COVERITLIVE.COM

11:58

IMportant People - Hello and welcome to another edition of Important People on Buffalo.com! With us today is The Buffalo News’ Washington Bureau Chief, Jerry Zremski, to talk about President Obama’s first 100 days in office.

11:58

IMportant People - Thanks for being here, Jerry!

11:59

Jerry Zremski - I'm happy to be here!

11:59

IMportant People - Let's start with the obvious opener: How good has Obama been at keeping his promises in his first 100 days?

12:01

Jerry Zremski - Well, some might say he has made a down payment on his promises. He has moved forward with many of the things he has promised to do -- health care, clean energy, education improvements -- and he has incorporated them into his budget proposal early on, which is an unconventional way to begin work on such major legislation.

12:02

IMportant People - What would the conventional way to start that kind of legislation?

12:03

Jerry Zremski - The conventional way would be to work directly with Congress later in the year on the particulars of the legislation -- which he will do. The unconventional thing was to put pieces of the program in place so early, in both the budget and the economic stimulus legislation.

12:04

IMportant People - Speaking of unconventional:

12:04

[Comment From Guest]
Do you think Obama overstepped his bounds by firing the General Motors CEO?

12:05

Jerry Zremski - Well, it is certainly unconventional to force out the head of a major corporation -- but that was a corporation whose survival depends on federal funds. So I think Obama thought that if Uncle Sam is paying GM's way in these tough times, Uncle Sam could have a say in who is running GM.

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