First Week for the Obama Administration

It has been one week that the Obama administration has been working at solving all the problems that U.S. citizens are facing. Here’s what Barack Obama and his team worked on:

Reverses Key Bush Security Policies
President Obama reversed the most disputed counterterrorism policies of the Bush administration on Thursday, declaring that “our ideals give us the strength and moral high ground” in the fight against Al Qaeda. But Mr. Obama postponed for months decisions on complex questions the United States has been grappling with since the terrorist attacks of 2001. Mr. Obama signed executive orders closing the detention camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, within a year; ending the Central Intelligence Agency’s secret prisons; and requiring all interrogations to follow the non-coercive methods of the Army Field Manual.

Federal Aid for International Abortion
President Obama repealed rules on Friday that restricted federal money for international organizations that promote or provide abortions overseas, sweeping aside a pillar of the social policy architecture of George W. Bush’s presidency.

Automobile Emissions
President Obama directed federal regulators on Monday to move swiftly on an application by California and 13 other states to set strict limits on greenhouse gases from cars and trucks. He also ordered the Transportation Department to begin drawing up rules imposing higher fuel-economy standards on cars and light trucks.

Economic Stimulus Package
Mr. Obama spent more than two hours in closed-door meetings with Congressional Republicans, outlining his $850 billion economic stimulus plan and fielding an array of critical questions. The stimulus plan is the centerpiece of President. Obama’s early agenda, and it also seeks to make good on some of his signature campaign promises, including an income tax cut for most Americans earning less than $200,000 a year. Under the plan, individuals would receive up to $500 and families up to $1,000 through a cut in payroll taxes on the first $8,100 in income. The money would be delivered through paychecks as a reduction in Social Security withholdings, and is intended to bolster consumer spending by giving a small lift to household pocketbooks.

Combining the spending and revenue effects of H.R. 1, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that enacting the bill would increase federal budget deficits by $169 billion over the remaining months of fiscal year 2009, by $356 billion in 2010, by $174 billion in 2011, and by $816 billion over the 2009-2019 period.

Spoke to the Muslim World
It was Barack Obama’s first televised interview from the White House and the first with any foreign news outlet. In the interview, which was taped on Monday night and broadcast throughout the Muslim world on Tuesday, Barack Obama said it was his job “to communicate to the Muslim world that the Americans are not your enemy.” He added that “we sometimes make mistakes,” but said that America was not born as a colonial power and that he hoped for a restoration of “the same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago.” President Obama spoke as his special Middle East envoy, George J. Mitchell, arrived in Egypt to begin an eight-day tour that will include stops in Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, France and Britain. In Egypt, Mr. Mitchell planned to meet President Hosni Mubarak.

After Obama made his talk to the Muslim world -Iran's president has responded to an overture by President Obama by demanding an apology for past US "crimes" committed against Iran. The US "stood against the Iranian people in the past 60 years," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said during an address in the western region of Khermenshah. "Those who speak of change must apologize to the Iranian people and try to repair their past crimes," he said. President Obama has offered to extend a hand if Iran "unclenched its fist".

Sends Envoy to the Middle East
President Obama sent his special envoy, George J. Mitchell, on an eight-day listening tour that includes Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, France and Britain.

The beginning of a new era in American politics

At noon on January 20, 2009 marked the beginning of a new era for the citizens of this great country. As Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States the stock market on Wall Street reached its low of 7,949; U.S. solders were involved in two wars; General Motors lost its title as the automobile sales leader to Toyota; Congress is planning another $500B economic stimulus package that would put $500 in each taxpayers pocket; and we are still on alert for terrorist attacks in major cities of the U.S.

Not the best environment for a new president to face on his first day on the job. President Obama planned a 7:45 a.m. meeting with his staff to address these and other issues. They won’t have a solution to all the major issues in front of the American people anytime soon. If these issues were easy to solve they would have already been done.

A presidential honeymoon is usually considered to be the first 100 days. With today’s fast moving world, public demand will decrease that to probably something like 50 days. I don’t expect to see a lot of movement right away. These solutions really require getting answers, getting buy in from Democrats and Republicans, passing the bill, and implementing. What our system lacks is the ability to adjust for changing situation.

