Has it been only 100 days since Barack Obama took the oath of office? Actually, it's only been 98, but sometimes 100 days feels like more than 100 days. This is one of those times. Obama's first 100 days have been among the most eventful in history.
So how's it going?
According to the American people, pretty damn good. Not only does 69 percent of the public approve of the job Obama is doing, but last week, for the first time since January 2004, more Americans felt the country is headed in the right direction than in the wrong direction (48 percent to 44 percent). Remarkably, this "right direction" number has been steadily rising even as the economy has been steadily falling.
In his Grant Park acceptance speech on election night, the newly elected president warned that "the road ahead will be long," and "our climb will be steep." But his poll numbers are a vindication of the idea that, with the right leadership, Americans are mature enough to heed those words and not expect immediate results.
So any list of the most impressive achievements of Obama's first 100 days should start with the intangible qualities of transformational leadership --- from the president's personal equanimity (which Robert Reich described as "the serene center of the cyclone -- exuding calm when most Americans are petrified") to his masterful use of the bully pulpit.
In just his first 100 days, Obama has had almost as many prime time press conferences as George Bush did in his entire first term. And it's not just press conferences. Obama's willingness to speak directly to the American people -- in town halls around the country, on YouTube, on Leno, on ESPN, etc -- and to engage with them by answering questions online and reading ten letters a day from the public, is a powerful reminder that the White House isn't a privatized bubble or underground bunker off limits to the people.
He's also offered tone setters that are a useful reminder that the president is more than just the country's chief executive -- that he and the First Lady are also potentially the country's chief teachers. They've already taught the country a lot of lessons -- about what we eat and how we eat by planting an organic vegetable garden at the White House, and about commitment to family through their relationship with their daughters and by having the First Granny move into the White House to help Sasha and Malia settle into their new lives.
Now to the more tangible aspects of his presidency. Let's start with the pluses:
- The stimulus package. It wasn't big or bold enough, and it suffered from the malodorous scent of Eau de Congressional Business as Usual, but the speed and focus with which it was passed showed how serious Obama was about pulling America out of its economic free-fall. And how competent his team was at hitting the ground running. Plus, it taught the new president an important lesson about the limits of bipartisanship for the sake of bipartisanship.
- Passing and signing the national service bill. Not so long ago, a call for sacrifice meant asking people to go shopping or take a trip to Disney World. Creating a system in which more people can feel as if they're true stakeholders in their communities will not only produce physical benefits -- it will help repair America's moral infrastructure as well. And their answering of the call will be additional proof that Americans have been waiting for a leader to ask more of them.
- Reversing course on stem cells. It was a clear statement about the return of the reality-based world. As Obama put it when he signed the order "It is about ensuring that scientific data is never distorted or concealed to serve a political agenda, and that we make scientific decisions based on facts, not ideology."
- A progressive budget. Healthcare, provisions to tackle rising economic inequality, a more rational defense budget, tax cuts for all but the very wealthy -- as David Leonhardt of the New York Times wrote, Obama's budget is "nothing less than an attempt to end a three-decade era of economic policy dominated by the ideas of Ronald Reagan and his supporters."
- Foreign Relations. From granting his first presidential interview to Al-Arabiya TV to loosening the embargo on Cuba to hanging an open sign on the State Department, Obama has signaled that the bellicose days of antagonism as our default foreign policy position are over. And his decision to close Guantanamo also sent the right message to the world.
- The rescue of Captain Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama. Blowing away fears of a sea-faring Black Hawk Down, Obama's restrained behind-the-scenes handling of the volatile hostage situation demonstrated that the new commander-in-chief is not afraid to pull the trigger when an American life is on the line. Bonus points for causing the Limbaugh-Hannity worldview about Democrats being nothing but bleeding hearts to shift on its axis.
A solid run of pluses. Now for the minuses:
- The bank bailout. In his appointments at almost every agency, Obama has demonstrated a desire to receive a wide range of opinion. But the exception is a doozy: at Treasury, the range of opinion goes all the way from Goldman to Sachs. Several hundred billion dollars later, the banks still aren't lending, the zombies are still on their feet, preferred shareholders are still being catered to, the knowledge of where our money has gone is spotty at best, and oversight and transparency remain unfulfilled promises. The Obama White House's vision for the rescue remains startlingly myopic. The result is the continued funneling of hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to the very people who got us into the mess we are in -- with very little accountability demanded in return. The biggest black mark on Obama's first 100 days is his head-scratching reliance on the bank-centric beliefs of Larry Summers and Tim Geithner.
