What's so special about the first 100 days. This is really a media hype. It just so happens President Obama's Presidency might have reached it's peak in the first 100 days. He faces lots of problems in the days and years ahead.
One view found in Huffington:
With the glaring exception of the troubled, potentially disastrous bank bailout plan that could undercut any economic recovery, the Obama administration deserves at least an A- when it comes to taking action on behalf of workers.
Then there is view found in the anti-Obama FOXNews:
Even the European press recognize the Obamas’ first 100 days marker as rife with broken promises, crippling debt and bizarre and dangerous domestic and foreign policy, yet that’s not the message you’ll hear from the fawning orgiastic American Establishment Media for the next several days. — You will also likely not hear a peep about Roxana Saberi, Laura Ling and Euna Lee. They’re too much an an inconvenient truth.
Roxana, Laura and Euna. All three American journalists, all women of color, who languish as hostages in foreign prisons of state-based terrorists.
That same media outlet hates the President so much they won't even cover his news conference. Even if it's marking his first 100 days:
President Obama’s prime time press conference will air on one fewer channel this week.
Fox is “sticking with its regular schedule” on Wednesday night, The Associated Press reports, marking “the first time a broadcast network has refused Obama’s request” for airtime.
The press conference, scheduled for 8 p.m. Wednesday, will be Mr. Obama’s third of the year. It will mark his first 100 days in office. ABC, CBS and NBC, along with a multitude of cable networks, will carry the press conference live.
Counting his not-State of the Union address in February, it will be Mr. Obama’s fourth interruption of the prime-time TV schedule. Broadcasters have grumbled, mostly anonymously, about the repeated interruptions. “His economic stimulus package apparently does not extend to the TV networks,” one of the anonymous network types said to The Washington Post in February.
In a statement, Fox said an on-screen graphic would alert viewers to coverage of the press conference on Fox News Channel and the Fox Business Network. The drama “Lie to Me” will air at 8 p.m.
The networks are not required to show presidential press conferences, but they generally take White House requests for airtime very seriously. Millions of viewers who rely on over-the-air TV signals do not have access to cable news networks or C-SPAN.
How has he done with our military. This from Military.com:
Since his inauguration 100 days ago, Obama has made good on his promise for sweeping change in the military, a new tone in the White House's relationship with troops and a personal investment in easing the burden of military service.
But so far his record has been met with controversy, both for its marked consistency with the policies of George W. Bush and for its radical break from the past that some see as reckless.
Obama was quick to apologize for American conduct in the war on terrorism and relations with some of its allies during his trip to Europe in early April. He called for "mutual respect" toward Iran, which commanders in Iraq say supplies deadly roadside bombs to insurgents. And he has agreed to the release of reportedly gruesome photos of the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, an action that some insiders claim will worsen morale in a military service only now recovering from the tarnished public perception stemming from that terrible chapter.
Likewise, in his first 100 days Obama has met several times with veterans organizations to assure them of his personal investment in their care. He's taken on the largest defense firms with a sweeping Pentagon budget reform that slashes costly programs at a time of economic turmoil. And he's proven immensely popular with troops in the field; for instance, last month he was given a standing ovation from those serving in Iraq even as he asked them for continued long-term commitments to Afghanistan.
His record on the economy from a foreign point of view. This from the BBC:
His first 100 days contain at least one notable achievement - the $787bn (£539bn) stimulus plan.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to give it its proper title, was signed into law by the President less than a month after he took the oath of office.
It is the single biggest peacetime spending initiative in US history and was passed in record time.
But it failed to gain the bi-partisan support in Congress that President Obama was looking for and has become a rallying point for Republican opposition.
Rising unemployment
The administration claims that the Act is already having an impact, with the go-ahead given to numerous transport projects, such as road and bridge building. Money has also been used to save jobs in public services, like the police.
But evidence that it is making a big difference is lacking.
In the short term, the Act cannot reverse the recession; all it can do is cushion the impact of rising unemployment and lay the groundwork to support future growth.
The Act will also have one very serious negative effect.
It will add to the spiralling US budget deficit - forecast to hit a massive $1.75 trillion this year.
The polls show what the public thinks of the President's start:
The latest New York Times/CBS poll: “Barack Obama’s presidency seems to be altering the public perception of race relations in the United States. Two-thirds of Americans now say race relations are generally good, and the percentage of blacks who say so has doubled since last July… Despite that, half of blacks still say whites have a better chance of getting ahead in American society.”
More: “Mr. Obama’s 68 percent job approval rating is higher than that of any recent president at the 100-day mark. Mr. Bush had the approval of 56 percent of the public at this juncture. But while Americans clearly have faith in Mr. Obama, the poll revealed something of a disconnect between what the public thinks the president has already accomplished and what it expects him to achieve. Fewer than half of those surveyed, 48 percent, said Mr. Obama had begun to make progress on one of his major campaign promises, changing the way business is conducted in Washington. And just 39 percent said he had begun to make progress on another major promise, cutting taxes for middle-class Americans, even though the stimulus bill he signed into law does include a middle class tax cut.”
The new CNN poll: “The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll … indicates that 63 percent of Americans approve of how Obama is handling his duties as president. One in three questioned in the poll disapprove. Democrats overwhelmingly approve of how Obama is handling his job as president; 61 percent of independents agree. Only 28 percent of Republicans say the president is doing a good job in office.”
Even some of his political enemies have to admit President Obama is doing good:
I’ve been impressed by what he has done. He is a young man but he is extremely gifted. He has acted with strength, I think, and purpose in Iraq and Afghanistan, rebuilt some of our relations around the world and acted very boldly here at home on the economy where we needed him to particularly with the stimulus package.
But it’s early but I would say he is off to a very good start.
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