How are you feeling about Barack Obama's presidency so far?

[closeupready]

Poll question: How are you feeling about Barack Obama's presidency so far?

Interested in the range of feelings here on DU.

[Downtown Hound]

1. Not happy about Afghanistan

But I think he's doing a great job on the economy.

[Deja Q]

2. Unsure, mostly positive, but he seems to be going 'both ways' re: jobs.

At least, for right now, there's nothing tangible in place. Just words.

I will keep the faith.

[MercutioATC]

3. If it wasn't for his economic plans, I'd be pretty happy.

Since the economy is our biggest issue right now and his handling of it has been abysmal, I'm pretty unhappy.

[leftstreet]

4. You mean 'what do you think?' as opposed to 'how are you feeeeling?'

Right?

FFS are we Citizens, or is America just a giant 12 step program now?

[closeupready]

16. Whatever floats your boat.

'I'm okay, you're okay,' you know.

[guitar man]

5. I'm ok with it

I knew we wouldn't be in total agreement on every single issue and policy decision. He's been handed a big mess...a huge platter of shit by the departing criminals so I'm not going to be hypercritical about how he goes about trying to clean it up.

[UTUSN]

6. After 8 yrs of PAIN- IN- GUT daily?!1 Ecstatic!1 (As I would be with ANY Dem!1)n/t

[ginnyinWI]

7. here, here! I agree completely. n/t

[Tracer]

8. Not particularly happy about ...

--- his stance on health care

--- sending more troops to Afghanistan

--- filling top jobs with Wall Streeters

--- unwilling to prosecute */Cheney

[snappyturtle]

10. What you said. eom

[SammyWinstonJack]

15. Same here.

[NeedleCast]

9. I'm Satisfied So Far

And not so pure that I blow my top over any decision Obama makes that I disagree with, as I figure until I get elected, I will never agree with a politician 100%.

[dem629]

11. Slightly more pleased than not. It could go either way in four years.

[hlthe2b]

12. Wow... we really ARE all over the map!

Just look at the varied responses.... Whew...

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

13. He's a fine example of the "not as bad" wing of the party. He's tinkering with a corrupt system.

He's a moderate politician. Doing what moderate politicians do. And, he's doing pretty much as he said he would do when he was running for the office.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

14. Not happy with the budget, deficit and continued bailouts

I'm not entirely clear on how runaway spending on thousands of bridge to nowhere type projects is going to save the economy, engineering and construction isn't labor intensive enough anymore that a bunch of construction projects is going to have a macro impact on employment.

I also want to see a great big FU for Wall Street and Detroit,

I would much rather see the focus on universal healthcare, which is the tide that raises all ships - individual and corporate.

[bdamomma]

17. we need another poll saying how do we feel about the Congress.

Congress is his biggest problem.

[JuniperLea]

18. He's done so much in so little time with so little support from Congress...

It will only get better.

[FrenchieCat]

19. This is the top of the first Inning.......

I'm in it for the long haul!


Wagoner's exit puts BofA CEO Lewis in hotseat

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis may be the next corporate boss to feel the heat after the administration forced General Motors Corp Chief Executive Rick Wagoner to resign in return for further government assistance.

The second-largest U.S. bank has received $45 billion from the government, making it one of the biggest recipients of government bailout money in the banking system.

Big shareholders have been calling for Lewis to step down since Bank of America announced in January it took a $20 billion government bailout to secure the acquisition of troubled Merrill Lynch & Co, which lost almost $16 billion in the last quarter of 2008.

The government may now add to the pressure from shareholders, analysts said. The sudden departure of Wagoner after nine years in the top job at GM signals the Obama administration is looking for management changes at bailed-out companies.

"His longevity in the job is probably very much in question," said Keith Wirtz, chief investment officer of Fifth Third Asset Management and a former CIO at a Bank of America subsidiary. Fifth Third holds shares in the bank.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE52T6DP20090330?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=10112


and this ....

Inside the Obama-Bank CEO Meeting
By Rob Blackwell
March 30, 2009

As bank chief executives left the White House Friday after a roughly 90-minute meeting with President Obama, they presented a united front to the media horde outside.

But inside the meeting, which was held in the state dining room, it was clear the CEOs took different approaches. The bluntest was from Ken Lewis, the chief executive of Bank of America Corp.

"Mr. President, I am not going to suck up to Larry and Tim like the rest of these guys," Lewis said, according to sources in the meeting. Lewis was referring to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, and Lawrence Summers, the head of the National Economic Council, who also attended.

Obama laughed along with the rest of the CEOs, before listening to Lewis get to his point: he wants to pay back Troubled Asset Relief Program funds.

And he was not the only one.

Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co., arrived with check in hand to give to Geithner before the meeting started, according to the participant. Geithner took the check briefly to examine it before handing it back. (The check was fake).

Dimon tried again later during the meeting, telling the president he would like to give back his $25 billion in Tarp money.

The overall tone of the meeting was cordial, participants said, with no raised voices or significant tension. Obama's message was essentially one of mutual dependence: we need you, and you need us.

"My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks," Obama said.

Still, Lewis complained that all institutions were being tarred with the same brush, saying policymakers should better distinguish between commercial bankers and investment bankers.

But Obama had a rejoinder to that, saying the industry essentially brought that problem upon itself. He offered to call Sen. Byron Dorgan and ask him to re-establish the Glass-Steagall Act, which was repealed a decade ago. The law put barriers between commercial and investment banks.

http://www.bankinvestmentconsultant.com/news/-2661449-1.html


OTHERS, not so much....

[NeedleCast]

24. Some People Always Need a Metric

They're the people who leave after the game after the first pitch of the game is a strike because that means the home team is going to get blown out.

[dysfunctional press]

20. shouldn't there be a choice for 'pretty much what i expected'?

after all, you can't really be disappointed if your hopes weren't that high to begin with.
and just because it's pretty much what you expected- it doesn't mean that you have to be satisfied with it, either.

[damntexdem]

21. Satisfied but worried.

Too much tilt toward Wall St., no concern for investigating Bushista crimes, and no clear break with Bushista claims regarding presidential power.

[Blue_In_AK]

22. I think I'm in the "still waiting" category.

I was never under the impression that he was any more than slightly left of center anyway, so I haven't been deeply disappointed, because he's been doing what I expected that he would do. Obviously, he's a vast improvement over his predecessor, so I'm just waiting to see how this all plays out.

[PLR_Writer]

23. Not thrilled with everything

but I support my President and I have faith in Obama.

We won't agree on everything, but we will agree on most.

on edit: typo

[donheld]

25. God there's a lot of crybabies here at DU!

[readmoreoften]

26. And a lot of anti-democratic drones who get their panties in a wad

over people not "trusting" that Obama has a legitimate reason for continuing Bush policies.

[WI_DEM]

27. Not surprising that Obama isn't doing as well on DU as he is in the country as a whole

[DevonRex]

28. Considering the mess we're in, I'm pretty damned happy. nt

[flvegan]

29. Completely nonjudgmental.

It's been two frigging months, people. Jesus.