Promise Kept: Obama reinstates executive order on disability hiring

[WonderGrunion]

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/promise/93/reinstate-executive-order-to-hire-an-additional-10/

Updated: Friday, July 30th, 2010 | By Lukas Pleva

On the campaign trail, President Obama promised to reinstate an executive order to hire an additional 100,000 federal employees with disabilities within five years. The directive was signed by President Bill Clinton in July 2000, but even ten years later, individuals with targeted disabilities still represent less than 1 percent of the federal workforce. Obama promised that, under his administration, the federal government would become a model employer of individuals with disabilities.

When we last reviewed this promise back in December 2009, we rated it Stalled, since we found no evidence of tangible action. July 26, 2010 marked the 20th anniversary of the signing of the American with Disabilities Act, so we wanted to see whether there's been any change since then.

And there has been. President Obama actually reinstated the executive order on the day of the anniversary. The federal government will "boost recruitment; we"re going to boost training, we"re going to boost retention. We"ll better train hiring managers. Each agency will have a senior official who"s accountable for achieving the goals we"ve set. And I expect regular reports. And we"re going to post our progress online so that you can hold us accountable, too," Obama said while speaking at the White House.

snip

President Obama promised to reinstate an executive order to hire an additional 100,000 federal employees with disabilities within five years. He also promised to designate a White House official to assure that all federal departments and agencies meet the mandate. He signed the executive order on July 26, 2010. And though the order does not mention appointing a White House official to ensure accountability, it places the responsibility to implement an accountability reporting system in the hands of the Director of the Office of Personnel Management and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and calls on all agencies to appoint their own senior-level accountability officer. We change the rating to Promise Kept.

More change I can believe in! :fistbump:

[quiet.american]

1. K&R.nt

[lbrtbell]

2. That doesn't help the majority of disabled people

You know, the ones who can't work for a living. SSI/SSD is stacked against those people as it is, nothing's being done to make it easier to get accepted, and now there's talk about dismantling Social Security entirely.

I'm sick of the way society pees on those who can't work. :mad:

[WonderGrunion]

3. It helps those that can be employed to gain employment

As someone who just finished spending over a year unemployed, I can assure you that nothing gives a greater sense of self worth than being able to work at a job gainfully.

[Hekate]

5. +1 thank you

[dionysus]

6. "talk about dismantling Social Security entirely." where the hell you pull that shit from?

[lbrtbell]

10. A little thing called the news

You might pay attention to it sometime.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

13. And yet... no citation.

Ever. That's the only response that I ever get when I ask for a source.

I read 5 newspapers every day. Somehow, this slipped past me, even despite being what would be a huge story. AARP seems to have missed it too. You'd think they'd be apoplectic, but they don't even have a peep.

Seriously, stop reading RW propaganda.

[impik]

28. Oh' come on. It's in the "NEWS". Don't you know?

The Left blogosphere makes shit up, and turn it into "news". Teabaggers, all of them.

[Donnachaidh]

33. you must not do much reading on this site, either.

Google *Catfood Commission* and you'll get all the citations you want, and then some.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

39. And not one links to source that isn't bloviated rhetoric.

You idiots are starting to believe your own lies. That's sad.

[Donnachaidh]

34. here's your citation, right here on DU

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8861594

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

38. That's rhetoric, not a source.

You do know the difference, no?

[JTFrog]

15. Quit watching Fox. n/t

[CreekDog]

42. if you say that most disabled people can't work, then none of your other statements are reliable

because your initial statement is an epic fail.

thanks.

[Donnachaidh]

32. recent coma?

You haven't been reading much about the *commission* set up to dis-assemble SS and Medicare, have you? There's been enough posts here.

[SunsetDreams]

36. Reading opinions based off of assumptions, are hardly fact.

[juajen]

7. No one is disabling social security. NT

[Recursion]

8. There are rumors that a commission is going to make a recommendation...

...to raise the retirement age and means-test some types of benefits. But we don't know if that's what they're going to end up recommending. They will probably also to recommend Congress lift (though probably not eliminate, damn it) the cap on FICA levies, which is something we should be happy about.

