Obamalog:
A Brief Summary of the President's Actions since Taking Office on January 20, 2009
Compiled by Dee Gilchrist 541-680-1082
January 21, 2009
1. Held a war-strategy session with the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, the general responsible for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Defense Secretary Gates, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
2. pushed for a faster timetable for withdrawing combat troops from Iraq.
3. Called the leaders of Israel, Palestine, Egypt, and Jordan.
4. Froze salaries for all White House staff earning $100,000 or more. - about 100 people in all.
5. Ordered new Freedom of Information Act rules, making it harder to keep the workings of government secret.
6. Tightened ethics rules governing administration officials who work onissues for which they previously lobbied government agencies. - new rules ban them from lobbying the Obama administration after they leave government service
January 22, 2009
1. Signed an executive order that closes the detention center at Quantanamo Bay within a year.2. Visited the State Department to underscore a major theme of his administration: that diplomacy will play a more central role in American foreign policy. - not just the use of diplomacy in seeking peace in the Mid-East, but also in defending the U.S. against global terrorist threats - named former Senator George J. Mitchell as an envoy to the Mid-East - named former U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke as a special coordinator of U.S. policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
January 25, 2009
Overturned a controversial ban on U.S. support to international aid groups that provide abortion services around the world. - called "Mexico City Policy" - also announced he would release federal funding for the U.N. Population Fund as soon as Congress makes it available, insuring renewed support by the U.S. for the U.N. family planning agency.
January 26, 2009
Chose an Arabic satellite TV network (Dubai-based Al Arabiya) for his first formal television interview as president. - part of a concerted effort to repair relations with the Muslim world.January 27, 2009
Visited the Hill and devoted nearly three hours to separate groups during meetings with the House and Senate Republicans. - as a show of good faith in his efforts to work "across the aisle".January 28, 2009
1. Meeting at the White House with the four U.S. military service chiefs. - one more step toward fulfilling his promise of withdrawing all combat troops from Iraq - the Joint Chiefs of Staff were to be ready with a rough sketch of what would be required to fulfill the timetable for a 16-month withdrawal.2. Meeting with the leaders of American companies like IBM, Jet Blue, and Honeywell to discuss how to get the economy moving again.
January 29, 2009
Signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Bill:- a. makes it easier for women and others to sue for pay discrimination, even if the discrimination has prevailed for years or even decades;
- b. the U.S. Supreme Court threw out Ledbetter’s complaint in a 2007 ruling, saying she was required to file suit within 180 days of the initial act of discrimination even though she was not aware at the time that she was receiving less than her male colleagues;
- c. it’s estimated that Ledbetter lost more than 52K during her tenure with the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. in Gadsden, Alabama (1979 to 1998).
January 30, 2009
1. Signed executive orders that the president felt should “level the playing field” for labor unions against management:- a. one order requires federal contractors to offer jobs to current workers when contracts change;
- b. another order reverses a Bush order requiring federal contractors to post notice that workers can limit financial support of unions serving as their exclusive bargaining representatives;
- c. a third order prevents federal contractors from being reimbursed for expenses meant to influence workers deciding whether to form a union and engage in collective bargaining.
- a. installed Vice-President Biden as its chairman;
- b. includes Cabinet departments whose work has the most influence on the well-being of the country’s middle class: Education, Commerce, Health & Human Services, and Labor.