Wow! Obama set an awesome tone on his first day. I feel as though a massive dark cloud that had been enveloping the country has been whisked away by Obama’s greatness:

Mr. Obama used his first day to send two messages that echoed themes from his campaign: first, that he is intent on keeping his promises to run a clean and open government; and, second, that he understands the pain Americans are feeling as a result of the economic crisis.

Hallelujah!

“Starting today,” Mr. Obama said, “every agency and department should know that this administration stands on the side not of those who seek to withhold information, but those who seek to make it known.”

Advocates for openness in government, who had been pressing for the moves, said they were pleased. They said the new president had traded a presumption of secrecy for a presumption of disclosure.

“You couldn’t ask for anything better,” said Melanie Sloan, the executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, an advocacy group that tangled frequently with the Bush administration over records. “For the president to say this on Day 1 says: ‘We mean it. Turn your records over.’ ”

What a break from Bush. Obama is doing the smart and right thing in letting his “fellow citizens” actually know what the government is doing.

It may not be the type of thing that Mr. Bush wants to hear, however. Experts said Mr. Obama’s moves would have the practical effect of allowing reporters and historians to obtain access to records from the Bush administration that might otherwise have been kept under wraps.

“Historians are overjoyed by this,” said Lee White, executive director of the National Coalition for History.

This move will also allow Pelosi and other Democrats to look for possible criminal violations that were committed by Bush. Awesome move Mr. President!

In announcing the salary freeze, Mr. Obama effectively gave pay cuts to roughly 100 top executive branch officials, like the national security adviser, the press secretary and the White House counsel, who earn more than $100,000 a year. “Families are tightening their belts,” Mr. Obama said, “and so should Washington.”

Instead of continuing the prolifigate spending that has been the hallmark of Bush’s administration, Obama is signalling that he knows that government spending needs to be curtailed. Again: Hallelujah!

In what ethics-in-government advocates described as a particularly far-reaching move, Mr. Obama barred officials of his administration from lobbying their former colleagues “for as long as I am president.” He barred former lobbyists from working for agencies they had lobbied within the past two years and required them to recuse themselves from issues they had handled during that time.

Amazing! Again, Obama is focusing on giving the government back to the people as opposed to letting it be corrupted by big-money influences.

This is a great, great start.