It's been a mere seventeen days since President Obama was sworn in, but it's been a jam-packed quick take-off thanks to the gigantic pile of shit the Bush administration left behind. So I ask you, what do you think of Obama's performance so far?

This morning, President Obama wrote an op-ed that appeared in the Washington Post that directly address the mandate he was voted into office with and the entire Republican caucus in the House and Senate that are voting against the stimulas act in an attempt to create a bipartisan atmosphere and attempt to weaken the Presidents numbers, even though every Republican Governor (with the exception of Sarah Palin) has urged their representatives in Washington to vote FOR the plan.

As Obama writes:

These are the actions Americans expect us to take without delay. They're patient enough to know that our economic recovery will be measured in years, not months. But they have no patience for the same old partisan gridlock that stands in the way of action while our economy continues to slide.

So we have a choice to make. We can once again let Washington's bad habits stand in the way of progress. Or we can pull together and say that in America, our destiny isn't written for us but by us. We can place good ideas ahead of old ideological battles, and a sense of purpose above the same narrow partisanship. We can act boldly to turn crisis into opportunity and, together, write the next great chapter in our history and meet the test of our time.

While I'm not thrilled with every aspect of Obama's plan, I do agree with a large majority of it and believe it is important for the bill to be signed into law as soon as possible.

Other things Obama has done so far that I like:
 Pushing McCaskill's salary cap of $500,000 for executives that take government money. I am 100% behind this, especially after learning that almost all the firms that took emergancy bailout money used it to pay their employees gigantic bonuses! Seriously, how do you reward people (even if it's not their direct fauly) for running their companies into the ground. And you know, once these firms don't rely on government funds, they can go right back to their inflated salaries and bonuses.
 Ending a two-year effort by Democrats that Bush and Republicans continued to block, Obama signed legislation that will allow about 7 million children to continue coverage through the State Children's Health Insurance Program and allow an additional 4 million to sign up. A nice first step towards improving health care in America.
 He took President Bush's faith-based initiative and created something more than a government wing to pander to the Christian-Conservative voter. Obama has renamed the program the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and is expanding their mission beyond funding right-wing social programs.
 Obama also imposed tighter ethics rules governing when administration officials can work on issues on which they previously lobbied governmental agencies, and banning them from lobbying the administration after leaving government service.
 Obama reversed the "Global Gag Rule." The policy banned federal funding to international family planning groups that offered abortion services or information with their own funds.
 The reworking of the USPS. The Post Office has been plagued by bad management that refused to embrace technology (remember they lobbied in that late 90's that people should be charged a stamp fee per email). I firmly believe the Post Office can save billions of dollars by closing their offices and not delivering mail on Saturdays and that it won't really have an impact on America.
 Allowing Robert Gates to do his thing. Hiring Gates is probably the smartest thing that President Bush did and Obama has been smart to give him space to do his job.

And here are some things that are pissing me off about Obama:
 Obama promised his supporters that he would immediately repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" act in favor of allowing gay men and women to serve in the armed forces without discrimination. So far, no action has been taken by Obama.
 The numerous cabinet picks that have had to withdraw due to failing to pay taxes, an issue that should piss off every tax-paying America, considering that if we were in their situation, we'd be subject to gigantic financial penalties and possible jail.

I know I'm missing tons of stuff, but that's just a taste of what our President has done in his first seventeen days. What do you think of what he's doing? What do you want to see him do? Where has he fucked up?