Not even Grover Norquist has a realistic plan for actually dismantling the entire Social Security system.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[impik]

29. There are also tumors that Barack Obama wasn't born in the USA

[Recursion]

31. Exactly

And until all the commission's wrangling is done, worrying about what they might or might not recommend is as silly as that.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

12. Jesus fucking Christ - Can nothing please people?

Seriously, he does the right thing for people with a disability and now you're being a total fucking jerk because he didn't help EVERY person with a disability?

You fucking deserve a Republican.

[Historic NY]

17. a disrupter looking for pepperoni.

[Flying Dream Blues]

24. Is there any doubt? nt

[alcibiades_mystery]

37. "You fucking deserve a Republican"

In-fuckin'-deed.

A lot of stupid motherfuckers around here DESERVE a Republican. Fucking imbeciles.

[impik]

26. I so hope that you'll get a Republican president in 2012

What a fucking stupidity.

[CreekDog]

41. Please stop with the tired stereotype of the disabled not working and unable to work

you are referring to a subset of people, disabled or not, that are unable to work.

don't broad brush and don't spread stereotypes around here.

[SunsetDreams]

4. K&R

[Tarheel_Dem]

9. K&R

:kick:

[ThomCat]

16. An excutive order with a 5 year deadline, 2 years into his term,

is USELESS unless he gets re-elected. If he loses the election, this will get canceled by the next president long before the 5 year date. :(

If he does get reelected, let's hope this is one of the few promises he bothers to keep. We've certainly seen what his promises to defend choice and be a fierce advocate for the LGBT community have been worth.

[WonderGrunion]

18. Yes, let's look at those

Obama signs hate crimes bill

Updated: Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 | By Catharine Richert

President Barack Obama has signed a bill to expand the federal hate crimes law.

The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, named after two men who were killed more than 10 years ago because of their sexual orientation, was included in a defense bill that Obama signed on Oct. 28, 2009.

"After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we've passed hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray, or who they are," Obama said.

The law essentially expands the current statute to include any crime instigated by a person's gender, sexual orientation or disability.

The signing was hailed by gay rights groups.

"Today's signing of the first major piece of civil rights legislation to protect LGBT Americans represents a historic milestone in the inevitable march towards equality," said Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese.

We rate this a Promise Kept.

Employment Non-Discrimination Act ready for consideration in House, Senate

Updated: Monday, September 21st, 2009 | By Louis Jacobson

As a candidate, Barack Obama promised to "place the weight of (his) administration behind ... a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity." This summer, lawmakers in the House and Senate introduced legislation to do just that.

The Senate version, S. 1584, is sponsored by Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon. It has been backed by two Republicans, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, with 38 original co-sponsors in all.

The House version is set to have a hearing at the House Education and Labor Committee on Sept. 23, 2009. An aide to Frank said the panel is expected to mark up and vote on the measure "soon after the hearing." No action has been scheduled in the Senate.

Both measures are still a long way from being ready for the president's signature — they must be passed in committee, approved by each chamber, and reconciled between the two chambers if necessary, all despite a crowded congressional calendar. In addition, conservatives are sure to raise concerns, particularly on the gender-identity provisions. Still, the groundwork has been laid for Obama's promise to become reality, so we consider it to be In the Works.

Congress moving to end 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy

Updated: Friday, May 28th, 2010 | By Angie Drobnic Holan


The U.S. House of Representatives voted on May 27, 2010, to end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that prohibits gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military. It's a significant step forward for President Barack Obama's campaign promise.

The vote was on a compromise plan that stops short of repealing the policy outright. The vote allows the policy to be repealed after military commanders complete a study and certify that the move would not be disruptive.

