Over the past three years, it feels like we’ve been stuck in Groundhog Day as we’ve listened to President Obama make the same promises over and over again. But where’s the record to match the rhetoric?

NRSC Video: Groundhog Day

Obama’s blueprint of broken promises

Wishful thinking won’t solve America’s problems. Empty promises will not restore our economy. President Obama’s State of the Union address, however, was filled with both and remarkably devoid of a workable plan to put Americans back to work.

(Priebus, Reince. Obama’s blueprint of broken promises. Published in the Herald. 2.2.2012.)

Broken Promise: Cut Deficit in Half

Promise: “That’s why today I’m pledging to cut the deficit we inherited by half by the end of my first term in office.” (AP. Obama will cut deficit in half FEB 2009. Accessed on YouTube. 2.2.2012.

Broken: Obama won’t come close on pledge to halve deficit, CBO says

WASHINGTON – President Obama’s pledge to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term will fall short, according to the latest economic outlook released Tuesday by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

The president said in February 2009 that the $1.3 trillion deficit he inherited would be cut in half under his budget blueprint, but according to the CBO, the deficit in 2012 will continue to hover around $1 trillion, and fall to just under $1 trillion next year if current tax laws are extended, as expected. An overall sluggish economy is expected to continue with unemployment stuck around 8% through 2013.

(Davis, Susan. Obama won’t come close on pledge to halve deficit, CBO says. USA Today. 1.1.2012)

Broken Promise: Change Washington

Promise: Obama: ” Washington Is Broken. My Whole Campaign Has Been Premised From The Start On The Idea That We Have To Fundamentally Change How Washington Works.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At ServiceNation Summit, New York, NY, 9/11/08)

Broken:  Obama Admitted Washington Is Stuck With “More Of The Same,” And “Maybe A Little Worse.”

• • CNN’s WOLF BLITZER: “When we spoke here end of 2008, ‘hope and change.’ You know what I see in Washington still to this day? OBAMA: “More of the same.” BLITZER: “The same old same old.” OBAMA: “Yeah.” BLITZER: “A lot of bickering, backstabbing.” OBAMA: “Maybe a little worse.” (CNN’s ” The Situation Room,” 8/16/11)
• • Obama: “What I Said To Them Is You Deserve Better Than You Have Been Getting Out Of Washington Over The Last Two And A Half Months, For That Matter For The Last Two And A Half Years.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks At $35,800 Per Person Fundraiser, New York, NY, 8/11/11)
• • White House Spokesman Jay Carney: “Well, I Think That Americans Understand That Our Political System Functions The Way It Does …” (Jay Carney, Press Gaggle, Aboard Air Force One En Route Holland, MI, 8/11/11)

Broken Promise: More Bipartisanship

Promise: Obama: “I Will Continue To Seek Common Ground In The Weeks Ahead. If You Come To Me With A Serious Set Of Proposals, I Will Be There To Listen. My Door Is Always Open.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks To A Joint Session Of Congress On Health Care , Washington, DC, 9/9/09)

• • June 22, 2007: Obama Complained That The Bush White House Was The “Most Politicized White House In History And The American People Have Suffered As A Result.” OBAMA: “This has been the most politicized White House in history, and the American people have suffered as a result. Presidents obviously want to surround themselves with those who share their views and their beliefs, but the days of firing eight qualified U.S. attorneys because of their politics is over. The days of using the White House as another arm of the Republican National Committee are over.” (Senator Barack Obama, “Taking Our Government Back,” Manchester, NH, 6/22/07)

Broken: FactCheck.org: “[I]t’s Simply A Fact That The President Failed At ‘Bringing Democrats And Republicans Together.’” “To be sure, the president did sign the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law in 2010, but it wasn’t enacted by ‘bringing Democrats and Republicans together.’ The bill passed the Senate on Dec. 24, 2009, by a vote of 60-39, without any Republicans voting for it. And when the House passed its version of the bill almost three months later, by a vote of 219-212, it too garnered no support from Republicans. We won’t offer any opinion about whether one side is more to blame than the other for that, but it’s simply a fact that the president failed at ‘bringing Democrats and Republicans together.’” (D’Angelo Gore, “Promises, Promises,” Fact Check.org, 1/4/12)

