Judge Obama on performance alone - from the WSJ

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by deepimpact2

I disagree. How many other presidents have frozen pay in their first 100 days, to use just one example? And some people DO find these things that he has done to be fairly controversial.

No president in recent history has taken office in such horrid economic conditions while funding a dual-front war. Clearly, some belt tightening was to be expected. I imagine McCain would have done the same. We're all familiar with FDR's first 100 days and the sweeping economic reforms that came about, so I won't bore anyone with the details; suffice it to say that none of the other presidents have had to take such a drastic step in their first weeks in office.

As far as Gitmo, that was also to be expected. Perhaps McCain would have waited a little bit longer, but still.

The people who find Obama's recent moves to be surprising or controversial must have had their heads in the sand for the past year or so.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

No president in recent history has taken office in such horrid economic conditions while funding a dual-front war. Clearly, some belt tightening was to be expected. I imagine McCain would have done the same. We're all familiar with FDR's first 100 days and the sweeping economic reforms that came about, so I won't bore anyone with the details; suffice it to say that none of the other presidents have had to take such a drastic step in their first weeks in office.

As far as Gitmo, that was also to be expected. Perhaps McCain would have waited a little bit longer, but still.

The people who find Obama's recent moves to be surprising or controversial must have had their heads in the sand for the past year or so.

You read some of our minds.

[deepimpact2]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

No president in recent history has taken office in such horrid economic conditions while funding a dual-front war. Clearly, some belt tightening was to be expected. I imagine McCain would have done the same. We're all familiar with FDR's first 100 days and the sweeping economic reforms that came about, so I won't bore anyone with the details; suffice it to say that none of the other presidents have had to take such a drastic step in their first weeks in office.

As far as Gitmo, that was also to be expected. Perhaps McCain would have waited a little bit longer, but still.

The people who find Obama's recent moves to be surprising or controversial must have had their heads in the sand for the past year or so.

Since McCain isn't in office, you can't really say what he would have done.

Interesting to hear the viewpoints in this thread. Just kind of solidifies things for me.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

No president in recent history has taken office in such horrid economic conditions while funding a dual-front war. Clearly, some belt tightening was to be expected. I imagine McCain would have done the same. We're all familiar with FDR's first 100 days and the sweeping economic reforms that came about, so I won't bore anyone with the details; suffice it to say that none of the other presidents have had to take such a drastic step in their first weeks in office.

As far as Gitmo, that was also to be expected. Perhaps McCain would have waited a little bit longer, but still.

The people who find Obama's recent moves to be surprising or controversial must have had their heads in the sand for the past year or so.

Exactly my thoughts.

[AGDee]

I agree that his moves haven't been unexpected. They can't sit there and grill CEOs about what cuts/freezes they are making without making some themselves. These are belt tightening times.

I am disappointed that he has changed his words on lobbyists. His first statements were that there would be no lobbyists hired into his administration and they were talking on Meet the Press today that he has backpedaled on that. I'm not totally anti-lobbyists because I think they are necessary to some extent. Our own umbrella organizations have lobbyists working to try to get donations for housing to be tax deductible. I think many go too far and have too much power and control though.

I'm a little tired of the 100 days evaluation period. I'm concerned that it pushes them to try to make sweeping changes immediately and I'm not sure that's it always good to "rush" into things that way. But, it has become a measure. At this point, he can really only deal with things that are executive orders because it takes Congress forever to pass just about everything.

And a random thought not attached to this thread, really... I probably become most frustrated with the way the House and Senate throw extra, unrelated items onto some bills to either get something else passed or to kill a bill. That practice seems shady to me and can give opponents in elections too much fodder for attacks.

[deepimpact2]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I'm a little tired of the 100 days evaluation period. .

Me too. It's a little on the silly side.

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I'm a little tired of the 100 days evaluation period. I'm concerned that it pushes them to try to make sweeping changes immediately and I'm not sure that's it always good to "rush" into things that way. But, it has become a measure. At this point, he can really only deal with things that are executive orders because it takes Congress forever to pass just about everything.

I think that the emphasis on the first 100 days is important with this new administration. The past few presidents have come to office in a time of relative prosperity and stability, so it really wasn't as important what they did in those first three months. There's a real sense of urgency to stop this economic mess (I'm just going to call it a depression from now on), and I think it must be done quickly. Bush I, II, or Clinton did not have that sort of pressure on them; Reagan only did for his second term.