The Obama Administration

I will keep my as conduct civil as I can, and please feel free to expose faults in my conduct. If you find my arguments lacking, please keep in mind that this is the first debate of the user "Crescendo. " The Case Against the Obama Administration: By C. E. Turner Jr, AKA "Crescendo" 1. The Obama Administration and the US Economy Despite the claim that the economy has improved since Obama took office, the reverse is, in fact, true, or so I hope to show. A record of 20% of American households were on food stamps in 2013. . http://cnsnews.com... . http://hotair.com... It may seem that the unemployment rate is down, according to this chart: . http://www.multpl.com... However. .. this simply means less unemployed people are considered unemployed . http://www.usnews.com... . http://www.huffingtonpost.com... Now, let's look at the debt. Here's an old link from 2012: . http://www.cbsnews.com... So basically, in 4 years of Obama the US National Debt increased slightly more than it did under President George W. Bush's 8 years. Many people would place the blame on our costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we've withdrawn from both countries, having all our troops withdrawn from Iraq by December of 2011 and our withdrawal from Afghanistan to be complete by the end of 2014. . http://en.wikipedia.org... . http://www.nytimes.com... . http://en.wikipedia.org... . http://www.theguardian.com... Therefore, though US forces have left Iraq and we're in the process of leaving Afghanistan, the US National Debt has continued to increase under Obama. 2. Obama and The US-Mexican Border Obama scrapped further work on the border fence . http://www.nbcnews.com... . http://www.huffingtonpost.com... An argument used is that it's an expensive undertaking. . http://usnews.nbcnews.com... . http://www.sfgate.com... However. .. illegal immigrants cost this country even more money. . http://abcnews.go.com... . http://www.foxnews.com... So with all due respect to Mr. Obama, why does he not implement the completion of the border fence? Even if it cost as much as 1 trillion dollars, it'd make up for this cost in just 10 years. 3. The Obama Administration and Foreign Policy Many Democrats applaud Obama's reaction to the Crimea situation; however, what many Democrats do not realize is that Obama was warned about Russia ahead of time. .. by US Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney. . http://www.ijreview.com... . http://www.inquisitr.com... . http://www.theblaze.com... Also, once a US Drone crashed in Iran. Obama asked Iran to return the drone to the US, only to be told no. In this show of weakness, President Obama allowed a theocratic regime notorious for human rights abuses to keep one of our drones. . http://www.cnn.com... . http://www.huffingtonpost.com... Then, there's Obama's "red line" in Syria. . http://www.washingtonpost.com... . http://www.cnn.com... Bashar Al-Assad is still in power today, proving that Obama did little more than talk big. However, there is one time where Obama did more than talk. This was when he got the US Involved in the Libyan Civil War. However, he did not have Congressional Approval for this war. It was unauthorized by anyone except for him, and thus it was an illegal war. . http://articles.latimes.com... . http://www.salon.com... 4. The Obama Administration and the ACA: Arguably the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (nicknamed Obamacare) is the most infamous aspect of the Obama Administration. It is highly debated whether this is a beneficial or unbeneficial step for America. For instance, critics argue it's headed in the direction of Canadian Healthcare, as well as other complaints. The reason people fear a system similar to the Canadian Healthcare System is because of this: . http://dailycaller.com... . http://www.huffingtonpost.ca... . http://www.cbsnews.com... However, even if it was a system that was beneficial to America, it could still be argued that the ACA is unbeneficial because it causes the US Government to have more say in the lives of citizens. 5. Obama on Social Policy: Obama has endorsed the legalization of marijuana. . http://www.theatlantic.com... However, that's a problem because children can be affected by second-hand marijuana smoke. . http://secondhandmarijuanasmoke.com... And this is not desirable because of marijuana's effects on the teenage brain. . http://co.chalkbeat.org... . http://www.azcentral.com... Other health risks aside, I predict that youth in Colorado and other "Green States" will experience a decline in their grades. Conclusion: President Obama and his Administration have been harmful to this country. I await my opponent's rebuttal, and once again I apologize for weaknesses in my arguments.