Friedman: We should 'consider moving up the inauguration date' David Edwards and Muriel Kane

Published: Monday November 24, 2008





Print This Email This In 1933, the Great Depression deepened as the country drifted between the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his inauguration. In an attempt to prevent that from happening again, the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution moved presidential inaugurations from March up to January -- but now even January 20 may not come soon enough for the struggling American economy.



New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman told CNN's Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, "I think we should seriously consider moving up the inauguration date, because I don't know that we have two months to have a political vacuum at this moment in this economic crisis. ... This administration has kind of checked out. They're not going to do anything big."



"There is a storm coming," Friedman continued, "and it hasn't hit yet. And I believe the decisions made, possibly in these next two months, could determine the next four years. This administration could be over before it starts -- over in the sense that it will spend the next four years digging out of a hole that has been created right now, that may be deeper and darker than anyone realizes."



An economic adviser to President-elect Barack Obama has told CNN that Obama is urging outgoing President Bush to do more to fix the economy, but some Democrats worry that this is not enough.



Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) says of Obama, "I would like him to become -- at least offer to become -- more involved. And I think that offer would be welcomed, not just by the Democrats in the House and the Senate but also by the White House itself."



This video is from CNN.com, broadcast Nov. 24, 2008.









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