First 100 Day Hogwash
Apr 29th, 2009 | By Rob | Category: Government
I’ve been listening to stories about the first 100 days of President Obama’s tenure as head of the country for the past two weeks now. A simple search of Google News reveals a plethora of newspaper articles about his accomplishments during the first one hundred days of his presidency. And I have little doubt that every (well, almost every … ) newspaper in the country will have a story today on or near the front page with a recap of the President’s every move so far.
I have thought about writing down my own opinions about President Obama’s start since hearing the first story about two weeks ago. I’m a pessimistic optimist at the moment. I’m inspired when Obama speaks and I think he articulates an interesting and exciting vision of the world. In reality, I just don’t know if he’s a strong enough leader to take us there. I think he and his office have tripped over their own feet a few times and gotten very little done in the face of massive economic problems. I doubt that he can accomplish what he says he will accomplish. And I’m scared that if he gets us there, it won’t be as good a world as promised.
When I look back at what he’s done so far, what he’s promised to do, and what he’s been unable to do, I just haven’t been motivated to write about it. Of course, there’s reason to care that actions are taken swiftly to address the problems of credit card debt and foreclosures. Families are no doubt losing their home to foreclosure every day. Banks are slashing credit lines to customers and raising interest rates on remaining debt. And every day of debt is additional interest owed to the banks.
But, in some ways, our need for, and expectation of, immediate gratification has gotten us into this mess. We shouldn’t expect to reverse the course of the nation and the economy so quickly.
I see the fight to improve the financial position of households in the United States as a marathon, not a sprint. The officials don’t stop a marathon after the first mile and declare the winner of the race. In reality, the leading runner so early in the race might not even finish amongst the fastest runners.
If this were a basketball game, every year of the president’s term of office would be a quarter, and the first 100 days would probably mark around the amount of time before the first television timeout. Just enough time to get your starters warm but usually not enough time to win or lose the game.
I simply don’t care that much how Obama’s first 100 days have gone. He’s no doubt made some mistakes. He’s probably even got a few things right. What I really care about is whether he recognizes when a mistake is made, learns from it, and avoids the same type of mistake in the future. He hasn’t lost the game in the first 100 days - and in this economy that’s saying alot.
I would have liked a stronger regulatory approach to the problem of foreclosures. I would have liked him to meet with the credit card executives earlier in his term. I would have liked the economic stimulus package to create an internet superhighway rather than start shovel-ready projects. I would like to have heard that there is no longer any truth to the claim that the banks aren’t lending.
There’s going to be alot of opportunities to win or lose the game over the course of the next four years. With the problems he has to tackle, it is probably going to be a see saw battle most of the way. But in the end, I really only care if he makes the shots that count. You know - the one with ten seconds left in the game to tie it, and then the one that follows it up in overtime to win it. There’s still 3 years and 200 plus days left in President Obama’s first term. Plenty of time to learn from mistakes and improve.
In other words, I’ll be fine with credit card reform on day 101.
