Obama's administrative reversals

The following is a compilation of lies Obama has made throughout the years:

Born Alive Infant Protection Act

 * See also Obama born alive controversy

The most notable and widespread example of Obama's lying involves the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. From 2004-2008, Obama lied repeatedly about not voting against a bill identical to the federal bill while he was an Illinois state senator. Following a CNN expose and documentation released by the NRLC, Obama's campaign conceded he "misspoke" but produced new lies that he has since been using, that Illinois law was already sufficient to protect newborn children. However, his comments contradict Illinois senate transcripts showing he knew newborn children were being left to die, and knew Illinois law was insufficient. Barack Obama: "Senator O'Malley, the testimony during the committee indicated that one of the key concerns was - is that there was a method of abortion, an induced abortion, where the -- the fetus or child, as - as some might describe it, is still temporarily alive outside the womb. And one of the concerns that came out in the testimony was the fact that they were not being properly cared for during that brief period of time that they were still living. Is that correct?" ... "Number one, whenever we define a previable fetus as a person that is protected by the equal protection clause or the other elements in the Constitution, what we're really saying is, in fact, that they are persons that are entitled to the kinds of protections that would be provided to a - a child, a nine-month-old -- child that was delivered to term. That determination then, essentially, if it was accepted by a court, would forbid abortions to take place. I mean, it - it would essentially bar abortions, because the equal protection clause does not allow somebody to kill a child, then this would be an antiabortion statute. For that purpose, I think it would probably be found unconstitutional. The second reason that it would probably befound unconstitutional is that this essentially says that a doctor is required to provide treatment to a previable child, or fetus, however way you want to describe it. Viability is the line that has been drawn by the Supreme Court to determine whether or not an abortion can or cannot take place. And if we're placing a burden on the doctor that says you have to keep alive even a previable child as long as possible and give them as much medical attention as - as is necessary to try to keep that child alive, then we're probably crossing the line in terms of unconstitutionality." Furthermore, the federal Born Alive Infants Protection Act centered around Illinois law specifically, calling as star witnesses Jill Stanek and Allison Baker, both nurses at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Illinois.

Iraq Troop Withdrawal

 * See also Obama, 2009-2011 Iraq Troop Withdrawal

On February 10, 2007, Barack Obama announced his campaign for the U.S. presidency while stating he had a "plan that will bring our combat troops home by March of 2008." Later, Obama campaigned on having troops entirely out of Iraq within 16 months, but in February 2009 revised this promise to withdrawing all but 35-50 thousand troops by December 2011. However, some of the newly withdrawn troops were simply redirected from Iraq to Afghanistan - Obama in Summer 2009 ordered 21,000 troops to Afghanistan.

Ultimately, it was the Status of Forces Agreement signed by George W. Bush on November 17, 2008 which forced U.S. combat troops to withdraw from Iraq's cities, villages, and localities by June 30, 2009, and from Iraq entirely by December 31st 2011. Obama privately contacted the Iraq government in an attempt to persuade them to let 10,000 troops stay, but was rejected. Newsweek's Michael Ware accused Obama of a "War Crime" for "falsely taking credit for finally bringing Iraq to a close—a war actually ended by the Bush administration back in 2008" and stated, "The U.S. troops who fought and died in that war, the Iraqis who perished, and the American people deserve far better."

Executive Orders
Obama on the campaign trail promised "to not use signing statements as a way of doing an end run around Congress". However, as the New York Times noted: "Already, Mr. Obama has had to reconcile his campaign-trail criticism of Mr. Bush for excessive use of so-called signing statements to bypass parts of legislation with his own use of such tactics. After a bipartisan furor in Congress last year, Mr. Obama stopped issuing such signing statements, but aides said last month that he still reserves the right to ignore sections of bills he considers unconstitutional if objections have been lodged previously by the executive branch." In 2009 several top Democrats contacted Obama via letter, complaining about his growing use of such executive orders, writing, "During the previous administration, all of us were critical of the president’s assertion that he could pick and choose which aspects of Congressional statutes he was required to enforce. We were therefore chagrined to see you appear to express a similar attitude." Obama used an executive order as part of a deal with pro-life Democrats to pass the healthcare bill. However, these are the same signing statements he criticized George W. Bush for using, and promised not to use. Obama has used signing statements at least 20 times since taking office. In April 2011, Dana Perino, White House Secretary under Bush, publicly complained about how Bush had been harshly criticized for using executive orders yet Obama has received only mild criticism from the media.