- Afghanistan. Obama has committed 21,000 more troops to Afghanistan but as many, including Obama himself, have noted, there is no exclusively military solution to Afghanistan. What's more, unlike with Guantanamo, Obama has adopted Bush's policies regarding the enemy prisoners being held at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan.
- Torture accountability. Obama has said he wants to look forward and not back, and it's reasonable for him to not want his agenda sidetracked by torture commissions and investigations. But the way we respond to the revelations about the Bush administration's use of torture isn't merely a question of policy; it a question of morality. The minute the president starts framing the issue as a matter of right vs wrong, his choices will be clear. Because if there is one thing Obama cannot afford to abandon it's the moral high ground. And he can trust the American public to walk and chew gum at the same time -- to be able to support a national health care plan, a new energy plan, the reforming of our education system, and at the same time support accountability for those who undercut our fundamental values.
- Sensible gun control. Despite a recent run of deadly gun rampages and an appeal from the president of Mexico, whose country is paying a heavy price for bought-in-America guns, Obama has chosen the path of political expediency and turned his back on his campaign promise to reinstate a ban on assault weapons.
For the last eight years, we suffered from the soft bigotry of low presidential expectations. Taken as a whole, Obama's first 100 days have been an inspiring change from a White House that expected as little from us as it did from itself.
The road ahead is indeed going to be long and steep. But at least we're on the right road.
More:
Obama's First 100 Days Report Card: HuffPost Bloggers Give Their Grades
it's really too simple:
Banks tell congress that unless the vote is for bailout,
they won't have enough money to make campaign contributions
and of course, it's obvious Mr./Mrs Congressperson, that
allowing bankrupcy courts to adjust mortgages in favor of homeowners
will make campain contribution money harder to come by
of course, this is not quid-pro-quo--
just the simple basic law of supply and demand.
"if you supply the money to us banks, then we have enough money to pay for what we demand"
.
By Arianna Huffington
We'd buy that book !!
Ya know !!!!!!!!!!!
All this hype about the Stock Market recovering and the depression ebbing is a smoke screen to distract and confuse the voters that the home foreclosures are increasing, small businesses continue to close down and the only time this depression hits bottom is when the Fed has sucked the remaining wealth of the Middle Working Class dry.
The problem is the Federal Reserve System which was never meant to stabilize the economy but to control our government by controlling our Senate which is too obvious in the Housing Relief Bill just being defeated by Senators who received millions in election campaigns from the Fed Banks.
In the election of 2010 we have to get rid of the twelve Democratic Senators who voted against the Housing Relief Bill, and then Recind the Federal Reserve's Charter to control carte blanche the US Monetary System.
The solution to this orchestrated Financial meltdown which has reaped Trillions for the Fed Banks, is to rescind their Charter as our Central Bank and our economy will adjust normally with slight dips and bumps as it has before this foreign controlled private Corporation, the Fed got a strangle hold on our government through traitorous Senators who sold their Faustian souls to the Fed.
Are there any books you could recommend about the Federal Reserve, including its creation and history, with a view to enable someone to intelligently evaluate such assertions as these?
As I've noted in previous blogs, it is outrageous that the mainstream media doesn't routinely cover matters such as these. All American citizens should be at least as familiar with the financial world, Wall Street, and how they operate as they are with, say, who most recently got voted off American Idol.
What we have now is Reaganomics on steroids, not bottom up economic policies as Obama claims. Just follow the money!
is truly a “vampire”-like Beast.
From the Blood of our Lives, our Sweat and our Tears
the Elite in this world prey and feast.
What we see now is their weakened Support.
We’ve lost a way to consume all their “Stuff.”
We are losing our homes and our means of support.
We The People finally screamed THAT’S ENOUGH!
So it’s a New Direction the pundits now say we are in.
I Hope so … that’s all I can say.
Real people in vast numbers find their Lives on The Brink.
Action is required (and it won’t hurt to Pray!)
But how do you change a “vampire’s” heart?
They live among us, and old habits die hard.
They have no concern for those they feed upon…
and yet we still support them with our MasterCard!
There are two groups of people in this diverse world…
one says “it’s MY world” and one says “it’s OURS.”
The polarity is real and the drama now builds.
