Inauguration Sensation
by Efin Advisor | January 16, 2009
When TIME magazine named Barack Obama the 2008 Person of the Year they did so for a host of reasons that cut across the fabric of American social and political life. When the Financial Times also choose Obama as Person of the Year they recognized his practical, bipartisan approach and his selection of a top-notch cabinet as being vital signs for an economic recovery.
“Everything Mr Obama has done in public life so far suggests an instinctively bipartisan figure. Often compared with Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose “first-class temperament” enabled him to chalk up a historically productive first 100 days as president, almost nobody can recollect Mr Obama even raising his voice,” they cite.
According to opinion polls, Mr Obama enters office with record approval ratings from the US public. No previous incoming president has achieved ratings of 70 to 80 per cent. Those numbers have risen during the 77-day transition period as Mr Obama has unveiled his cabinet appointments
Smart and self-confident are the ways some would describe his economic team. Larry Summers, who will head the National Economic Council, and Tim Geithner, who will be his Treasury secretary, are both seen as centrists.
Writing in his former Financial Times column, Mr Summers foreshadowed that “when markets overshoot, policymakers must overshoot too”. As a result, the fiscal stimulus package Mr Obama unveils next month is likely to be a record-breaking $850bn or more.
In his book The Audacity of Hope, Mr Obama puts the question of how can he “avoid the pitfalls of fame, the hunger to please, the fear of loss, and thereby retain that kernel of truth, that singular voice within each of us that reminds us of our deepest commitments . . . ”
The answer may come much sooner than most people imagine as Mr Obama will be compelled to make a series of weighty decisions.
I am so excited for the inauguration. I think Obama’s chance to unite hte american people is now, and he and his speech writers have hopefully come up with something really good. I’m expecting something as powerful as “ask not what your country can do for you…”. I know that sets the bar high, but I think obama has done that to himself as well.
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I am obviously hopeful about the future, hell most americans are, but I also have a lot of worries about Obama. There is soemthing to be said for having a president with whom we know what to expect. I’m not saying we would know what to expect with John Mccain, but for hte last 8 years we knew exactly what we were getting with George Bush, whether we liked it or not. Now, we have no idea what the president is going to do nor do we know how much we can trust him, because he is fairly unproven. I just hope he knows what he is diong, because this is the time for leadership and he is the only person we’ve got.
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Tomorrow is going to be an historical day for america. I wish i could have gotten tickets to the inauguration. This will be one of those moments people always ask about in the future saying “where were you when…” I’m just sorry I have to be at work tomorrow during it. I’ll probably sneak off to watch his speech or turn on the radio or something. Remeber this day and make sure you are there for it, this is not something to miss
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Tomorrow is the beginning of a bright new future in america. I bet the market will turn around and Obama will, by wednesday, have announced major policy plans, tax proposals and healthcare plans. Now i know people usually talk about the first 100 days, i bet this will be a first few weeks that we are talking about. Its time for change and change is coming
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Anyone else see the news today that Biden was offered the chance to be Secretary of State but chose VP instead? I hope Obama doesn’t make incompetent decisions like this during his presidency. Why offer Biden a choice? Biden knows foreign policy a lot better than Hillary does, and he would have been a much better choice for the job. Instead, Barack panders and ends up with a worse cabinet. I hope we really do get change with Obama and not just more of the same buddy politics like this little blunder.
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Obama will truly give us change. I cannot explain how happy I am to have him in the White House over Bush. Bush has ruined our economy and gotten us into the most ill-advised war in history. Obama will bring us economic prosperity and get us out of the hell hole we call Iraq. He’ll be tougher on big business and give Americans more of what they need from the government. I want to live in a country where Americans can get free healthcare, a meal on their table, and where two gay people can enter into holy matrimony. We need to get the Bible thumpers out of America and usher in some commons sense for once.
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I’m a little surprised the market dropped so much yesterday. I figured as obama took office a new surge of confidence would take place, though i guess that people knew this for a while so the effects would have been spread out over a long period of time. Still, I thought the bounce would have been bigger. Maybe it will be when he passes his supposed economic revitalization bill
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