Monday, November 10, 2008
Obama Begins Transition
President-elect Obama has had a busy week since the election. After promising his children a puppy, he witnessed his first President's Daily Brief, which will be given to him every morning by the CIA. The world is eagerly awaiting Mr. Obama's picks for his cabinet and administration posts, and was rewarded with one: Rahm Emanuel, Representative from Illinois, will be the Chief of Staff in the new Administration. Rep. Emanuel was the architect of the Democrat's successful bid to take control of Congress in 2006. An Obama aid said that the President-elect is not likely to make any cabinet picks this week, however. Obama also met with President Bush at the White House to talk about the transition.
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8 comments:
Its funny that Obama's promise to his daughters comes so soon after Barney, the Bush family dog, bit the hand of a reporter in what is being seen as a final parting shot at the press. On a more relevant note, President-Elect Obama met with President Bush yesterday. Among other issues, they discussed the dire situation facing auto manufacturers. Obama urged Bush to come to the aid of the flagging industry, perhaps setting the tone for the intervention-heavy style of government he will apply when in office.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5105735.ece
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/us/politics/11auto.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Bush now is calling for the passage of the Columbia free trade agreement in exchange for an auto industry hand out. It is interesting that thus far the democrats have been so opposed to free trade with South America. I don't know what Obama and the democrats expect with a enormous handout to the auto industry. Throwing money at poor management, over paid workers, and bad business plans will not save the auto industry in the US. At best this money will save the big three from collapse for a couple years. Meanwhile they will continue burning through cash while they try to peddle poorly designed automobiles in a market where very few can afford to purchase them.
Spoken like a true libertarian, Cameron!
I think the fact that Bush met with Obama is very symbolic and shows that the transition of power will undoubtedly go smoothly. Obama has already shown that he will not start slowly and that he will jump straight into the job of president with the same fervor that he had during his campaign.
I have to say I enjoyed listening to Bush on CNN yesterday talking about his meeting with our next president. My two favorite quotes:
1. Still gotta love Bill...
"And we had a good conversation. I was very pleased. And I remember the conversation I had with my predecessor, Bill Clinton. As a matter of fact, I called him yesterday. And, you know, I said, Bill, I'm getting ready to meet with the new president, and I remember how gracious you were to me and I hope I can be as gracious to President-elect Obama as you were to me."
2. Sounded kinda like Sarah Palin with all the American stuff but nice in a George Bush sort of way...
"And so President-elect Obama has a great opportunity. And I really do wish him all the best. I mean, I am just as American as he is American. And it is good for our country that the president succeeds. And so the transition that we're working with him on is a genuine effort to help him be able to deal with the pressures and the complicated issues of the presidency."
Now that's the last thing I would like to hear from W. I don't like all the laws he's trying to pass in his last 70 days in office.
I wonder what will happen to the auto industry. Another $25 billion just to merge two failing companies (Chrysler and GM) seems to make little sense. Also, given that Cerberus (the private equity firm which owns Chrysler) is in a cash crunch, and the company happens to be stacked with very high level Democrat politicians, the question must be asked...is bailing out Cerberus by allowing GM to take Chrysler off its hands an economic decision or a political one?
Then again, proponents of the merger assert the Chrysler has the relatively high tech assembly line, while GM has the well-selling cars...so a merger would lead to Chrysler's divisions being shuttered, as well as GM's plants.
In a rather humorous article, Thomas Friedman wrote that Steve Jobs should seize the reigns of one of the big three, and do a national service. Hah!
I feel a strong reflection of what we discussed on Friday durring D-Block would be Obama's weekly address to the people of America. I'm referring to the fact that Obama's campaign was very modern in the sense that it truly harnessed the potential of the internet. An example of one of his weekly addresses from November 5th, 2008 is below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYVRzNkmvfc&feature=related
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