Spring Break
Another perspective on Obama's first 100 days
Caleb Thornton
Issue date: 4/30/09 Section: Opinion
Unless I am mistaken, by the time this article goes to print, change will have come to America for exactly 101 days.
For any other professional position this number would be meaningless, but ever since FDR's historic first term, the first 100 days of any president's tenure have been scrutinized, weighed and measured to determine if they were successful or not.
Obviously, it would be impossible to decide whether or not Obama's presidency has been a success or failure at this point in time, but because the opportunity has presented itself, I figured now would be as good a time as any to take a look at just what the president has done in these first crucial months.
What comes to mind first when considering the first 100 day of the Obama presidency would be the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed by Congress only weeks after the president had been sworn in. Frankly, I believe that it is this piece of legislation alone that will really determine how President Obama's first 100 days are viewed.
It may come as a shock to some of you (if you have never really read this column before, that is), but I believe that this legislation was a monumental mistake made by the president and the Democratically controlled Congress and, barring an immediate economic upturn which has yet to happen, will be viewed as such in the future.
Just in case you missed it, this act allocated over $800 billion to, as the White House put it, "jump start the economy." Of course, there was no mention of how exactly America was going to pay for such a bill, much less any discussion on how this goblin of a bill would actually get America out of its current recession.
You can also forget the idea that there was any healthy debate on the bill -- it was passed out of Congress less than 24 hours after the final form was introduced.
Because it was passed, our generation can now look forward to an even larger federal deficit that will undoubtedly have to pay for with higher taxes.
For any other professional position this number would be meaningless, but ever since FDR's historic first term, the first 100 days of any president's tenure have been scrutinized, weighed and measured to determine if they were successful or not.
Obviously, it would be impossible to decide whether or not Obama's presidency has been a success or failure at this point in time, but because the opportunity has presented itself, I figured now would be as good a time as any to take a look at just what the president has done in these first crucial months.
What comes to mind first when considering the first 100 day of the Obama presidency would be the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed by Congress only weeks after the president had been sworn in. Frankly, I believe that it is this piece of legislation alone that will really determine how President Obama's first 100 days are viewed.
It may come as a shock to some of you (if you have never really read this column before, that is), but I believe that this legislation was a monumental mistake made by the president and the Democratically controlled Congress and, barring an immediate economic upturn which has yet to happen, will be viewed as such in the future.
Just in case you missed it, this act allocated over $800 billion to, as the White House put it, "jump start the economy." Of course, there was no mention of how exactly America was going to pay for such a bill, much less any discussion on how this goblin of a bill would actually get America out of its current recession.
You can also forget the idea that there was any healthy debate on the bill -- it was passed out of Congress less than 24 hours after the final form was introduced.
Because it was passed, our generation can now look forward to an even larger federal deficit that will undoubtedly have to pay for with higher taxes.
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