Let’s hope and pray our leaders make the right decisions to arrive at the best solution for the American public.

Where Did All That Money Go?

After receiving the first issue of the $700 billions bailout package from U.S. taxpayers, the nation's largest banks say they can't track exactly how they're spending the money or they simply refuse to discuss it. This first issue was in the amount of $350 billion.

This is hard to believe. Has a bank ever failed to list where every penny in your checking account went? Not my bank. They have never failed to list every check I have ever written.

The Associated Press contacted 21 banks that were recipients of at least $1 billion in the emergency bailout money. None could give AP a straight answer as to where the money went or how it was used. AP asked four questions: How much has been spent? What was it spent on? How much is being held in savings, and what's the plan for the rest?

None of the banks provided specific answers. Some banks said they simply didn't know where the money was going. And no bank provided even the most basic accounting for the federal money.

So, who in the federal government is tracking how this money is being used? Somebody should. If a federal agency gives a grant or loans money it should verify the money is needed and verify it is used as prescribed in the Congressional bailout plan. In this case, the U.S. Treasury gave the money out. And, they will give out another $350 billion sometime in the middle of January.

I would hope the U.S. Treasury wakes up and gives taxpayers some sort of report of how all this money is being used.

Israel and the Palestinian Conflict

On Dec 19th the Islamist militant group Hamas ended a six-month cease-fire with Israel in the Gaza Strip. As the cease-fire expired Hamas issued a statement blaming Israel which had not "respected" the truce. Israel's foreign ministry spokesman said the militants, who control Gaza, "had chosen violence over truth". The Egyptian-brokered deal began on June 19th but had been tested regularly by Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and Israeli operations in Gaza.

Hamas is one of the two main Palestinian political groups. Since June 2007 it has been in de facto control of the Gaza Strip, after seizing power from the Fatah party in a series of bloody clashes. Hamas recognizes the fact of Israel but refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist, and has been responsible for many of the deadliest suicide attacks in Israel.

On Dec 27th Israel launches major air strikes on Hamas targets throughout the Gaza in retaliation for heavy rocket fire from the area. More than 200 Palestians are killed from the air strikes.

On Jan 3rd Israeli tanks and troops sweep across the border into Gaza, opening a ground war against Hamas after a week of intense air strikes. Palestinian medical officials say at least 110 people have died since the ground assault began on Saturday. Israel says it has killed 130 Hamas fighters and has denied claims that Hamas has killed 10 of its soldiers. More than 560 Palestinians have been killed since Israel moved to end rocket attacks from Gaza 11 days ago, Palestinian medical officials say. The UN says at least 25% of those are civilians. At least 20 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday, while three Israeli soldiers were killed by fire from one of their own tanks.

Intense diplomatic efforts are under way to resolve the crisis but Israel rejected calls for an immediate truce. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is due to attend a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, along with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, France and Britain, in an attempt to put pressure on the Security Council to act decisively. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he had asked his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, to help convince Hamas to co-operate with efforts to end the Israeli offensive. Syria is regarded as a main backer of Hamas.

On Jan 7th Israel agreed "on the principles" of a cease-fire proposal, raising hopes of an end to its conflict with Palestinian militants in Gaza. "The challenge now is to get the details to match the principles," Israeli spokesman Mark Regev said.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas said there were "positive signs but no agreement yet". The development came as Israel halted military operations in Gaza for three hours to aid humanitarian efforts.

Israel and Hamas have been under pressure to accept a diplomatic solution to the conflict, which began on December 27th. Israel wants to stop rocket attacks on southern Israel and to stop Hamas smuggling weapons into Gaza via Egypt, while Hamas says any cease-fire deal must include an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza. Israel said it was not sure how long the diplomatic process would take and that a working arms embargo on Hamas was needed.

Little official detail has been given about the French-Egyptian proposal, which is backed by the United States and the UN, but diplomats say it centers on measures to halt weapons smuggling from Egypt into Gaza, coupled with moves to ease the blockade. In a statement released on Wednesday, France's President Nicolas Sarkozy welcomed "the acceptance by Israel and the Palestinian Authority" of the truce plan. The statement did not mention Hamas.

The world waits and listens to see if a solution to this ever lasting crisis.