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Obama's Reversal of Bush Doctrine, Stem Cells and More

by Rob Walker | February 16, 2009 at 12:21 pm

315 views | 15 Recommendations | 4 comments

Since he was inaugurated President of the United States, Barack Obama has been tackling a mounting number of issues head-on. On Sunday Obama's administration announced they would soon be lifting the eight-year ban on embryonic stem cell research.

Most have been well discussed, online, in the media and here at NowPublic, such as the closure of Guantanamo Bay and passing the Stimulus package. Much of his time has been spent overturning and reversing many decisions and policies of the previous Bush administration.

Today, former president Bill Clinton praised Obama's first few weeks in office, saying that Obama had built a good team and was impressed with the stimulus bill.

U.S. President Barack Obama will soon issue an executive order lifting an eight-year ban embryonic stem cell research imposed by his predecessor, President George W. Bush, a senior adviser said on Sunday.

Former President Bill Clinton said Monday he thinks the country will surmount the current economic crisis, but sees the threat of terrorism and global instability as a longer-term problem.

Freedom of Information

One of our members, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, wrote a detailed piece on Obama's plan to ease access to information and the government's requirement to share public information. "In the face of doubt, openness prevails" said a memo issued to federal agencies.

US President Barack Obama and his administration began the process of removing restrictions on information sharing and the use of factual evidence within days of taking office.

Environment

NowPublic staffer Amy Judd posted a story about Obama putting aside Bush's offshore drilling plan, in order to come up with their own timeline:

Obama decided today to put aside Bush's offshore drilling plan off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

Secretary Ken Salazar said that they need to set aside this plan and come up with their own timeline now.

Gay Rights

While the plan to have gays serve openly in the military has stalled, gay rights activists remain hopeful that Obama's vision for equality will embrace them as he promised.

Under gay-friendly President Barack Obama, the gay community in the US is optimistic their American dream of justice and liberty for all will finally be fulfilled. According to Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the country's first black president has a vision for equality for all Americans.

And then of course there are the big ones: talks with Iran, the closing of Guantanamo Bay and gays serving openly in the military, though that one seems to have hit some snags.

In a seeming reversal from previous administrations, the United States has said they are open to talks with Iran. The Iranian foreign minister stated this is 'happy news', but that the US needs to stop with its 'carrot and the stick' policies.

Retired Brigadier General for the U.S. Marine Corps, General Hugh Aitken, has questioned the Obama administration plan to form a commission to study "don't ask, don't tell", the common term used for the policy about not disclosing homosexuality to the United States military and mandated by federal law.

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artseafartsea (not verified)

at 13:06 on February 16th, 2009

Thank God we finally got an intelligent President in the White House. Hopefully, he can reverse some of the damage both Bush and Cheney have imposed on the American people let alone people in the coutnries he has started wars in. Let's all stop squabbling and appreciate Obama while we can.

Rhonda J Mangus

at 13:06 on February 16th, 2009

Thanks for this, Rob!

Roy C

at 18:18 on February 16th, 2009

There was no ban on embryonic stem cell research using private funds. There was only a ban on using federal funds. It is a lie to present the information as if stem cell research had been outlawed when it hadn't.

Why should we screw up other people's countries with drilling and then send them money that could be used in our own country instead of providing a ski slope in a hotel in Qatr?

Hey, don't you do a lot of drilling in Canada?

The Guantanamo problem would never have been had we merely declared war on Al Qada and built POW camps, just as in WWII. The Bushies blew that one. With a declaration of war, we could have held them for decades. Yes, some are innocent. But some are very, very dangerous.