The House vote was 234 to 194. Most Democrats voted for it, while most Republicans voted against it. There were a few who broke ranks: Five Republicans supported the measure, while 26 Democrats opposed.

The full Senate has yet to vote on the matter, but a committee has approved a measure similar to the House plan, which is an amendment to a defense policy bill.

This doesn't yet repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, but it's a significant step. The promise remains In the Works.

Some progress on repealing gay marriage ban, but still a ways to go

Updated: Thursday, June 24th, 2010 | By Lukas Pleva

Back in October 2009, we reported on the status of President Barack Obama's promise to support the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996, says that states do not have to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states and that the federal government does not recognize same-sex marriage. At the time, we rated the promise Stalled, since although legislation had been introduced in Congress to repeal the law, the White House had not voiced support for the bill.

Since then, several key developments have taken place:

• Obama called for the repeal of DOMA in his remarks at the Human Rights Campaign Dinner on Oct. 11, 2009. He again stressed that the law must be repealed in a Presidential Proclamation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month issued on May 28, 2010.

• In April 2010, Obama issued a memorandum directing the Department of Health and Human Services to create a rule mandating that all hospitals that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding must grant visitation privileges to gay and lesbian partners of those who are in the hospital. "In the absence of gay people being able to legally marry in most jurisdictions, this is a step to rectify a gross inequity" said David Smith of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group.

• In June 2010, the White House released a memorandum requiring executive agencies to extend benefits to same-sex domestic partners of federal employees. The benefits include family assistance services, hardship transfers, as well as relocation expenses. Obama noted that these benefits are in addition to the benefits that the Office of Personnel Management and the State Department had already extended to same-sex partners in 2009.

The president has repeatedly called for DOMA's repeal, and he has begun extending benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. These developments move the promise from Stalled to In the Works.

Missed opportunities add up to a Promise Broken

Updated: Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 | By Louis Jacobson

As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama pledged to "use the bully pulpit to urge states to treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws." On Dec. 7, 2009, we ruled this promise Stalled, saying that while the president hadn't backtracked on his positions, a review of statements and documents by the White House suggested that it would be an exaggeration to say he has used his bully pulpit to advance the cause.

We're now ready to strengthen our ruling to Promise Broken. We've concluded that Obama has not just failed to push states toward equality for same-sex families; he's failed to do so despite being presented with numerous opportunities in the states that would have provided him an obvious forum for doing so.

After our original rating appeared, one reader noted that state-based developments occurred on a wide range of dates between April and December 2009. During that span, Vermont, Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire and Washington, D.C., legalized same-sex marriage; Colorado, Washington state, Nevada and Wisconsin legalized domestic partnerships; and either the voters or the courts in California, Maine and New York acted to reject same-sex marriage. Any one of these events would have provided the president with an opportunity to use the bully pulpit, as Obama promised.

We would likely be more lenient with the president if he'd made a promise that required a tangible act, such as passage of legislation or the signing of an executive order. But instead, he merely promised to use the "bully pulpit" -- something he can do any day of the week. If the president does make a high-profile endorsement of same-sex marriage and adoption equality in the future, we'll change our rating. But for now, we conclude that his near-silence on the issue justifies a rating of Promise Broken.

So there you have it, In his first year and a half in office of the five specific promises to the GLBTQ community, ( http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/subjects/gays-and-lesbians/ ) one has been kept, 3 are in the works and 1 is broken. And the write up on the broken promise indicates it could change status at a later date to 'Promise Kept'.

Yeah, he's just like Bush. :eyes:

[babylonsister]

19. Great post, WonderGrunion. It wouldn't

hurt at all for this to be its own post-it's nice to have this info all in one place.

I'm with you; despite the naysayers, he's doing a great job given the challenges and obstructions he's confronted with daily.

:thumbsup:

[WonderGrunion]

20. Politifact has all of President Obama's promises rated

and organized by category at this page: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/subjects/

He's kept 120 promises so far, compromised to pass another 37, and is working on 243 promises as we speak.

