Today, there are going to be a lot of people talking about the last 100 Days in American history. As the president is compared today to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s iconic “100 Day” goal, and ever president’s since then, I’m really thinking we should be looking more forward.

Back in the FDR days, the president could just demand vast policy changes and implementation like a 16-year-old handing out fliers for a Times Square pizza joint for $5.15 an hour. Our federal government was so innocuous — really, it was Roosevelt who made it such a big, regulatory part of our lives in the 1930s/40s in the first place.

Anyway, so yeah, Obama has accomplished a pretty good amount of stuff in the past three months, though I think the economy is still faaaaaar from being repaired. But fortunately so far he’s repealed the global gag rule, signed the Lilly Ledbetter Equal Pay Act, stared some pirates down and won, thawed tensions with a lot of global frenemies, pushed that gigantic bailout/stimulus package through, unveiled some seriously depressing Bush-era torture memos, and got a dog. Hell, he’s even swayed a Republican to switch sides — how’s that for day 99?!

But looking at what we have to achieve, it looks like the goals for the U.S. really is just to get the entire country on the same level on the most pressing issues in all matters domestic. Over the next few days, I’m going to take a look at issues both domestic and foreign and what we should tackle by Labor Day.

Any suggestions? Feel free to comment or hit me up at michelle {at} urbanesse.com. Guest posts are always welcome.

Barack Obama will be the first sitting president to host a Passover seder at the White House this Friday. According to the LA Times, staffers of President Clinton held seders, but the Prez never actually came do dinner. The Times asserts (and asks if he’s actually Jewish):

The Passover story, with its Exodus themes of liberation and social justice, is a good fit for Team Obama. But one can only imagine how confusing this will be for critics who insist that the Christian president is really a Muslim.

Maybe this can be construed as a political move but I think it’s a good step toward an inclusive White House. L’Chaim!

So Congressional Democrats are resisting a bipartisan Task Force on Social Security in Congress, that President Obama wanted to announce yesterday…

I understand that the federal budget is reeling right now, and millions of people in this country and around the world are dealing with financial hardships.

But what really pissing me off right now is Congress’ adversity to even simply investigating what to do with Social Security. We all know that on its current trajectory, Social Security is going to run out and the system will be irrelevant for those born probably after 1980. (Eligibility starts at 62 for some, and they say the funding under the current system will run out by 2041…that’s 5 years before I’m eligible…)

A couple of years ago when I realized that Social Security wouldn’t necessarily be around by the time I would be eligible for it, I really focused on establishing my own retirement savings. But I’m one person. And I have a decent education and the means to establish my own retirement fund. What about the millions of people, like my grandparents, who were janitors and seamstresses, or my mother, who is an artist, making money here and there?

While I’m all for pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and taking personal responsibility for your life and actions, not everyone has the means to do so. And not everyone can work  until they die.

I think the people in Congress are holding off taking care of this because, quite frankly, it doesn’t effect them, nor does it effect the majority of their constituents. Let’s face it: barring this last election, young people tend not to vote, so why do these politicians even need to placate this voting bloc? And these old voters aren’t necessarily going to lobby on our behalf (us being anyone under 40, I guess).

I get that this is a partisan issue; many Democrats want a revision or an update to the current system. Many Republicans want to eradicate the system and privatize it. I am NOT an expert, but I personally see a hybrid system in the future: some people who doesn’t have a job with retirement benefits would be eligible for something like a government-based retirement fund. Everyone else could chose a private account, where they contribute a portion of their social security tax or their own government-based retirement fund.

I also understand that Social Security isn’t only about retirement — there’s other aspects to the office’s services like Medicaid/Medicare, disability services, and stuff like that. I’m not too familiar with that.

Anyway I’m curious to know what people think about this issue, and how it can be resolved — should it even be resolved?

While Harold Ford seems pretty OK to me, I do have to ask exactly why he’s being considered for commerce secretary… Chuck Todd explains:

On paper, Ford checks a lot of boxes for a an easy-to-confirm nominee for this post: He’s a pro-business Democrat (remember, this is Commerce Secretary so the job is to be a promoter of business); he’s a former member of the Congressional Black Caucus (you’ll recall this whole kerfuffle over control of the census under a Judd Gregg-led Commerce Dept. was started by complaints from the CBC); and he’s a practiced spokesperson on TV (the Geithner rollout this week is a reminder that the administration doesn’t have enough solid media savvy members of his team who can sell the administration’s policies.)

Not a bad case for Ford, but

And this will totally make up for him not winning that Senate seat in 2004. Remember when the Old Southern GOP played dirty and played into old, daunting stereotypes?

And I won’t lie, I think he’s kinda cute.

President Obama said something really interesting in a recent interview with Anderson Cooper, aside from the fact that bringing Tom Daschle on board was a mistake:

You know, when I think about Abraham Lincoln, what I’m struck by is the fact that he constantly learned on the job. He got better. You know, he wasn’t defensive. He wasn’t arrogant about his tasks. He was very systematic in saying, ‘I’m going to master the job, and I understand it’s going to take some time.’ But in his case, obviously, the Civil War was the central issue, and he spent a lot of time learning about military matters, even though that wasn’t his area of experience. Right now I’m learning an awful lot about the economy. I’m not a trained economist, but I’m spending a lot of time thinking about that so that I can make the very best decisions possible for the American people.”

I have a feeling that he said that partially to cover his ass, but he’s been saying that some parts of his early presidency will have to be written off as a “lesson learned.” This was to be expected, as it is for any president, really. And Civil War? Yeah that’s not only the interpretation of the modern day economy, but also the “War on Terror,” which we are no longer calling the “War on Terror.” Hey, a little progress goes a long way.

I remember learning in Poli Sci about the different temperaments of the presidents. One was the submissive attitude/ active action president, of which Lincoln was emblematic. He was an internal thinker, a worrier on the inside, but resilient on the outside. He acted cautiously, but effectively. I have a feeling that’s what we’re going to see over the next few years…a sharp contrast to the erratic, hard-lined actions and thought process we’ve lived through previously.

So do you remember when it surfaced that Monica Goodling, a Department of Justice underling, decided it was cool to not hire people who weren’t exactly “Bush Allies?” You know, people who are involved in gay rights, or pro-gun control? Well, it turns out that story broke because Leslie Hagan, who was unequivocally qualified to be the liasion between the Justice Department and Native American Affairs, was fired because she was suspected of being gay. Suspected.

Yay: Hagan was rehired. Without a contract that needed to be constantly re-upped.

Boooo:  She has a lot of legal fees to take care of.

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