Is his hair is already turning white? I was wondering how long it would take. Seems like the weight of this job falls heavy, even on less serious Presidents of the recent past.

The market has stabilized so the rich can continue getting richer, but there's lots & lots of people who are still out of work, unable to pay their mortgages and in a world of trouble. I think there will be more trouble with bad mortgages before things have turned a corner. And making things sound like they're "looking up" might not be the best message for many folks whose situation is anything but.

so, we have ridden out the recession on the backs of the weeded out unemployed, creating thousands and thousands of heart-sick and desperate people, and now we all need to smile again... except, of course, those society has thrown on the trash heap... they, uh, well, they'll just hafta sort things out somehow... huh?

wah hoo, mr. president... good job, dick nixon really couldn'ta'done better!

Look, I'm a Democrat and a democrat, and support the President, but the phrase "light at the end of the tunnel" has a history. Not a good one.
Just sayin....

And until some means of returning jobs and breaking the financialization of the economy can be found, it's gonna suck for most of us outside, well, DC.

We'll all be dead by Christmas. Or in concentration camps. Or both.

My impression is that the public generally sees Obama as some kind of political incarnation of a brash young Cassius Clay, laying waste to his opponents with power and speed. But in reality Obama is a more mature Muhammad Ali, playing rope-a-dope and using superior ring savvy to bear in wearing down his bigger and more powerful opponents. I can't help but worry about the health care thing, but then I think back to last August, September and well into October when it looked like McCain/Palin and the right wing noise machine had Obama up against the ropes and were wailing the tar out of him. But November rolled around, Obama somehow slipped out and danced away unscathed. Then Obama ended up in the WH and McCain ended up on a back bench in the Senate.

What it all boils down to is this, Obama is too smart to act so stupid. There has to be something more there.

Majun, right, but of course, he can make mistakes.

Generally, I do agree that he and his team are excellent strategists, better than nearly all blog commenters, and deserve the benefit of the doubt.

He also offered a strong defense of his stimulus efforts, noting that February's recovery package -- including the tax cuts and extension of unemployment benefits -- helped American families weather "the worst phase of the recession."

Did the tax cuts help? I thought that only Republicans believed that.

marketeer,

The right kinds of tax cuts work, not the giveaways to the rich that were the hallmark of the Bush Administration.

So the unemployment figures went down a little after everyone was expecting things to get worse.

Well, Obama. Don’t get too uppity.
You may have gotten a bit of good news lately but that doesn't make up for the fact that during your administration we witnessed....
* The collapse of Countrywide,Ameriquest, Indymac Bank
* Federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,
* A massive $700 billion emergency bailout TARP program
* Washington Mutual seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation,
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average caps its worst week ever with its highest volatility day ever recorded in its 112 year history
* Lehman Brothers collapses
* The US Federal Reserve lends $85 billion to American International Group (AIG) to avoid bankruptcy.
* The US government agrees to rescue Citigroup
* Economists start talking about a second great depression
* The collapse of….excuse me? hmmm….you sure…oh…

Ah, Excuse me….
That all took place under the Bush administration?!
…..Never mind.

"Not a bad week".

In fact, the Administration's handling of the economy has been brilliant. Credit to Bernanke, Summers, Geithner, all of them. That GDP contraction would stop by June was inconceivable back in the Winter.

*

We agree that Obama and his administration has done a great job turning this economy around but there is another problem that no one is talking about. This explains it but go to www.tignum.com to read more.

The Crisis at the End of the Tunnel

Lately the news is running stories that the recession may be weakening. The chatter is that many of the key indicators (other than unemployment) are starting to indicate that we may just be a quarter or two from the “light” at the end of the tunnel.

We aren’t so sure. From the leaders we know, our colleagues in the leadership blog world, and the groups we present to, we see a different outcome at the end of the tunnel. Sure many of the cost reductions have had a positive impact on margins and liquidity, but will this be sustainable? Many executives have shared their doubts that the changes and strategies they put in place during this recession will be able to make their organization more capable of reaching their future targets. Even worse, they question their own energy and capacity to continue to try to keep up, let alone get ahead.

Up until now, many executives could blame the economy for their poor results but how long will this be possible? As companies have stripped their workforce, the patience for low performing leadership seems very thin. We are constantly told that the pressures placed on executives from all the stakeholders increase daily.

At the same time, the recession has taken a toll on many leaders, their teams and their entire organization. This wouldn’t be so bad if there was a break to regain your composure, reenergize your passion, refocus your mindset, and get the troops rallied to move forward. But in business you have to fix the plane while you fly it. If you weren’t exactly full of energy, resilience, and capacity before this most recent crisis, you surely are worse for the wear now.

This is the crisis at the end of the tunnel. There will be many opportunities that emerge from the post recession economy. Unfortunately, too many leaders and organizations will still be in survival mode. They are numb, tired, foggy, and lack the passion to really capitalize. As Seth Godin commented in his blog, they are preparing to place or show but definitely not win.

The last year has been a time of less. Less people, less investment in the people remaining, less optimism, less outward focus (on the customers and the opportunities), and less training. Unfortunately, it has also led to less swimmers. In order to see the light at the end of the tunnel you need to change the paradigm to one of MORE. More energy, more passion, more productivity, more preparation, more focus, and more design.

These things don’t happen by chance they happen by choice. They are the result of your Mindset, Nutrition, Movement, and Recovery habits. How are yours?

by Scott Peltin, Founder, Chief Performance Officer

TIGNUM - Institute for Sustainable High Performance

You can't possibly tell people that things are getting better, simply because the unemployment number went down, unless you are prepared to tell them it went down because there are more and more people that have given up looking for a job AND there are more and more people that have exhausted their benefits AND there are more and more people taking jobs paying far less than what they were earning . . . or what they need to be earning to pay their mortgages and put food on the table.

ONLY 270,000 people lost jobs in the week.
Less than 100,000 were created. Unemployment drops .1%? People are giving up.

$1 Trillion in federal bailouts,
loans, grants and takeovers in six months and
the economy lurches. Surprised? What we have is still another, bigger bubble, and this time the federal government is inside with the financials.

We are looking at The Mirage of 2009.