Only Time knows this play’s brightest Stars.
Will they continue to support the “vampire’s” need?
Or lift We The People out of our plight?
We shall give them some time to Demonstrate Intent.
Will they defend us from this “vampire” blight?
HippieChick
May 2, 2009
Content with the shadow's odd ease
Yet sensing a place where no one is slave
To the Beast's who come and go as they please.
Or will we at long last see the shadows we sight
Are really not us, and frightfully are, the Beast
Who have answered our prays to save us from our plight
So what do we do? Die as sheep, or die as humans, at least?
I pray the Cave will be replaced by the Sun.
I refuse to die as a human or sheep
until the damage of Greed is undone.
A few years ago the Republicans pushed through a bankruptcy reform bill, which made it difficult for INDIVIDUALS seeking Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. Quoting Sen. Grassley on 2/21/05, “Every time a debt is wiped away through bankruptcy, someone loses money. When someone loses money in this way, he or she has to decide either to assume the loss as a cost of business, or raise prices for other customers to make up that loss…The result of the bankruptcy crisis is that hardworking, law abiding Americans have to pay higher prices for goods and services. S. 256 would make it harder for INDIVIDUALS (my caps) who can repay their debts from filing bankruptcy under Chapter 7. It's only fair to require people who can repay their debts to pull their own weight.”
So, apparently the banks/mortgage companies don’t need to “pull their own weight.” They get bailouts from the taxpayers, while mortgage holders (taxpayers) get told they’re on their own and to “pull their own weight” again!
Can someone explain how it GETS CREDIT FLOWING, by having TWELVE (D) SENATORS VOTE TO SUPPORT BANKS in DENYING FAMILIES AT RISK OF LOSING THEIR HOMES - the RIGHT - to RE-NEGOTIATE THEIR MORTGAGE, while these SAME SENATORS apparently think such privileges should be reserved for YACHT OWNERS and SECOND AND THIRD HOME OWNERS?
Can someone explain how it GETS CREDIT FLOWING, by having the infamous TWELVE PRO-HOMELESSNESS IN AMERICA (D) SENATORS vote in favor of supporting BANKS making BIGGER PROFITS by DENYING HOMEOWNERS THE ABILITY TO HAVE THEIR MORTGAGES RE-NEGOTIATED BY A JUDGE, AT RATES THEY CAN TRULY AFFORD ( a measure that banks conveniently and purposefully did NOT USE, the first time they handed out their loans?)
Can Sec Geithner explain how voting AGAINST HOME OWNERS BEING ABLE TO STAY IN THEIR HOMES AND PAY FOR THEIR MORTGAGES, it SERVES his "LET'S GET THE CREDIT FLOWING" PLAN?
DO BANKS WANT TO "GET THE CREDIT FLOWING", SEC. GEITHNER?
FLOWING INTO THE HANDS OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE?
OR FLOWING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN BANKS, YACHT OWNERS, MILLIONAIRES, AND THE PRIVILEGED INVESTORS WHOSE INTERESTS ARE TRULY BEING PROTECTED AND REPRESENTED IN WASHINGTON?
It's time that we took back our country because this conduct by these senators is a complete disgrace.
Myth..Obama is reaching out to the right. He is the conciliatorer.
Fact...Banksters and Wall Street run the country.
I like Obama better than bush, however. He seems much more intelligent.
The banks were not too big to fail because they had already failed. They should have been seized, cleaned up and broken up and then sold.
Wasting money on energy - putting a $1.00 tax on gas at the pump and lowering/raising it to make the cost of gas $3.00 per gallon would mean we could cut taxes in other areas (or return the tax revenue to the states so they don't have to cut their state budgets in this dire economic mess) while at the same time reducing imports of oil which helps the dollar and trade deficit which in turn puts more purchasing power in the pockets of consumers to drive the economy forward
Cutting war cost - $200 billion at least. There must be $400 billion in excess defence spending due to wars, etc.
Health care - we spend a trillion, that is $1000 billion more than other countries based on population size. Let us say there is $500 billion of waste in the system. We could at least find $300 billion or so quickly.
Instead of the above we have:
Bail out of gas guzzling Detroit.
$83 B "emergency" war funding, the 6th straight "emergency" in as many years.
Tell congress to come up with a health plan. In the meantime, guarantee health care for life for UAW employees during pre packaged bankruptcy instead of using the opportunity to create an "off the balance sheet" government plan.