Thirsting for Change: Obama’s First 100 Days

It is difficult to evaluate an administration after only 100 days. George W. Bush, who ended his two terms with one of the lowest grades of any U.S. president, received quite positive evaluations after his first three months in office. The Obama team is still bringing people on board and identifying its priorities. Still, the crises facing the United States and the world require immediate and comprehensive action. And, as no less an authority as Aristotle once put it, well begun is half done.

This report inaugurates our Change Index. Every administration promises great change and must deal with the messes created by its predecessor. In the report, the president scored high marks for his rhetoric. At the level of action, however, the record so far is mixed. In general, the Obama administration has acted cautiously in its foreign policy even as it has moved quickly to institute some far-reaching changes at home.

In our overall evaluation of the first 100 days, we gave the administration a score of 7. President Obama has certainly raised the level of U.S. foreign and domestic policy. Yet, we’re still a long way off from reaching the top.

Click here to read the report.

Stimulus Bill Conferees Urged to Adopt Best Transportation Provisions

Mandate author, Michael Replogle was quoted in a press release by The Wall Street Journal about the transportation provisions in the pending stimulus bill.

“This stimulus spending could yield benefits that will last for generations,” said Michael Replogle, a civil engineer, a member of the Federal Advisory Committee on Intelligent Transportation Systems for the U.S. Department of Transportation, and Transportation Director for Environmental Defense Fund. “The key to realizing this economic potential is for states and local governments to focus on maintaining existing road and bridges and investing in projects that will increase America’s energy independence. Public officials must make their spending plans totally transparent as soon as possible, so taxpayers can check to ensure that these billions of dollars are being spent wisely.”

Read the entire press release here.

Obama Restrictions on CEO Pay Signal Progress, But Tougher Limits Needed

Mandate authors, and compensation experts with the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), Sarah Anderson, Sam Pizzigati, and Chuck Collins yesterday called President Barack Obama’s $500,000 cap on executive pay at some bailed-out companies a “small, but very welcome first step toward ending excessive executive compensation.”

“After 30 years of escalating CEO pay, we finally have a President who has taken a concrete step toward limiting the dollars that are cascading into executive suites,” notes Sarah Anderson, the lead author of Executive Excess, the annual Institute report that tracks the gap between CEO and worker pay. “But given the level of public outrage over the Wall Street bonus bonanza, the administration should have gone much further to stop bailout profiteering.”

The key shortcoming of the administration plan is that the $500,000 pay cap will apply to only a handful of firms getting “exceptional assistance.” In recent news reports, administration sources have argued that troubled banks would chose not to accept government assistance if broader pay restrictions were imposed, for fear of losing key personnel.

IPS staff argues that a better approach is offered by Senator McCaskill (D-MO) who today pushed a stronger approach, introducing a bill as amendment to the stimulus package that would cap executive pay in bailed-out firms at no more than $400,000 — the salary of the President of the United States.

Click here for a more detailed analysis of the McCaskill bill and the executive pay provisions in the TARP reform bill recently approved by the House.