Obama And Cleaning Up Bush`s Mess

Obama lifted restrictions on funding abortion, suspended the Guantanamo prison and is now lifting restrictions of the FOIA.

Barack Obama officially became the President of the United States of America on January 20 with the inauguration ceremony. He has already showed to the American people that he was serious when he made a promise during his campaign, stating his policy would be different from the much-hated policy of George W. Bush.

A day after arriving in the White House, the new president suspended trials of suspected terrorists in Guantanamo. Most of these prisoners were kept imprisoned without ever being indicted. Furthermore, Obama promised terrorism suspects that they would never be subjected to torture while being examined.

Eager rival of America, Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela, congratulated him on such a decision.

Obama lifts Freedom of Information Act restrictions

The new president used his first days in the Oval Office to alleviate or lift restrictions included in the Freedom of Information Act, which were passed together with the Patriot Act after September 11. With this action, the principles of open and transparent government were re-established.

- All agencies should adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure, in order to renew their commitment to the principles embodied in [Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)] – Obama said.

The State Secretary must ratify this decree so that it cane take effect.

Vatican condemns abortion decision, Americans support it

Obama also signed an executive order, lifting the ban of the USA funding international family planning groups if they promote abortion or provide information, counselling or recommendations for abortion services. While the Vatican severely condemns Obama`s decision, according to the polls, 68 percent of Americans are pleased with the new president`s work.

Obama`s predecessor George W. Bush was more than unpopular, some 70 percent of American citizens said they did not support him at the very end of his term.

Obama tells Muslims that Americans are not their enemy

Furthermore, Obama told the Muslim world that Americans are not their enemy. He pointed out that he has Muslim family members and that he has lived in Muslim countries. The new president also spoke with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev; they agreed to improve the ties between their countries.

The extent to which the new president and his predecessor are different is also evident from the fact that Obama ran his presidential campaign with the help of modern technology, he communicated with his supporters through e-mails and gathered votes on Facebook social networking site. When he arrived in the White House, he was shocked, to say the least – the telephone switches were old, or offline at times, while computer programmes stopped being used years ago.

With his decisions, Obama showed that change is not just a word, like many believed during his campaign.

Obama facing a big challenge – the credit crunch

However, there is plenty of work ahead for the new US president, and he will have most trouble with the economic crisis that has caught the entire world. He blamed former president Bush for such a state and his poor governing.

Even though everyone is aware that Obama does not have a magic wand and that solutions cannot be found overnight, all eyes are on him. After the inauguration and his speech, praises and congratulatory notes came from all corners of the Earth. Still, great expectations came with the greetings.

Another big decision is ahead of the president: what sort of a dog to give to his daughters. Obama promised Sasha and Malia he would get them a dog to reward their patience during his campaign.