• • Obama’s Failure To Transcend Washington Partisanship “Has Never Been More Glaringly Obvious.” “Candidate Barack Obama promised to transcend Washington partisanship. President Obama plummeted into it. As the House returns Tuesday for the final session of his first term, Obama’s failure to fulfill this central claim of his 2008 campaign has never been more glaringly obvious.” (Carrie Budoff Brown and Jonathan Allen, “Partisan D.C.: Obama’s Broken Promise,” Politico , 1/17/12)
• • “The Hard Truth Is That Washington Next Year Will Look Indistinguishable From The One Obama Warned Against During His Election-Night Victory Speech…” “The hard truth is that Washington next year will look indistinguishable from the one Obama warned against during his election-night victory speech, when he called on Republicans and Democrats to ‘resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.’” (Carrie Budoff Brown and Jonathan Allen, “Partisan D.C.: Obama’s Broken Promise,” Politico, 1/17/12)

Broken Promise: Lead on Energy

Promise: In 2008, Obama Called Energy A Leading Priority Of His Presidency. “Looking ahead, I’m confident that we will be ready to begin the journey towards a new energy frontier on January 20th. This will be a leading priority of my presidency and a defining test of our time.” (President-Elect Barack Obama, Remarks in Chicago Announcing Energy And Environment Team, Chicago, IL, 12/15/08)

• • Obama: “We Can’t Afford Complacency Nor Accept More Broken Promises” On Energy. We can’t afford complacency nor accept more broken promises. We won’t create a new energy economy overnight. We won’t protect our environment overnight. But we can begin that work right now, if we think anew and if we act anew. Now we must have the will to act and to act boldly.” (President-Elect Barack Obama, Remarks in Chicago Announcing Energy And Environment Team, Chicago, IL, 12/15/08)

Broken: Even Obama Has Said He’s Failed On Energy, Saying His Energy Policy Is Just A “Hodgepodge.”

• • OBAMA: “Our energy policy still is just a hodgepodge, and for all the progress we’ve made, we’re not where we need to be in making sure that this is an energy-efficient economy that is running on all cylinders.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks By The President At A DNC Event, Miami, FL, 6/13/11)
• • Obama In His Own Words: “We Still Don’t Have All The Energy Policies In Place That We Need To Free Ourselves From Dependence On Foreign Oil And Adequately Deal With Climate Change.” “We still don’t have all the energy policies in place that we need to free ourselves from dependence on foreign oil and adequately deal with climate change, despite the fact that we’ve doubled fuel economy standards on cars and made enormous progress on clean energy — and that means that I’m going to need another term to finish the job.” (President Barack Obama,  Remarks At Campaign Event #2, Speech, New York, NY, 11/30/11)
• • Obama: “We Haven’t Had An Energy Policy In This Country That Makes Sense And Frees Ourselves From Dependence On Foreign Oil.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks By The President On The American Jobs Act, Millers Creek, NC, 10/17/11)
• • President Obama Really Doesn’t Have A Coherent Energy Policy, Whose “Approach Has Been To Throw Out One Idea After Another Without Connecting The Dots Into An Overall Initiative.” “What is also important is what this debacle says once again about White House policy: Mainly that there really isn’t any. As in other initiatives, President Barack Obama has made lofty pronouncements about alternative energy without delineating any coherent coordinated plan for moving forward. His approach has been to throw out one idea after another without connecting the dots into an overall initiative.” (Dan K. Thomasson, “Solyndra’s Shadow Lasting,” The Boston Herald, 10/19/11)