Editorial CE #2

Washington Post
President of Everything
by Eugene Robinson


This week’s editorial called “President of Everything” by Eugene Robinson. It summarizes his opinion on Barack Obama’s new presidency. He refers to it as “a presidency on steroids.” In the first month, Barack Obama has decreed an end to torture and the Guantanamo prison, extended health insurance to more children, reversing Bush-era policies on family planning. He also managed to push through Congress the stimulus package designed to stimulate the economy and reorder the nation’s priorities which he said is “little short of astonishing.” His next obstacle is to set the parameters of a new presidential role: managing the big chunks of the private-sector economy that are now more accurately described as semi-private.
This week, executives of General Motors and Chrysler are reporting on their progress in transforming themselves into “lean, mean, car-making machines, capable of leading American industry into a new golden age. They’ll also explain that they need more money fast. General Motors got a $9.4 billion cash infusion from the government two months ago and wants the remaining $4 billion that the Bush administration approved. Chrysler which got $4 billion in December, needs $3 billion more.
Robinson says that Obama has abandoned plans to appoint a “car czar” to oversee government aid to the auto companies, giving the job instead of a high-level task force. So far, he has declined to face the central question: can GM and Chrysler thrive under present management? If the Big Three are not going to merge into the Big One, Obama and Congress are going to have to oversee GM and Chrysler almost like a board of directors.
The auto industry problem is cheap and simple compared to the other problems Obama must face in the financial sector. Because of the amendment that Senator Christopher Dodd inserted into the stimulus bill, Washington now has control over bonuses and severance packages at financial companies that have taken funds from the Bush administration’s Troubled Assets Relief Program. All Barack Obama wanted was to be president, but he may have to become an auto executive, a banker, a mortgage broker, and who knows what else before we overcome this crisis.
In my opinion, this editorial is pretty accurate in depicting the overall view of Barack Obama’s presidency. He has done a lot over the past month and he’s still got a long way to go before fully resolving any of the problems our nation is facing. I think he’s made the right choice putting an end to the Guantanamo prison and the stimulus package is necessary to reverse our economy’s condition. However, I’m not sure why GM and Chrysler are discussing a merger when it is something they should go ahead and follow through with.