Barack Obama has been a harmful president

My opponent seems to have failed to recognize that we are still recovering from a massive financial crisis unseen since the Great Depression. After something like that, it's no wonder that it hasn't been an easy recovery. Also, we're recovering at a faster rate than from the Great Depression. The Great Depression started in 1929 and ended with the American entry into WWII in 1941. That's 11 years of economic struggle. Now let's compare that with the Great Recession. It began in 2007 and officially ended in 2009. That's just 2 years. Now, there are still long term effects that we are still dealing with, but 2 years is hardly any time at all. Why was this such a quick recovery? It's because of Obama's stimulus package. It did better than expected. "The package did better than planned. By the close of FY 2009, $241.9 billion had been spent: $92.8 billion in tax relief, $86.5 billion in unemployment and other benefits and $62.6 billion in job creation grants. In the FY 2012 budget, additional funding was allocated to raise the total to $840 billion. By December 31, 2013, $816.3 billion had been spent: $290.7 billion in tax relief, $264.4 billion in benefits, and $261.2 billion in contracts, grants or loans, and . (Source: Recovery.gov)" http://useconomy.about.com... He also fails to rebut most of my other points such as: "Abortion rates and teen pregnancies are at an all time low, and crime rate and incarceration rate came down together. Right now, a typical family should save $750 at a gas station this year. The national deficit went from 9.8% in 2009 to below 3% in 2014. Don't just take this from me, take it from the man himself: https://youtu.be...... Corporate profits have skyrocketed. Look at the U.S. economy under Obama compared to under Bush. It's usually much better to understand the scale of a president's accomplishments when it's compared to the previous. http://ourfuture.org...; Now to my opponent's arguments. "A record number of people are dependent on government " that includes record numbers of people on food stamps and an astonishing number of people on disability. Nearly one in seven Americans are on food stamps " that"s over 23 million households. The cost of that program has doubled under Obama. As for disability, the new welfare magnet, 11 million Americans receive assistance through that program [2]." What's your solution to this? Just outright get rid of the programs? Let's see what would happen if we do get rid of them. 9,000,000 senior citizens would fall below the poverty line without Social Security. Without Food Stamps, millions would be unable to afford to even eat. "Employees of Wal-Mart and McDonalds, for example, are major beneficiaries of SNAP. (A 2012 Daily Kos article reported that 80 percent of Wal-Mart"s employees benefit from SNAP. One Wal-Mart in Canton, Ohio, even held a food drive for their fellow employees struggling to afford the cost of Thanksgiving dinner.)" http://www.salon.com... I agree, being dependent on government isn't exactly the best of things, but what's the alternative? Starvation, poverty, and unemployment would be rampant. The quality of life would plummet. We would most likely slip into a recession. It'd be a disaster. Getting rid of welfare would only make the American Dream less possible. Onto his statements on Obamacare. This one law seems like it should be reserved for an entire debate, but it seems to be a part of this debate regardless. Nevertheless, here we go. People are receiving benefits from Obamacare in more ways than one. "Services and devices to help people with injuries, disabilities, or chronic conditions - Most plans cover services and equipment to help you recover from temporary injuries, like a broken leg. The ACA requires coverage for goods and services to help you maintain a standard of living if you contract a chronic disease, like multiple sclerosis." "Pediatric care - Dental and vision care must be covered." "Emergency Room Services - Most plans cover this, but may charge extra if you go to a hospital that's out of their network, or go without pre-authorization. Obamacare plans don't charge extra." http://useconomy.about.com... "Ambulatory patient services " Care you receive without being admitted to a hospital, such as at a doctor"s office, clinic or same-day ("outpatient") surgery center. Also included in this category are home health services and hospice care (note: some plans may limit coverage to no more than 45 days)." "Emergency services " Care you receive for conditions that could lead to serious disability or death if not immediately treated, such as accidents or sudden illness. Typically, this is a trip to the emergency room, and includes transport by ambulance. You cannot be penalized for going out-of-network or for not having prior authorization." http://www.forbes.com... I don't expect jus these to convince you that Obamacare is helping Americans save on healthcare, so let me give you some of my personal experience. I was in a play (not the lead role, much to my disappointment) and something happened on opening night. A man in the audience had a seizure. The director came out and asked the audience if there was a doctor amongst them and two stepped out from the audience to help the man. She then escorted the rest of the audience out of the theater. The man was okay. He didn't hurt himself or anyone else around him. Regardless, 911 was called and an ambulance arrived. Before it arrived however, the two doctors asked him for his insurance number so they could call them. The man laughed and said, "No, it's alright. I have Obamacare." He was quite calm about the whole ordeal, though he was a bit upset that he cut the play a bit short. He wasn't stressed about hospital bills. He wasn't concerned that his insurance company might jack-up his rates. Nothing. I know it's just one person, but to assume that there's nobody else on Obamacare that experienced something like this is a bit foolish if you ask me. Now to those allegations that Obama has heightened race relations. "Obama offered a perfunctory condemnation of the rioters, but then, as the Washington Post reports, criticized "Americans, including the news media and some politicians, for failing to address the chronic problems of men, women and children who live in poverty and find their opportunities limited because of poor schools or long stints in prison."" Well, it's true. If there isn't a proper education system and if there isn't a proper justice system that seems to constantly be against them, of course people are going to commit crimes. Black people seem to be specifically targeted by the police. Subconscious racism is definitely the cause of all these disproportional arrests. I'm not saying that all cops are racist, there's just a few bad apples. But when those bad apples are then protected by the good cops after the bad apples do something wrong, it makes it hard for anyone to trust a cop. Examples: the man who filmed Freddie Gray's death was arrested multiple times after filming. The man who filmed Eric Garner's death was arrested multiple times after filming as well. As were his girlfriend and mother. "African Americans are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites Together, African American and Hispanics comprised 58% of all prisoners in 2008, even though African Americans and Hispanics make up approximately one quarter of the US population According to Unlocking America, if African American and Hispanics were incarcerated at the same rates of whites, today's prison and jail populations would decline by approximately 50%" "5 times as many Whites are using drugs as African Americans, yet African Americans are sent to prison for drug offenses at 10 times the rate of Whites African Americans represent 12% of the total population of drug users, but 38% of those arrested for drug offenses, and 59% of those in state prison for a drug offense." http://www.naacp.org... This tells me that black people are being disproportionately and unfairly arrested more than white people. Baltimore is a majority black city, but for some reason all the black people seem to be constrained to the poorer neighborhoods. The white people are generally confined to the few nice parts of town. Also, my opponent makes it seem like poverty is a choice for minorities. Fact: the chances of staying in poverty if you're born into a poor family is exceedingly high. "More than 300,000 captured illegal aliens had been processed and were awaiting deportation. But, incredibly, Obama stopped these deportations and ordered the U.S. border patrol to release many of these illegal aliens in violation of law and without explanation." That's actually not true. He's deported more than 2 million illegal aliens, which is more than any president ever. Nobody complained when Bush or Reagan made more Executive Orders than Obama. http://nymag.com... My opponent seems to feel that Obama has done nothing but harm this country, but that's simply not the case. To assume that every single action harms the U.S. is a bit ludicrous if you ask me. I don't expect perfection from him, and neither should you. Could he have done better? I think so. Could he have done worse? Definitely, but you also seem to focus on his ads and criticize him for them. He's a politician. What do you expect? Don't act like a single Republican hasn't done something like this. Now to foreign policy. I too shall give you a heads up on my points. 1. Better diplomatic relations 2. An improved strategy in the War in Afghanistan 3. Osama bin Laden https://youtu.be... Just saying