President-Elect Obama: Making the Case for Dialogue

It has been impressive, that President-Elect Obama, realizes that America needs a sort of “daddy figure” right now. The stock market has been all over the place, in the past week, and anticipating further erosion, Mr. Obama made the decision, that, although there is only one President at a time, someone needed to step up to the plate, with some directions for the country, since the current President seems to be in hiding.

With all that is crashing down around us, such as Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Citi-group, AIG, Washington Mutual, the Big Three auto companies, Ford, GM, and Chrysler, some direction was seriously needed at the helm. With other possible financial fires, igniting and needing to be extinguished, it is no wonder, the stock market has lost so much of its value, falling from fourteen thousand points last year to eight thousand this year. Many Americans, are trying to figure out, where are we going from here? Mr. Obama watched, along with the rest of us, as economic conditions, were deteriorating fast, with no signs of Treasury Secretary Paulson, or President Bush. The growing anxiety was too much for some to bear. News anchors were reporting on the vacuum of leadership, in the country. So on Friday of last week, President-Elect Obama’s staff, leaked the name of the next Secretary of Treasury designee, who was to be the current New York, Federal Reserve President, Timothy Geithner, the name of Larry Summers, as a potential, White House Economic advisor, was also put forth. The formal announcement was made the coming Monday. That Friday, after the media reported the names, the stock market went from being in negative territory, to gaining almost five- hundred points.

Secretary Paulson did hold a news conference, and outlined what the current administration is trying to do, to shore up the credit markets, and to make money available for student loans, auto loans and credit from banks. But Mr. Paulson, although a brilliant man, has a problem communicating his plan, to the public. The things implemented so far are working slowly, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury, plan to infuse more capital, and use seven-hundred billion more, to fix the financial markets. This money is coming from the Federal Reserve Bank, which is a profitable entity. Otherwise, reportedly, the money will be printed, infused into the system, and at some point taken back out of the system, without causing inflation, no joke.

Between now and the end of the year, it has been reported, that there will be one Secretary a week named, by the president-elect. At least we have an incoming President, who wants to keep the people aware, of what his plans are, for the days ahead. On Wednesday of this week, he will hold a third press conference, and answer more questions. Mr. Obama is gathering the smartest, most experienced people, to assist him in putting the country back, on the right footing. Creating new jobs, providing tax cuts to the middle class, which is one of his first priorities, according to reports, providing help to the foreclosure victims, trying to save the auto industry, and taking care of the multiple other problems on his plate, such as the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars. The best of luck to you Sir, as you start your journey, of Great Expectations.