Mississippian's Assess Obama’s 100 Days in Office

Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States

This week Mississippian's are reflecting on how President Barack Obama's first 100 days in office has impacted the state. MPB's Lawayne Childrey reports.

Since President Barack Obama took office in January, more than 2.8 billion dollars have been earmarked for Mississippi through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The goal is to help stimulate the economy. But Millsap’s College, political science professor, Dr. Michael Rhinehart would have rather seen the money go directly to Mississippians in the form of tax cuts.

“And the money would have gotten in their pocket immediately. Instead what we’ve had is a huge run up in the debt that we’re going to have to pay without nearly enough stimulus. And it’s committing us to increasing a wrath of spending programs that I think in the long run are gonna be a drain on our economy.”

The state has already began allocating money from the stimulus package on projects like education, job creation and healthcare. Dr. Isaiah Madison, Political Science Professor at Jackson State University believes the intended impact is already being felt.

“If you listen closely you’ll find more people of all races and I would say even class who are kinda breathing a little lighter. And expressing some since of hope at a level that you didn’t see a hundred days ago.”

For many Mississippian's, part of that hope may lie in the fact that President Obama recently tapped former Mississippi governor Ray Mabus to serve as Navy Secretary. State representative Cecil Brown of Jackson.
“He will have the ear of the president, have a lot of impact on where ships are built on the coast. So I think we’re in good shape right now.”

61% of Americans approve of the job Obama is doing as president. That's better than what George W. bush or Bill Clinton had at their 100 day marks. For MPB News, I'm Lawayne Childrey.