With Joe Biden stepping back into the national scene, the time is ripe for a close assessment of the administration in which he served as vice-president. The Center Did Not Hold weighs the progressive¿and not so progressive¿contributions of the Obama-Biden White House across more than a hundred issues involving international relations, domestic cultural and economic matters, and social justice. While Obama and Biden campaigned in the early 2000s on a host of progressive promises, Eisenberg¿s meticulous accounting shows that, over eight years, they failed to achieve any substantial, lasting…mehr
With Joe Biden stepping back into the national scene, the time is ripe for a close assessment of the administration in which he served as vice-president. The Center Did Not Hold weighs the progressive¿and not so progressive¿contributions of the Obama-Biden White House across more than a hundred issues involving international relations, domestic cultural and economic matters, and social justice. While Obama and Biden campaigned in the early 2000s on a host of progressive promises, Eisenberg¿s meticulous accounting shows that, over eight years, they failed to achieve any substantial, lasting change to that end, instead perpetuating a tradition of cautious centrism. Among the disappointments, the former president and vice-president reneged on environmental promises, pandered to lobbyists, prosecuted a record number of whistle-blowers, and failed to implement the simplest of financial reforms in response to the 2008 crisis. Under Biden¿s trademark ¿counterterrorism plus¿ strategy, they oversaw tens of thousands of civilian deaths in Afghanistan, and escalated violence in the Middle East.
Robert Mark Eisenberg, born and raised in Omaha, received a BA in political science from Columbia University and an MA in government from Harvard. He earned a law degree from Creighton University, where he later served as a professor. He has also lectured at Harvard and the University of Nebraska. Eisenberg is the author of Boychiks in the Hood, an exploration of contemporary Hasidic culture, described by the New York Times Sunday Book Review as ¿a rich collection of anecdotes, religious history and thumbnail portraits.¿ He currently resides in New York City.
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CONTENTS Acknowledgments xi Introduction xiii PART I DEMOCRACY 1 Transparency 3 Binney, Drake, Loomis, Wiebe 5 Kiriakou 7 Associated Press 8 Surveillance 9 Snowden 11 Risen 13 Vacations 16 Clinton Endorsement 18 Trans-Pacific Partnership 19 Japan 23 Democracy Rankings 25 Expense Accounts 26 Democratic Party 27 Freedom of the Press 29 Speeches 30 Real Estate 32 Sanders Endorsement 33 PART II ENVIRONMENT 35 Cap and Trade 37 Arctic 38 Oceans 39 Nuclear Energy 40 Flint 41 Air Pollution 43 Flood Standards 46 Bees 47 Monarch Butterflies 49 Dakota Access Pipeline 51 Greenhouse Gas 52 PART III FINANCE & ECONOMY 53 Bankers 55 Rubin 57 AIG 59 Bankruptcy Law 62 Solyndra and Other Grants to Cronies 65 Geithner 68 Foreclosuregate 69 HSBC 71 Campaign Finance 73 Revolving Door 75 SEC Chairmen 79 National Debt 81 Economic Growth 82 Corporate Profits 83 Forbes 400 84 Corporate Cash Abroad 85 PART IV FOREIGN POLICY 87 Drones 89 Arms 91 Haiti 92 Honduras 96 Blackwater 98 Libya 100 Iraq 102 Israel and Palestine 105 Bahrain 107 Egypt 109 Syria 111 Cuba 113 Afghanistan 114 North Korea 117 China 119 Special Ops 121 Yemen 124 Iran Deal 126 Burma 128 Bomber 129 Nuclear Arms Modernization 130 F-35 132 Gitmo 134 Armenian Genocide 136 Two Terms, Two Wars 137 PART V JUSTICE 139 Gun Control 141 Police Militarization 143 Military Tribunals 146 TSA 149 Whistleblowers 152 Torture 155 Assassination of U.S. Citizens 158 NDAA and Habeas Corpus 160 Deportation 163 War on Drugs 165 Solitary Confinement 168 White-Collar Crime 171 Supreme Court Nominee Rejected 173 Clinton Email Scandal 175 Kissinger 177 Asset Forfeiture 179 Clinton Foundation 182 Clemency 183 Dreamers 185 PART VI SOCIAL POLICY 189 Test Scores 191 Tax Code Simplification 193 Obamacare 195 Tax Cuts Retained 198 Medical Marijuana 200 Social Security 202 Militarization of Federal Agencies 205 Drug Overdose Crisis 207 GMOs 209 Unions 211 Manufacturing Jobs 213 Racial Wealth Disparity 214 Suicides 215 Race Relations 216 Income Inequality 218 Wealth Inequality 220 Infrastructure 221 Mortgage Fee Reduction 222 Minimum Wage 223 Quality of Life 224 About the Author 225
