Obama First 100 Days: Hits and Misses So Far

President Barack Obama is over halfway through his first 100 days in the White House, and his tenure has been eventful to say the least. He has signed legislation allowing federal funding for stem cell research, a troop withdrawal in Iraq and a massive infusion of money into the country's financial sector. There have been highs and lows, as is the case in any nascient presidency. This post will review a few of Obama's biggest hits and misses so far:

Hits

Campaign Promises: Like them or not, Obama has come through on many of the promises he was elected to enact. According to PolitiFact.com, he has come through on 19 promises, compared to only 3 broken. Included in this are significant decisions such as the Ledbetter law, stem cell research funding, and SCHIP. However, the site lists 44 others as being 'in the works' and it will be interesting to see how those come out.

Troop Withdrawal: Obama's decision to withdraw troops from Iraq received postitive reviews from many on both sides of the aisle. John McCain even came out in support of the move, despite being a harsh critic of Obama's on several other issues.

Retaining Robert Gates: As hard and effective as Obama has been at distancing himself from his predecessor, he did retain the Secretary of Defense. This has allowed some fears about national security to subside and has allowed the communication between those protecting our country to not suffer with a transition.

Misses

Personnel Appointments: The list of pesonnel decisions that have gone awry is long and embarrassing. Back taxes claimed Tom Daschle and very nearly cost embattled Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner his position before it began. Attorney General Eric Holder had questions surrounding him and Judd Gregg's decision to leave the role of Secretary of Commerce only days after accepting. All of these left a definite black eye on the on the administration.

Too Much, Too Soon: While Obama has moved swiftly to resolve the mounting financial crisis, he has also moved rapidly to revolutionize healthcare and investments in education. The $787-billion dollar stimulus package, coupled with the $410-billion omnibus bill and now his hotly contested $3+ trillion budget are all staggering amounts of money. The latest Congressional Budget Office projections also cast a mostly ominous shadow on the long-term effects of the projected budget, as well.

Going Forward

Whoever won the past election, either Obama or McCain, was going to be in for some rough times early in their presidency. Regardless of what John Boehner or Glenn Beck say, Obama truly did inherit the deficit and a woeful economic situation. And the era of so-called "big government" is in the eye of the beholder (i.e. the party making the accusations). After all, government spending increased a whopping 104% during Bush's presidency (Source: http://www.mercatus.org/PublicationDetails.aspx?id=26426). Despite what Rachel Maddow or Keith Olberman say, Obama will have to curtial the national debt at some point and the sooner the better. His administration has been spending at a lighting fast rate, and that is certainly reason for strong concern.

Most of Obama's biggest decisions are too early to rank as a win or loss. Closing Guantanamo Bay was promised by both McCain and Obama in their campaigns. How that situation is resolved will determine its effectiveness, such as what happens to the detainees and how are their cases reviewed?

The same goes for the stimulus plan. If unemployment levels off sooner than later and Americans return to work it will largely be viewed as a success. However if it fails to generate a response and another stimulus is deemed necessary by congress, public opinion will almost certainly sour.

Overall, his first 100 days have been a mixed bag. It is worth noting that while the early returns on the budget proposals are not optimistic, the proposed budget is in its infancy, and was never believed to be implemented exactly as introduced. However, it's hard to believe that their estimates could not foresee detrimental effects on the national debt with the proposed plans and record amounts of spending.

In a side note, while the current economic situation is indeed dire, it is premature to compare it to the Great Depression. The highest projected rate of unemployment for Americans during the current crisis is a little under 10% (Source:http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/02/18/afx6067181.html) . By comparison, during the Great Depression (1933), nearly a quarter of all Americans were unemployed (Source: http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/Timeline.htm). While this is only one statistical comparison, it is still noteworthy.