Tomorrow Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States and has a daunting task facing him come 12:01 PM. He steps into office with an economy that is deep in recession, unemployment rising on a seemingly weekly basis, foreign conflict continually erupting and a Democratic party that seems to be at odds with him over several issues. Still, at this point the man can do no wrong.
Obama’s pick to be treasure secretary, Timothy Geithner, forgot to pay income taxes for 2003 and 2004 even though he signed an employment agreement saying he would do so. Bill Richardson, his nominee for Commerce Secretary, had to withdraw his name from consideration because of a Grand Jury investigation. The Obama team was well aware of the investigation, so why even pick him? Or take Rahm Emmanuel, the incoming White House chief of staff, who has already been linked to the Rod Blagojevich scandal. Camp Obama won’t even explain the level of detail that Emmanuel did/did not talk to Blagojevich.
Why hasn’t the press, or the public, demanded answers from the incoming president? Why hasn’t the press jumped all over Geithner for not paying taxes? How can someone who forgot to pay their taxes be trusted to the the Treasury Secretary? Why hasn’t anyone truly pointed out the inconsistencies from Camp Obama on the Blagojevich scandal?
It’s all about hope….
The general public has hope that Barack Obama can take on the financial crisis the world is facing. People believe that Obama can “clean up” the image the United States in the eyes of the world. The public hopes he can fix the situation in Iraq, and the nation hopes that Barack Obama will move away from the politics of scandal, leading the nation on a new path of leadership.
It’s funny, however, that the very actions the nation is enraged over – the deception, and the dirty politics of the current administration – are already taking place but no one seems to care. People are willing to overlook the “little” things simply because they have hope for the future with Obama. Even if we give Obama a pass on his missteps now at what point do we stop compromising our beliefs in what is right for the potential of what could be? If a year from now the economy is in worse condition, will we be willing to look past the potential scandals?
While Barack may do no wrong in the eyes of the public (for now), how will the stock market react? Will the market be awaiting a new era with baited breath, like the rest of the nation, or will the realities of our current economic situation triumph? It will come down to the tone Obama sets. The market needs something to hold onto, some hope that the government has a plan to address the ills of the nation.
But does he? That is what the market will want to know, and they will want to know very quickly. Also, if the market continues to trend lower, does that indicate there is little faith in what Obama plans to do?
At roughly Noon Eastern, Obama will be sworn in, and I’ll be watching, but his polish my wear off very quickly if he do not live up to the standard he has set.
I wish him the best as he is facing a huge task.
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