DENVER — We are a little more than 30 days away from Donald Trump’s inauguration.
While President Barack Obama will always be remembered for being the nation’s first African-American president, he will also be remembered for the promises he kept and the ones he did not keep.
In our ongoing series “Tracking the Truth” we take a look at President Obama’s record.
Topic: Health care
Promise: “Under this plan it will be against the law to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition.”
Date: Address to Congress in September 2009
Verdict: True
Reason: Before to the Affordable Care Act, Coloradans could be denied health care because of a preexisting condition. That is no longer the case.
Topic: Health care
Promise: “If you like the plan you have you can keep it.”
Date: June 2009 weekly address
Verdict: False
Reason: Millions of Americans have had their healthcare policies change since the Affordable Care Act was signed.
Topic: Guantanamo Bay Prison
Date: Throughout his eight years of his presidency, Obama repeated this promise.
Verdict: False
Reason: The prison remains open.
Topic: Economy
Promise: “I believe that the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it.”
Date: February 2009 address to Congress
Verdict: True
Reason: The American automobile industry was on the brink of collapse when open assumed office — it is prosperous today following the president’s bailouts.
While many other issues were addressed during Obama’s tenure like gun control (false) and killing Osama Bin Laden (true), the president seemed content during a Friday news conference.
“By so many measures we are better today than we were when we started,” Obama said.