The Obama family will be meeting the Bush family at the White House today. There will be a tour of the president-elect's new home, and one figures all will be cordial, with plenty of smiles to go around. Yet published reports and statements by the Obama transition team indicate there's another agenda afoot. His advisers are compiling a list of Bush Administration policies that could be reversed by the new president.
This is nothing new. In his first full day in office, President Bush reinstated a global gag rule banning taxpayer dollars from going to family planning groups that performed or gave counsel on abortion. That rule had been overturned by President Bill Clinton. The Bush people had been dropping hints the past few weeks that he might use his executive powers to enact certain policies the president to be might find hard to reverse. The Obama team seems to be saying go ahead and try it.
Stem cell research limits, as well as proposals to drill for oil and gas in sensitive areas of Utah are two actions that could be reversed quickly. Transition co-chair John Podesta was blunt on Fox News Sunday, saying Bush is making moves that are "probably not in the best interest of the country". Some reports say Obama is looking at as many as 200 Bush policy positions, with an eye toward change. Those changes won't be announced, however, until Obama confers with his new cabinet, meaning not for awhile yet.
The other area of concern is the auto industry. New chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is lobbying the current president to help Detroit, and fast. Bad news at the end of last week from both Ford and GM bolsters his case. At the same time, Emanuel is linking any financial help from the government to forcing the industry to build more fuel efficient vehicles. This is something that's quite doable, and smart policy as well.
Obama and his team are moving fast. In fact, today's White House visit will last only 90 minutes. They're leaving immediately afterward, heading back to Chicago, and the business at hand.
Can Obama get Bush and the lame duck Congress to bend on some of these issues? You tell me.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Echoes of Excellence
If there's one thing I've heard consistently from black Americans since the election of Barack Obama, it's that he'll stand as a role model to young black men. No longer will they have to feel their only pathway to excellence is through hip-hop or athletics . But the question must be asked, haven't there been other black men who have achieved excellence in their chosen fields prior to the meteoric rise of our President-Elect ?
The answer is an emphatic yes! I say this with some passion because I have had the privilege to associate with and be mentored by many black men who have overcome the obstacles we all face and risen to the top of their game. This comes to me with remarkable clarity because last night I talked to three of them. I began my radio show talking to the iconic choreographer Garth Fagan. Here is a man who, through brilliance and perseverance has carved a legacy in his field that would be the envy of any choreographer, black or white. He's won a Tony award for his work on "The Lion King", but it's his company, Garth Fagan Dance, that truly amazes. Yet you ask black folks on the street who Garth Fagan is, all too often you get a blank stare.
Later in the evening, I spoke to Professor Ron Walters. He is without doubt one of black America's finest academic minds. He managed the Rev. Jesse Jackson's campaign for president in 1988. Countless young people have had their skills challenged and honed under his tutelage at the University of Maryland. In a just world, Ron Walters would have his own television show, not Bill O'Reilly. Yet like Garth Fagan, Ron Walters labors in relative obscurity in terms of recognition in our own community.
My final example of an excellent black man is most personal to me, since he mentored me for the entire time I've worked in radio. Hal Jackson is 90 plus years of age, has worked in radio for nearly 70 years, and is still on the air every Sunday on WBLS here in New York. Last night, after my show, I went to the Apollo Theater in Harlem to witness a celebration of his life and his work. This is a man who once told me in a fiery voice, "Mark, don't ever, EVER compromise your integrity in this business. All you've got is your good name, and don't ever let me hear about you staining it!" That was back in the mid 1970s, and his admonition has stayed with me through the years. He is, along with the others mentioned, an icon of excellence who was once told no "N word" would ever work at the radio station where he sought a job. That was in 1939. He's been confounding skeptics ever since.
All this is to say if Barack Obama's rise to the highest office in the land should teach us anything, maybe it's that we ought to recognize black excellence when it's been staring us in the face all along.
The answer is an emphatic yes! I say this with some passion because I have had the privilege to associate with and be mentored by many black men who have overcome the obstacles we all face and risen to the top of their game. This comes to me with remarkable clarity because last night I talked to three of them. I began my radio show talking to the iconic choreographer Garth Fagan. Here is a man who, through brilliance and perseverance has carved a legacy in his field that would be the envy of any choreographer, black or white. He's won a Tony award for his work on "The Lion King", but it's his company, Garth Fagan Dance, that truly amazes. Yet you ask black folks on the street who Garth Fagan is, all too often you get a blank stare.
Later in the evening, I spoke to Professor Ron Walters. He is without doubt one of black America's finest academic minds. He managed the Rev. Jesse Jackson's campaign for president in 1988. Countless young people have had their skills challenged and honed under his tutelage at the University of Maryland. In a just world, Ron Walters would have his own television show, not Bill O'Reilly. Yet like Garth Fagan, Ron Walters labors in relative obscurity in terms of recognition in our own community.
My final example of an excellent black man is most personal to me, since he mentored me for the entire time I've worked in radio. Hal Jackson is 90 plus years of age, has worked in radio for nearly 70 years, and is still on the air every Sunday on WBLS here in New York. Last night, after my show, I went to the Apollo Theater in Harlem to witness a celebration of his life and his work. This is a man who once told me in a fiery voice, "Mark, don't ever, EVER compromise your integrity in this business. All you've got is your good name, and don't ever let me hear about you staining it!" That was back in the mid 1970s, and his admonition has stayed with me through the years. He is, along with the others mentioned, an icon of excellence who was once told no "N word" would ever work at the radio station where he sought a job. That was in 1939. He's been confounding skeptics ever since.
