Mondo
Obama’s 100 social days
How did Obama spend his first 100 days as American President from a social point of view? Read on and find out category by category.
di Staff
HUMAN RIGHTS
– January 22: signing of executive order to close Guantanamo within a year
– April 16: release of documents detailing previous administration torture techniques with denouncement of practices
WOMEN RIGHTS
– January 29: signing of the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, requiring equal pay for women
ENVIRONMENT
– January 26: announcement of measure to reduce US dependence on fossil fuels
– April 17: declaration of carbon dioxide as danger to human health and welfare
– April 22: announcement of creation of the first US programme to authorise offshore projects to generate electricity from wind and ocean currents
WORLD PEACE
– Reaching out to the Muslim world: January 27, first television interview as president given to the Arabic language channel, Al Arabica; March 20 in speech to Iranians, Obama holds hand out to Tehran
– April 5: in speech to crowds in Prague, promises to take concrete steps for a world without nuclear weapons
EDUCATION
– February 17: signing of 787.2 billion dollar stimulus plan which includes clause of 53.6 billion dollars to help state education
– March 8: proposal to lengthen school year, and introduce merit-based pay for teachers
SOCIAL ADVANCEMENT
– January 29: signing of Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act enlarging the already existing program, giving health coverage to an extra 4 million children, including coverage of legal immigrants
– March 27: first steps towards health care reform in form of congressional budget resolution (1 billion dollars to be spent on reform)
– April 9: pledge to grant citizenship to illegal immigrants living in the US, towards “orderly” immigration system
RESEARCH/SCIENCE
– March 9: signing of order to permit public money to be used for research into cures for illnesses such as Parkinson’s
– March 9: overturning of ban on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research
VOLUNTEERING
– April 21: signing of Serve America Act, which will expand government national-service and volunteer programs and ask Americans to “stand up and play your part.”
