Ralph Nader issues statement on Obama’s first 100 Days

Ralph Nader weighs in on Obama’s first 100 days:

The upcoming 100 day mark for the Obama administration is a customary time for evaluations by the politicos, the pundits, and the civic community.

Next Monday, the Institute for Policy Studies (www.ips-dc.org) releases a detailed report card on Obama’s first 100 days titled “Thirsting for a Change.”  While The Nation held a panel discussion on April 22 in Washington, D.C., the panelists largely gave Obama the benefit of the doubt so far.

Click here to read the article.

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.

Grading the First 100 Days

The start of Obama’s first 100 days in office are marked with bailouts, international meetings on climate, contaminated foods outbreaks, scandals, foreclosures, and increases in homelessness and unemployment, providing President Obama ample opportunities to fulfill the changes he promised throughout the campaign.

But are the first 100 days offering change we can believe in?

Building on our Mandate for Change book, on April 27, we will release a hundred day report that evaluates Obama’s progress on many domestic and international issues. The report will also include a scorecard on President Obama’s actions regarding his appointees, recent legislation, executive orders, and spending, as well as his communication with the American people.

As IPS is a “think tank for the rest of us,” we’re seeking your input on how you would grade the performance of Obama administration so far. We’ll use your views as we grade the administration and will highlight the top comments and grades submitted by readers in the report. Comments and grades can be posted below.

Chime in and add your voice to this important evaluation of the administration – and the direction our country is headed.

Mandate for Change: An Assessment of the Obama Administration’s First 100 Days

On Thursday April 23, 2009 from 7:00pm – 9:00pm,

Join the Jamaica Plain Forum and the Institute for Policy Studies for a discussion featuring prominent experts and scholars in the progressive community to assess the beginnings of the Obama administration and the chances for long term reform.

About Our Speakers:
Chester Hartman, an Associate Fellow at IPS, is Director of Research for the Poverty & Race Research Action Council in Washington, DC and founder/former Chair of The Planners Network, a national organization of progressive urban and rural planners and community organizers.

Chuck Collins is Senior Scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies, where he directs the Program on Inequality and the Common Good and the Working Group on Extreme Inequality. He is a contributor to Ten Excellent Reasons Not to Hate Taxes (New Press, 2008).

Janet Redman is the Co-Director of the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network at the Institute for Policy Studies where she provides analysis of the international financial institutions’ energy investment and carbon finance activities. Her recent studies on the World Bank’s climate activities include World Bank: Climate Profiteer, and Dirty is the New Clean: A critique of the World Bank’s strategic framework for development and climate change. She has appeared on several radio programs and C-SPAN sharing positive visions for fair and equitable climate action in the United States and overseas. As a founding participant in the global Climate Justice Now! network, Janet is committed to bringing hard-hitting policy analysis into grassroots and grasstops organizing.

Click here for details and directions to this event, which will be held at:

First Congregational Church in Jamaica Plain Unitarian Universalist
3 Eliot Street
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130