All this is to say if Barack Obama's rise to the highest office in the land should teach us anything, maybe it's that we ought to recognize black excellence when it's been staring us in the face all along.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Currying Favor While the Economy Lurks
It's hard to believe there's almost two and a half months to go before Barack Obama is inaugurated. Already, people and interests are maneuvering, schmoozing, and fighting to curry favor with the new president. There are some hard facts as to appointments. We do know he's offered Rahm Emanuel the job of chief of staff. He's also got the outlines of a transition team in place. He knows he's got to hit the ground running, and the economy will be his first priority.
If there's a subtext to the way out of the current economic mess, it would have to be what to do with that $700 billion dollars that's supposed to buoy the financial markets. Remember that at first, the money was supposed to be used to buy up bad assets of financial institutions. That mission has obviously changed. At least some of that money will be used to capitalize the banks. Our president-elect will have to figure out how it will be disbursed, and to whom. Will he change the initial terms and outlays the banks were told about a few weeks ago?
And what about the possibility of another economic stimulus package? Democrats in Congress, lead by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have this as a priority. It's not known yet if Barack Obama shares the immediacy of that agenda. He might, since all signs point to a grim 2009 on the economic front. There will be layoffs, and they could reach huge numbers all across the country. People thrown out of work will have problems paying their bills, meaning the mortgage crisis will continue, and consumer spending will continue its decline.
All of this speaks to the hard work ahead for the incoming president. George W. Bush hasn't left him much to work with. If there's a silver lining to all these clouds, it's contained in what a friend told me at the gym earlier today. "Barack is a smart man. He's going to surround himself with smart people. They'll figure a way to deal with this".
Is my friend right? You tell me.
If there's a subtext to the way out of the current economic mess, it would have to be what to do with that $700 billion dollars that's supposed to buoy the financial markets. Remember that at first, the money was supposed to be used to buy up bad assets of financial institutions. That mission has obviously changed. At least some of that money will be used to capitalize the banks. Our president-elect will have to figure out how it will be disbursed, and to whom. Will he change the initial terms and outlays the banks were told about a few weeks ago?
And what about the possibility of another economic stimulus package? Democrats in Congress, lead by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have this as a priority. It's not known yet if Barack Obama shares the immediacy of that agenda. He might, since all signs point to a grim 2009 on the economic front. There will be layoffs, and they could reach huge numbers all across the country. People thrown out of work will have problems paying their bills, meaning the mortgage crisis will continue, and consumer spending will continue its decline.
All of this speaks to the hard work ahead for the incoming president. George W. Bush hasn't left him much to work with. If there's a silver lining to all these clouds, it's contained in what a friend told me at the gym earlier today. "Barack is a smart man. He's going to surround himself with smart people. They'll figure a way to deal with this".
Is my friend right? You tell me.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
An American President
There will be much analysis of Barack Obama's historic victory last night. How he pulled off wins in states that usually vote Republican. How his campaign ignored the skeptics, stuck to its course, and has now been vindicated. It's all true, and it's all good. Yet this campaign has been about a story, uniquely American story that ought to be told to generations who are now too young to vote.
It starts with two crowded fields in the race for the presidency. There was much conventional wisdom 20 odd months ago, and it focused on who would capture the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations. Barack Obama and John McCain were two candidates that few thought would be facing each other November 4th. For Obama, conventional wisdom was he'd make a respectable showing, one that would position him to run again further down the road.
Barack Obama didn't see it that way, and he promoted a vision of hope and change that connected not just with young people, but with Americans who believed change was necessary for the sake of the republic. He spoke to the best instincts of millions of us, hard working people who were smarter than the pundits believed. His campaign sent people from one part of the country to neighboring states, to talk to folks and deliver his message.
It worked. It all worked. And in the end, he gave a speech that made Colin Powell weep. It won't be easy to implement his agenda, even with the gains his party made in Congress. The American economy is ailing, and it will take the best minds of the country to make it better. And yet, there is belief that if anyone can bring those minds together, it's the guy who won last night, a guy whose inspiration was, among other things, a 106 year old woman in Atlanta.
A page turned in America last night. What lies ahead will make for some interesting reading.
It starts with two crowded fields in the race for the presidency. There was much conventional wisdom 20 odd months ago, and it focused on who would capture the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations. Barack Obama and John McCain were two candidates that few thought would be facing each other November 4th. For Obama, conventional wisdom was he'd make a respectable showing, one that would position him to run again further down the road.
Barack Obama didn't see it that way, and he promoted a vision of hope and change that connected not just with young people, but with Americans who believed change was necessary for the sake of the republic. He spoke to the best instincts of millions of us, hard working people who were smarter than the pundits believed. His campaign sent people from one part of the country to neighboring states, to talk to folks and deliver his message.
It worked. It all worked. And in the end, he gave a speech that made Colin Powell weep. It won't be easy to implement his agenda, even with the gains his party made in Congress. The American economy is ailing, and it will take the best minds of the country to make it better. And yet, there is belief that if anyone can bring those minds together, it's the guy who won last night, a guy whose inspiration was, among other things, a 106 year old woman in Atlanta.
A page turned in America last night. What lies ahead will make for some interesting reading.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