Only 19 promises are listed as broken, some of those are able to be changed still.

[TheWraith]

43. Amen, babylonsister! nt

[ThomCat]

21. Oh Please!

:eyes:

That site lists issues as In The Works, giving him credit when he has done nothing, or when he has dragged his feet and been an obstacle.

On DADT he could have signed an executive order at any moment as Commander in Chief halting the implementation of the DADT policies, ending the loss of LGBT service members. Experts in military law have stated that it was within his authority, and there was no reason for him to wait for congress. Yet he has used "waiting for congress" as feeble excuse for doing absolutely nothing.

He has done Nothing to support the ENDA except wait for someone else to do the work to make it happen. When it comes to our rights he doesn't seem to realize that he has any influence he can use as President.

Not only has he failed to use his influence to help us overturn DOMA, he has had his justice department defend DOMA (which they could have chosen not to do), and they chose to do it with language far more homophobic than even the republicans used when they pushed through the original legislation. That's HIS DoJ. He has to take responsibility for that. They don't take such a high profile stance on such a high profile case in front of the supreme court without him knowing about it as Chief Executive.

It's real easy to give Obama credit for being a civil rights Messiah if you're going to give him credit for everything he might possibly do someday, or everything the congress or senate might do with or without him while he's in office. But the fact is, Obama has failed to be the "fierce advocate" he promised to be, and has been an obstacle more often than a friend to the LGBT community since taking office.

The best he can say is that he's been better than a republican, but he sure as hell hasn't been even as good for us as Clinton was, and that's pathetic.

[WonderGrunion]

22. Clinton signed DOMA and DADT

The only way Clinton helped the LGBT community was by making heterosexuals look bad.

[polmaven]

40. Perhaps you would have preferred

the Constitutional Amendment to define marriage between one man and one woman that was being discussed at the time.....DOMA stopped that. That would have been much more difficult to overturn than DOMA is.

And, maybe you prefer that military leaders would have been able to continue to demand an answer on sexual preferences from anyone about whom they had suspicions. DADT was the best that could be done at the time, and was better than what was in place.

The country is in a different place now, when it comes to LGBT rights. We were NOT here when President Clinton signed those measures.

[TheWraith]

44. Actually, DADT is not better than the previous system.

There are more discharges of gay troops annually under DADT than there were under the blanket ban before.

That said, I agree with you that there were much worse alternatives. We may not like it, but sometimes compromise is necessary in politics. However, to bash Obama for not acting soon enough on one set of priorities, and yet give Clinton a pass on this sort of thing, is hypocritical in the extreme.

[JoePhilly]

23. "hasn't been as good a Clinton ... "

Clinton signed DADT and DOMA. Great job??

[impik]

30. So what if he did? Obama is worse, because

because, because, because... he's Obama.

[SunsetDreams]

35. ...

:rofl: neener neener neener:P

[phleshdef]

25. "he could have signed an executive order at any moment as Commander in Chief "

But as you just said, signing an executive order is useless unless he gets re-elected.

If you are going to bitch and moan and continue to display child level patience, at least be consistent about it.

[impik]

27. Facts are nothing to these people. Nothing. Bunch of teabaggers.

[Roci]

45. More like small change you can believe in..

I'm nobody's shill. I won't go out holding a sign saying that this is good for anyone. This is window dressing, plain and simple. How many people with disabilities in the White House on an average working day like today? And of that subset, how many people with disabilities show up where it can really influence policy decisions? Who was the last disabled person to sit in on a Cabinet meeting, or to hold even a sham Cabinet level post?? How many Disabled people in the Offices of Joe Biden and the First Lady? I'm sorry, but this is an election year, and "stuff" like this is bound to come down the pike and around the bend. It don't mean didly when it comes to representation, policy, or any real efforts to give the disabled a real "seat at the table" where people who know can really change policy and touch genuine human lives.