Well, leave it to Steve Kroft of 60 minutes to give the most uninteresting and uninspiring interview of President Elect Barack Obama since the election campaign. Not much new was said. We know Barack is going to withdraw the troops from Iraq – Is Iran salivating? We know by executive order he will be closing Guantanamo –will the prisoners be returned to the battlefield to kill more Americans? Will Barack continue his plans to raise taxes in this economy to kill an already faltering economy? He says he wants to reset the confidence in the financial markets – not raising taxes would help. And what about the secret meetings his campaign team was having with Hamas before he was elected? We didn't learn much except about his stupid dog, and who cares? And then there was a question about Barack and a college playoff, and again who cares? If the Interview were any mushier, I think Barack and Steve would have kissed each other.
Although President Elect Obama didn't mention it, he will most likely reinstate the executive order to prohibit offshore oil drilling, the one thing that could really give this economy a boost. He did say now is the time to break our addiction from foreign oil even when the price at the pump is down. He is right, but if he signs the executive order about drilling offshore, he is not serious about it.
President Elect Obama was cognizant of the fact that a time of transition was a time of peril, because our enemies look as this time as the easiest time for an attack. Of course, I think any time during the Obama presidency will be an easy time for attack.
He wants to bailout the auto industry (unions), but at least he said he doesn't want to give them a blank check. He wants to make sure the money will sustain them and make them a viable company. How about the Volt? We shall see if his plan works.
President Elect Obama said he liked the way FDR tinkered and experimented with the economy. It was because of this experimentation of FDR that made the depression so long and so deep (ten years) eventually causing a second depression within a depression in 1937. FDR's policies made the depression last long, and not until we removed the entire male labor force and put them in World War 2 did we come out of the depression. Europe came out of the depression years before we did. FDR's fireside chats were a way to communicate to the American people, and it helped put them at ease, Obama can do the same.
President Elect Barack Obama did say he was going to explain what he was doing and why. This was President Bush's greatest fault – a lack of communication. Barack Obama has communication skills, so that will be his greatest asset.
I hope President Elect Obama is successful, but the interview did not instill hope. It only made me more nervous. I am sure the investor class is feeling the same.
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