Republicans only: what was so bad about Obama?

[TPIG]

Barack Obama's Presidency was failure.

On the domestic front, his anti-growth approach to the economy, which consisted of increased taxes and unchaining regulatory agencies ensured that his presidency would be one marked by anemic economic growth. The fact that his economic recovery after the Great Recession was the weakest in 70 years is a testament to this fact. His largest achievement, Obamacare, has been a failure. From causing millions of Americans to lose their insurance, to the economically harmful employer mandate/regressive individual mandate, and skyrocketing healthcare costs, Obamacare failed to improve the American healthcare system.

On the international stage, from ignoring the threat of Russia, to putting distance between us and Israel, and engaging in the ineffective/dangerous Iranian Nuclear Deal, Obama's approach to foreign policy was a record of weakness and naivete.

[TPIG]

Barack Obama's Presidency was failure.

On the domestic front, his anti-growth approach to the economy, which consisted of increased taxes and unchaining regulatory agencies ensured that his presidency would be one marked by anemic economic growth. The fact that his economic recovery after the Great Recession was the weakest in 70 years is a testament to this fact. His largest achievement, Obamacare, has been a failure. From causing millions of Americans to lose their insurance, to the economically harmful employer mandate/regressive individual mandate, and skyrocketing healthcare costs, Obamacare failed to improve the American healthcare system.

On the international stage, from ignoring the threat of Russia, to putting distance between us and Israel, and engaging in the ineffective/dangerous Iranian Nuclear Deal, Obama's approach to foreign policy was a record of weakness and naivete.

I do find this an unfairly harsh judgement.

Obama took office in the wake of something that was more than just a recession; it was an economic event that caused longstanding structural damage to our economy that was caused, unquestionably, by Republican economic policies that sought to create a "boom" economy that was fueled by inflated housing values, and not by real growth in the economy.  It was Republican policies that caused housing values in America to soar far out of proportion to what working people actually earned; a certain amount of the housing crash was an inevitable correction that the Republican economic policymakers of the Bush 43 administration should have known would occur.  

I personally believe that the main problem with Obama's Stimulus policies was that they didn't go far enough.  In that regard, the GOP is to blame, because they did not want Obama to succeed.  They wanted more of the same that created the problem.  If the Democrats have become a party which worship secularism, the GOP has become a party that worships capitalism to the point of Social Darwinism.

The insurance that Obamacare caused people to use was, for the most part, junk insurance with inadequate coverage; something that people could present to get them into the hospital in a pinch, only to hear soon afterward that they aren't covered.  The GOP has long governed America in a manner where they have been unconcerned for the masses without health insurance, or who were plunged in to medical bankruptcy due to catastrophic illness; they have opposed any and all proposals that included universal coverage.  And they have refused to consider legislation designed to fix the flaws in Obamacare; they WANTED it to fail and WORKED for it to fail.  And they have no plan that will, indeed, ensure healthcare access to all that will not bankrupt people.  (I thought, at one time, that Trump actually had some ideas that would fix the flaws in Obamacare, but he's apparently cast his lot making deals with the Freedom Caucus, which is not what I had in mind when I voted for him.)  

Obama had his flaws.  His foreign policy failed to extract us from any number of foolish foreign entanglements, and some of his accomplishments don't look as good in hindsight (although the Iran Nuclear Deal WAS a positive on balance).  And he wrecked the Democratic Party; the Clinton's takeover of the party apparatus was accomplished, in part, because of Obama's neglect of the party, itself.  I certainly didn't enjoy the social liberalism, not at all.  But the GOP Congress dealt with him with ill will, unconcerned for the common weal.  Their whole goal was to work to see him fail, and they were pretty open and honest about that.  I abhor "The Resistance" Congress to Trump, and I view the concept as un-American, but a certain amount of that is a response to "The Obstruction" that the GOP presented Obama.  There was never ANY good will extended Obama by Republcans.  None at all.  They wanted him to fail so they could get back in power, and they didn't really hide it.  In that regard, Obama may have been better off being more like Trump; giving more crap to his opponents that he got from them.  

I suppose my assessment of Obama is mixed because of my mixed outlook (economic liberal, social conservative) on issues.  He's not Mount Rushmore material, but the harsh judgements on his Presidency by Republicans are purely partisan.  Compromise and achievement on the part of Republicans during the Obama years would have been wonderful for America, both practically and socially, but Republicans were no better at putting the whole of America ahead of partisanship then than Democrats are now.

(Apologies for any grammatical errors below; it's late, and I'm drowsy).

Surprisingly, though I find much to disagree with in your post, there's some I do agree with. Republican policies (note I say Republican and not conservative) toward housing, which were a continuation of the policies of Bill Clinton, such as the Community Re-investment Act and continually lowering mortgage standards for the sake of promoting "inclusive" home-ownership, proved to be a massive failure. The economy was in meltdown mode. Obama continued the Bush legacy of bailouts and ensured that the reckless behavior would continue. Sadly, both Republican and Democratic presidents buy the old Keynesian crackpot theories on how to prime the economic pump, thus my main issue with Obama's economic record is not the anti-recession measures he took in 2009. Rather, my issue is his record of raising taxes on job creators, unleashing regulatory agencies at an unprecedented rate, and his overall hostile approach towards business.

On the healthcare front, I sadly agree with you that the GOP often acts with disdain towards the uninsured. GOP opposition to Obamacare was based largely on a knee-jerk reaction against Obama and less out of an ideological commitment to a true, market-based healthcare reform. I will say though, I don't believe there was ever any way to "fix the flaws" in Obamacare. It's a program that operates against market forces, drives up premiums and hurts Americans. It's a fundamentally flawed program. That's not to say the system in place before was acceptable; it certainly wasn't. Sadly, neither party is truly interested in a free-market solution to the healthcare issue, which would increase competition, lower costs, and improve both the quality of healthcare and the accessibility of care for the poorest in our society.

Overall, Obama was a president who intended good things but failed. His efforts to "help the middle class" led to stagnation and low-growth. His Affordable Care Act was neither affordable nor improved the quality of care in our country, and abroad, he projected weakness. I stand by my original claims, not as someone who is just looking for reasons to hate Obama but because I truly believe and the record shows he failed at leaving the nation in good-standing.