Resolved: Obama's performance in the White House has not been successful

As per the rules of the debate, I will rebut two points (jobs and foreign policy) this round. Next round, as per the rules of the debate, my opponent shall only rebut one point. I will also provide a brief conclusion about energy policy, which my opponent has both straw manned and failed to deliver upon. Energy Conclusion- President Obama has awarded billions of dollars to green energy companies such as Solyndra, Ener1, and Beacon Power. All of them have failed on the free market and have cost taxpayers billions of dollars. - President Obama's green energy stimulus has awarded little more than a 1% gain of renewable energy in the energy market. Considering the potentiality of the $35 billion stimulus, these gains would have likely occurred on the free market without the stimulus. (1)-President Obama has implemented a anti-traditional energy type policy including but not limited to denying the Keystone Pipeline, refusal to build new refineries, refusal to build more nuclear energy plants, and a policy of appeasement in the Middle East regarding energy. (2)-Gas prices have risen 100% under Obama's term. There are a number of possible ways to have decreased the prices that the President did not use such as domestic incentives. - Obama's campaign promise of "5 million new green jobs" has amounted to little more than 3 400 new jobs calculated by the ramifications of the stimulus. (3) - The drilling under President Obama is by no means his accomplishment and is a result of the permits designated by Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. My opponent dismisses this by simply stating that my source was supposedly biased, even though FOX News, as with any other media outlet, is a relatively reliable source of information. (4) -Obama has denied the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline which would have both created 20 000 domestic jobs and lowered domestic gas prices. (5)-Secretary of Energy Chu DIRECTLY STATED "Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe. " (2) This clearly shows Obama's ideological failure in the energy sector. - The Keystone XL Pipeline is not harmful to the environment if properly built. (6)Jobs My opponent's entire argument in this sector relies on the one premise: President Obama prevented a second "Great Depression. "To go about this, my opponent has stated that two economists, Alan Blinder and Mark Zandi both agreed a Great Depression was prevented. Both Alan Blinder and Mark Zandi are proponents of the Obama Administration and the stimulus policies enacted by it. They have left wing economical tendencies and are therefore not a reliable source of information because they are biased. (7) (8)My opponent argues for the fact that the Stimulus was the proprietor for economic recovery within the United States. As seen by this graph, recovery started before the implementation of the Stimulus. My opponent's graph about private sector growth does not take into account that the economy started recovering before the Stimulus. As a result, the recovery was not a result of Obama's policies. (9) This graph also cleary shows that the amount of jobs DECREASED after the Stimulus: My opponent has quoted CBO and other governmental sources about the impacts of the stimulus. These sources should immediately be thrown out the window and they are a biased and not consistent with reality outlook on the impacts of the Stimulus. As we can see, White House economists have had it wrong about the impacts of the Stimulus on the economy: IN FACT, THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE WAS ABOVE THE PROJECTED AMOUNT OF JOBS THAT THE STIMULUS PROMISED TO CREATE. (9)As outlined in Round 1, the Stimulus failed on FIVE main aspects that were promised by the Stimulus itself:1. Obama promised that the stimulus would keep unemployment below 8%. In early 2012, the unemployment rate was supposed to drop to 6%. This was all according to “rigorous analysis” done by the Obama Administration. 12.8 million people are currently unemployed, 8.1 million cannot find work, and 1.1 million have given up. Failed. (10)2. Obama promised that the stimulus would show immediate gains in jobs. ” I'm confident . .. our 21st century investments will create jobs immediately," adding, "We've got shovel-ready projects all across the country," said President Obama. The stimulus did nothing create these jobs and projects. “"Shovel-ready was not as shovel-ready as we expected,” he said later on. Failed. (10)3. The President stated that the stimulus would lift “2 million Americans out of poverty. ” Since Obama took office, an additional 6.3 million Americans have fallen into poverty. Failed. (10)4. The president promised the emergence and resurgence of a “green economy. ” The clean energy sector has not jump started and shows for little more than 1% of the total workforce. Many of the loans have been lost to companies such as Solyndra and Ener1. Failed. (10)5. Obama promised that the stimulus would put 1 million electric cars on the road. General Motors' Volt, expected to be a hybrid hit, fell far short of its sales goals in 2011 by 38 percent. Fisker Automotive, which received half a billion dollars of stimulus money, also fell short of its manufacturing goals. The companies are now exporting factories to Finland. Failed. (10)My opponent also states that the Stimulus improved GDP by 3% but according to his graph, the market rebound was natural for any recession. Obama's recovery from the economy is also abysmal when put into historical context:221k jobs monthly gained after the recession of 1975.285k jobs monthly gained after the recession of 1982.89k jobs monthly gained after mild recession of 1991.41k jobs monthly gained after 2009 recession. (13)Jobs Conclusion- Unemployment is currently higher than when Obama stepped into office. - The Stimulus failed on five key aspects (listen above). - Recovery began prior to the Stimulus and prior to Obama's enacted policies, clearly showing that Obama had little to do with the recovery. (9)- The fact that taxes are low now does not mean anything. Low taxes are useless if the economy is faltering. - The Auto Bailout has failed because it a) propped up artificial businesses with artificial demand and b) has lost money for the taxpayers. GM shares were bought at $33 and their current price is $23, a clear investment failure. The Auto Bailout should have not been implemened to pursue a "creative destruction" type policy instead. (11) -President Obama DID NOT prevent a Great Depression via the Stimulus because recovery was showing signs before Obama's tactics. (9)- The U-6 unemployment rate is currently 15%. It was 8% when Obama stepped into office. The unemployment rate doubled under Obama's watch. The U-6 rate takes into account discouragement and part time jobs. (12) Foreign Policy IranMy opponent claims that the policy used to deal with Iran was "fair and justified. " This is false. As I predicted earlier, Iran is planning retaliation after the sanctions on it by the US government. Case in point: Iran is stopping oil exports to Spain. (14) Israel is afraid that Iran might take military action against them. (15)Iran threatened to retaliate against the West for the oil embargo placed on them by Obama. (16) These restrictions on Iran are horrible foreign policy and likely to cause retaliation. IsraelObama has pursued an aggressive anti-Israel type policy which included proposing border to 1967 levels and aiming for Israel to stop settlement construction on their own lands. Israelis generally dislike Obama. (17)Benjamin Netanyahu also stated that he does not like Obama's policies for dealing with Israel. (18)Netanyahu also does not trust Obama for his Iranian policy which will likely cause severe retaliation. (18)Conclusion-Obama has failed in the energy sector. -Obama has failed in the jobs sector. -Obama has failed in the foreign policy sector. Sources. http://www.debate.org...