Obama is a quality President.

I'll rebut Con and then go on to defend my own case. CON's CASE Under Obama's administration, raw unemployment has dropped, as can be seen in my first contention. But, I also think that the economic situation would have been far better had the GOP been more cooperative. The House Republicans have held in excess of 40 votes to repeal ObamaCare, they have held the debt ceiling hostage (arguably causing our Moody's downgrade), and have refused to pass a comprehensive jobs bill. [1,2, and 3] Con puts the blame squarely on Obama's shoulders for the 7.8% unemployment rate; yet, I don't think we can blame the President for this, when he's stymied by the right at every turn. Ultimately, when we ask whether we're better off, economically speaking, we are--housing markets are improving, [4] as is our GDP. Con also asserts that unemployment was as high as 10% during Obama's first term--please refer to the chart I provided in my last speech. This shows that, yes, unemployment numbers were dismal when Obama assumed office, but that was because he inherited a bad situation, not because he made it worse. To blame him for what he inherited is ridiculous--it's not his fault. Con also points out that hiring has improved in may states--this just makes the case for Obama. I think Obama's inaugural address did layout important new national objectives--including immigration reform, in which the GOP continues to impede his efforts [5]. PRO's CASE C1: Economy The link Con provided did not work, but it appears that the link is from Speaker Boehner's office. Boehner is naturally going to slant his sources against Obama; they are political and ideological rivals. This source is therefore likely to be incredibly biased, and should be discounted. And, despite the claims made by Con, economists observe that the jobs market is improving [6] and that jobless rates are falling [7]. Lastly, much of the loss in the labor force participation rate has been cyclical, and therefore not due to Obama. [8] Finally, in general terms, much of the poor economic situation can be attributed to the GOP's lack of cooperation and their holding the economy hostage over less important social issues. Also, don't forget that Obama has brought 2 million jobs back! C2: Equality Con says I have no argument here, and so, fails to address the actual examples I cited. Extend these dropped examples: 1) Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act - this gives women more rights to equal pay, combatting the pay disparity that exists in the U.S. today 2) Matthew Shepard Act - this is tough hate crime legislation that works to deter and punish crimes motivated by bigotry and discrimination 3) Don't Ask/Don't Tell Repealed - obviously, this gives equal rights to members of the LGBTQ community serving in the military; Obama's even granted partners of gays in the armed forces spousal benefits. These three examples ARE arguments--specifically, dropped arguments--for how Obama's promoted equality. C3: Foreign Policy Con acknowledges that Obama did make a good decision by moving troops out of combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan--this argument flows Pro, then. Con's only disagreement with my C3 is that he's failing with regards to China and Russia. This is, firstly, too narrow and objection. ON the whole, Obama is better liked globally than his predecessor, making it easier to conduct business with other nations [9]. Additionally, U.S.-E.U. relations have improved, with the heralding of new economic ties and greater communication between both parties. Secondly, Con's objection about Russia is fallacious, insofar as Russia's military is not comparable to ours and because Russia's population is shrinking so rapidly that it simply won't have the population base to remain a power for much longer. As for China, if the GOP would agree to cut the defense budget, we might begin to cut down our "relationship of dependency" with them. Sources: 1 - https://www.moodys.com... 2 - http://www.moneynews.com... 3 - http://thinkprogress.org... 4 - http://rismedia.com... 5 - http://www.latimes.com... 6 - http://www.bloomberg.com... 7 - http://money.cnn.com... 8 - http://www.macroadvisers.com... 9 - http://www.worldpublicopinion.org... I also thank Con for this opportunity to debate, and, as promised, I have tried to be more substantive; my R2 speech was a bit rushed.