There are a lot of small, under the radar, things that the Obama administration is doing, on a pretty large scale, that I know will make a huge difference in the long run. These are all the types of things that won't be in the headlines, and when we are reaping the fruits of these efforts, credit probably will not be given properly either.
One example is the justice department investigation into IBM for anti trust behavior with regards to mainframes. Under the previous administration, the antitrust arm of the Justice department was all but dead. It is nice to see some life stirring once again.
There is another example that is all over the financial news but which hardly made it to the middle of the NY Times Last week. Obama's new US Attorney for wall street, Preet Bhara, broke what might be one of the most elaborate insider trading cases in history allegedly involving former directors of a Bear Stearns hedge fund. The Galleon group case will be one to watch.
On October 15, thousands of tax evaders had no place to hide their ill gotten gains anymore, because in a major change compared to the bush administration, the justice department and IRS are actually hunting these guys down. Well at least 4800 of them... Obama has also declared that evading taxes by utilizing a PO Box in the Cayman islands will no longer be tolerated. It's a start.
Last month, when AT&T reversed its anti-competitive stance on iPhone internet calls, that was as a direct result of Obama's new FCC chairman Julius Genachowski's calls for and work on net neutrality.
Of course if we codify net neutrality, that will affect more of our lives in a more positive way, than most any other legislation coming down the pike. It is important to not live in a censored society, and a free, open, neutral internet is a great way to shine sunlight on life. Under Bush, the internet was reverting into some form of private network, complete with slow speeds, censorship, favoritism, and a lack of cooperation between network providers. That, luckily, is now a trend that looks like it is reversing itself. The Obama administration has also made the largest investment in years for enhancing internet infrastructure, which is a big deal all by itself.
Hillary Clinton has already booked more than 100,000 miles going back and forth around the world to enhance our relationships with other countries. The state department, which was all but decimated under Bush, is back, once again. Our foreign policy is no longer simply the business end of a gun.
Every day, somewhere buried in the paper, there is another story about some little thing... some policy or act that at least seems little, that will profoundly affect us in the long run.
This administration is working very hard, burning the candle at both ends, to restore America to be the shining city on the hill, once again. I'm glad it's happening.
Have you witnessed some small policy change (or major one) that you know never would have happened if we didn't have a president Obama, that snuck in under the radar, but will profoundly affect us? leave a comment.