Hannover report: Rating Obama’s first 100 days

The fear of U.S. protectionism seems to be a fear throughout Europe as that was the first and most important question a panel had to tackle Monday at a Global Business Forum, a panel discussion focused on “The first 100 days of the Obama administration.”
Everybody else has an opinion on President Obama’s first 100 days in office, why not those at this year’s Hannover Messe?
“When Obama was running for president, he didn’t have this type of crisis on his mind, but he now has to deal with it,” said Dr. Werner Hoyer, with the German Parliament. “There will now be solutions to problems that we have not seen for quite some time. The good thing is Obama is taking a fresh approach to solve the current problems. The political framework to expanded business opportunities between the U.S. and Europe will exist for a long time.”
There is a fear with a democrat as the president he will become very protectionist for his constituency, trying to keep jobs based in the U.S.
Dean Johnson, senior director of the Detroit Regional Partners said that would hardly be the case.
“Please remember a democrat, Bill Clinton, pushed through the Free Trade Agreement and there are plenty of Clinton people in the Obama administration,” Johnson said.
“We are actually looking at this from a foreign policy perspective where we are looking to diversify and looking to open up policy to include our enemies to work in collaboration,” he said.
Jeff Mullis, a republican state senator from Georgia, does not agree with all the president is saying and doing.
“Obama is helping out with the world and that may be viewed positively across the world, but in the U.S., it still remains to be seen. I think the American public is looking for Obama to be great. We are looking for opportunities. I am a republican and I have hope for America.”
Meanwhile, getting into specific policy matters, Keith Cooley, chief executive at NextEnergy, said coming up with a strategic energy policy is one of the most important things Obama has done. He talked about the smart grid and what the U.S. has to do bring it up to date.
“There is no way we will take 21st Century technology and put it on a 19th Century backbone,” Cooley said. “There is no way we can use tomorrow’s technology with yesterday’s technology. The developed world has to find a way to bring technology to the developing world.”
But part of creating and sustaining an energy policy and get out of the recession griping the world is being able to work together, Cooley said.
“As my mother would say when I was young, we all have to play nice with each other. We need to work together,” he said.
Richard Schmid, president of Executive Management Support Service, agreed everyone has to be on the same page.
“We are all in this together,” Schmid said. “Whether we voted for him or not, we have to respect the office of the presidency. A lot of what he has done is start up programs, but that is just the beginning. We have to keep pushing the boulders forward because we are in this together.”
The problem is not coming up with a plan, the problem is sticking to it.
“We in America are short term thinkers,” Schmid said. “We don’t think 10 years in advance.”
From a European perspective, though, there is plenty of hope.
“Obama’s election is the most important positive affect in the U.S. since Ronald Reagan was elected,” said Prof. Dr. Ing. Heinz Jorg Fuhrman, vice chairman of the executive board and heard of finance and technology at Salzgitter AG in Germany.
“There is now somebody in charge that doesn’t seem to use the military to prove his strength,” Fuhrman said. “He is not always using the big stick. We all desire to bring the U.S. back in a leadership position.”