The document discusses several accomplishments of the Obama administration in its early years, including closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center, expanding opportunities for minority-owned small businesses, enacting credit card reform, and addressing concerns around mandatory minimum sentencing laws. It notes Obama signed an order to close Guantanamo Bay in line with Geneva Convention rights. The administration also aimed to increase small business contracts for veterans and women. Additionally, the credit card bill of rights and new laws on mandatory minimum sentences were cited as fulfilling campaign promises.

1. Barry O: ( Yes ) or ( No )<br /> <br />The Obama Administration has proven measurably successful thus far into the depth of the office. The sheer amount of legislation drammed out by the Administration and the considerable gravity with it is remarkable. Highlighted are a few of the reasons to admire the Obama administration for passing and meeting together on.<br />Guantanamo bay was a steel plated nightmare for the Bush administration with all the accusations of torture interrogation methods. Holding few meetings on the detention center after a Supreme Court decision clouded its future, Obama on Thursday, January 22, 2009 signed the order to close Guantanamo Bay on the southeastern coast of Cuba with ample coastal access and sea points of safety. Closing the detention center with Camp X-Ray and the others is significant that it recants a period of ignored Geneva Convention rights. When proposed initially, Mr. Obama’s opponent John McCain supported it immediately and chided back that it resolves us to find out each detainee’s story and their status.<br />Mr. Obama has also tried to help the stories of minority business owners as well by expanding contracting opportunities. Half of the nation’s private sector workforce is composed of employees to these small businesses; it is this sector that is going to be driving the U.S. out of its economic withdrawal. Small Business Administrator Karen Mills and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke have been approached by Mr. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden to increase the number of small business contracts in which the owner of the business is a veteran or a woman. <br />“By taking advantage of the expertise of an array of companies, we are going to be able to build a stronger, more secure foundation for long-term economic growth.” Mr. Biden says that many small companies receiving help from the Recovery Act will be more beneficial than a lump sum from a contract auction.<br />The credit card bill of rights promised in his campaign has also been successful. It has prevented the credit card companies from changing interest rates on all but future debt. He banned unilateral changes, whereas before the credit card companies could make any changes to their agreement with the consumer. He also put a stop on charging interest on fees, as well as universal defaults that can wipeout a person’s credit. If you can’t pay for one card, the rates of the rest shoot up too. The new law prevents companies from raising interest rates on existing balances unless the bill goes unpaid for more than 60 days. The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act was signed on May 22, 2009 and was aimed at reducing the $15 billion in penalty fees Americans face.<br />Mandatory minimum sentences were also a concern to the administration as often in America the prison system is viewed as overpopulated and a terrible warehouse for nonviolent criminals. Since about 170 mandatory minimum sentence laws have come into effect since the 1980s, our prison population has exploded. The National Defense Authorization Act is to contain:<br />The report is to contain: a compilation of all mandatory minimum sentencing provisions under federal law; an assessment of the effect of those sentencing provisions on the goal of eliminating unwarranted sentencing disparity and other goals of sentencing; an assessment of the impact of mandatory minimum sentencing provisions on the federal prison population; an assessment of how mandatory minimum sentencing provisions affect plea agreements; a detailed research study of the effect of mandatory minimum penalties; and a discussion of alternatives to mandatory minimum sentencing laws. <br />These are not all of the promises that the Obama administration has kept but they are indicative that he is not falling back from his initial stances.771 0211<br />