it was his “firmly held conviction that the Armenian Genocide is not an allegation, a personal opinion, or a point of view, but rather a widely documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical evidence … as President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide”. He has not done so.
In May 2008, Obama said he would meet McCain “anywhere, anytime to have a debate about our respective policies in Iraq, Iran, the Middle East or around the world”. But he rejected town hall debates proposed by the McCain campaign.
In 2008, Obama said that, as president, he would “give an annual State of the World address to the American people in which I lay out our national security policy”. He has never given any such address.
TAXES
In 2008, Obama said that, as president, he would repeal the Bush tax cuts for the rich. In 2010, he extended those cuts.
In 2008, Obama said that, as president, he would raise taxes on capital gains and dividends for higher-income taxpayers. He has not done so.
In 2008, Obama pledged that, “no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes. My opponent can’t make that pledge”. However, he has raised taxes on tanning, cigarettes, and those who do not purchase health insurance (regardless of income).
In 2008, Obama said that, as president, he would “eliminate all income taxation of seniors making less than $50,000 per year”. He has not done so.
In 2008, Obama said that, as president, he would increase the tax credits for child care and dependent care, and make such credits refundable. He has not done so.
THE ECONOMY & FEDERAL SPENDING
As a senator, Obama opposed raising the debt ceiling, calling it “unpatriotic”. As president, he insisted that it be raised.
In 2008, Obama said that, as president, he would raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour, up from the current $7.25 an hour. It has not been raised.
In 2008, Obama derided spending freezes as “using a hatchet where you need a scalpel” and “unfair burden-sharing”. He said that, although it’s “proposed periodically”, a spending freeze “doesn’t happen”. In 2010, Obama announced support for a three-year federal spending freeze on discretionary spending not related to national security.
In 2008, Obama’s campaign said that, as president, he would reduce earmarks “to less than $7.8 billion a year, the level they were at before 1994″. Earmarks for fiscal year 2010 were more than $15 billion.
In 2008, Obama said that, as president, he would “ensure that federal contracts over $25,000 are competitively bid”. He has not done so.
ENERGY
In 2008, Obama said that, as president, he would “set a hard cap on all carbon emissions at a level that scientists say is necessary to curb global warming — an 80% reduction by 2050″. No cap and trade legislation has been passed.
In July 2007, Obama rejected selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which he said should be “reserved for a genuine emergency”. A month later, Obama said, “We should sell 70 million barrels of oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve for less expensive crude, which in the past has lowered gas prices within two weeks”, even though gas prices were higher in July 2007 than in August 2007.
CIVILITY
After the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and several others (six people were killed), Obama said, “at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who happen to think differently than we do — it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds”. Yet Obama has frequently described Republicans as Social Darwinists. He has said that the difference between Democrats and Republicans is that Democrats “have a sense of neighborliness and a sense of community, and we are willing to look out for one another and help people who are vulnerable and help people who are down on their luck”.
In 2008, Obama said, “I will never question the patriotism of others in this campaign. And I will not stand idly by when I hear others question mine. … patriotism can never be defined as loyalty to any particular leader, or government, or policy”. However, in that same year, he called the Bush administration’s decision to raise the debt ceiling “unpatriotic”. In recent months, he has accused Republicans of putting party before country, and he has stood idly by as others in his party — e.g., Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) — have said Republicans are “not patriotic”.
In his book, “The Audacity of Hope”, Obama lamented the description of abortion opponents as “right-wing ideologues who want to take away a woman’s right to choose”. Obama said the “standard boilerplate” rhetoric had been written — not by himself — but by someone on his U.S. senate campaign staff, and he had the “offending words” removed from his website. In recent months, however, Obama has described Republican opponents of abortion as seeking to “turn back the clock”, “prevent millions of women from getting basic health care that they desperately need”, and “stirring up fights over a woman’s right to make her own health care choices”.
In 2008, Obama declared, “Despite what our opponents may claim, there are no real or fake parts of this country.” In 2009, while campaigning for it to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, he described Chicago as “that most American of American cities”.
Despite advocating civility and civil debate, Obama has appointed Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) to chair the DNC, even though she has frequently resorted to name-calling (e.g., here, here, here, here, and here). Rather than chastising her for her incivility, Obama has praised her.
After James “Jimmy” Hoffa, Jr., launched this invective at the Tea Party — “President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let’s take these son of a bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong” — during an event at which Obama was about to speak, the Obama administration refused to denounce Hoffa’s offensive (and violent) rhetoric, saying they would not act as the “speech police”. Days later, Obama’s presidential campaign launched AttackWatch.com, a website dedicated to policing the speech of Republicans and denouncing them when they say unfair things about Obama. Currently, one of the headlines on the website refers to “Romney’s deceitful history”.
OTHER
In 2008, Obama derided presidential commissions as “Washington-speak” for “we’ll get back to you later”. In 2010, he appointed the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (AKA, “the Simpson-Bowles debt committee”). The commission did not have the votes to submit their plan to Congress, and Obama has not championed their proposals.
In 2008, Obama said that, as president, he would create a national commission to look at whether programs such as Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplementary Security Income, Medicare and Medicaid create an incentive for people to not work. He has yet to do so.
In 2008, Obama said that, as president, he would introduce comprehensive immigration reform legislation in his first year. He did not.
In 2008, Obama’s campaign said that, as president, he would “not sign any nonemergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House Web site for five days”. He has since signed non-emergency bills without the five-day public review period.
In 2008, Obama’s campaign said that, as president, he would support “human missions to the Moon by 2020, as a precursor in an orderly progression to missions to more distant destinations, including Mars”. His proposed budgets have not included funding for such missions.
In 2008, Obama said that, as president, he would convert the White House fleet of cars to plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles (security issues permitting). This has not happened.
PolitiFact currently lists 54 promises Obama has reneged on (some, but not all, mentioned above).
(Now we get to recite all the ominous rhetoric the DNC’s ad directed at Romney.)
Obama wants to be president, again. But, who is this guy? What does he really believe? Can you trust him? Does he change position because of political expedience?
You’re only allowed a certain number of flips before people begin to doubt your character. And he’s not exactly a straight shooter, is he? Which Obama will we be voting for? If he wins, which Obama will be inaugurated? These mixed messages, these frequent changes of mind are awfully politically convenient. He doesn’t seem to have a core.
The DNC is free to use this material to create a commercial deriding Obama. I’m sure they’ll get around to it soon, they’re probably just having a hard time figuring out how to keep it down to four minutes.