What's the argument that he hasn't? That he hasn't really changed anything and thus it's not worse?
Go for it, I'm honestly asking. I really don't see how we're at a net positive since he's come into office. We may be declining at a far less rapid pace, but we're still running the same marathon to destruction we were been on before. All I've seen is a few paper cups of water for some along the way.
I'll try to keep it to things that aren't super-controversial, off the top of my head.
One, obviously when he came into office the economy was shrinking at a rapid pace, whereas now it is growing. Jobs were being lost at an epic pace, whereas now at least they are being created. The housing market was in utter collapse, whereas now it is starting to turn around. For the first time in decades, GDP is growing faster than debt (public
and private). In other words, we're not there yet, and may not be for awhile, but we're headed in the right direction.
Financial regulation is tighter than it was when he came into office, with the Dodd-Frank Act, and the CARD Act. The latter has really reduced the most egregious forms of credit card abuse. Obama's crackdown on for-profit colleges and universities has raised the standards they must meet to receive government-backed loans and squelched an incipient student debt bubble.
In foreign policy, we are out of Iraq, bin Laden is dead, we've won a war to topple Gadhafi, and new have a new START treaty with Russia. The Egyptian revolution was handled pretty well- Obama basically sat back and allowed it to happen, while saying the right things so as not to inflame anti-Americanism. We've reestablished our presence in Asia and positioned ourselves well against a rising China. The drone strike program has been pretty effective, although I personally don't approve of it.
On social issues, we've repealed DADT, we've set higher emissions standards for cars, and we're no longer deporting kids who are basically American and only came here because they were brought by their parents.
There are also some trends that will be good for America that Obama can't exactly take credit for, but will help us in the long run. In light of all the gloom and doom, I'd point out that (a) crime has continued to decline significantly, after leveling out in the mid-2000s. In a recession you would have expected the opposite. (b) new methods of extracting natural gas and shale oil has lowered the cost of energy and made America more energy self-sufficient. Eventually these technologies will make the US the world's most energy-rich country (c) Illegal immigration has basically stopped, as a result of both better enforcement and fewer people trying to cross from Mexico, as Mexico's economy gets better.
There are reasons to be optimistic for the future.
