By ANN McFEATTERS, Scripps Howard News Service

How fitting it is that the person who oversaw the compensation to families of 9/11 victims will decide whether top executives of massive companies involved in the economic crisis are paid too much.

President Dwight Eisenhower gave the nation a farewell address 48 years ago in which he outlined an urgent warning.
That warning is coming true. We are spending our way into oblivion.

It's surreal to be here in the Motor City these days, wondering how or if it will reinvent itself. As Pittsburgh was once Steel City and then became a Mecca for medical researchers, one wonders if this symbol of man's ingenuity in moving around will find new life or decay even more.

Finally, the government has done something for real consumers by smiting the odious practices of credit card companies. Or, has it?

So there stood President Obama, wilting in heavy robes in 100-degree heat at the Sun Devil Stadium, joking about not receiving an honorary degree in exchange for giving the commencement address. Arizona State University decided his body of work wasn't impressive enough.

I have cable TV in my kitchen. Yes, I'm a 24/7 news junkie. But I don't have cable in the guest room, just an old-fashioned TV that gets several channels poorly. Thus began my experience with the Great Conversion.

By Ann McFeatters
White House Watch
What does being a good citizen mean when we're in a recession, at war, on the brink of a pandemic, in debt up to our ears and sick and tired of learning of another crisis every news cycle?
I don't know. I used to think I knew about doing one's civic duty. But in the Age of Obama, I'm not certain any more.

Thirty years ago then-president Jimmy Carter installed solar panels on the White House roof to heat water for the staff eating area. He said it demonstrated the nation's move toward "true energy security and abundant, readily available energy supplies."
Oops.

For years, they were a staple of sci-fi movies. Shining steel rail lines crisscrossing high above the cities of the future as passengers inside were whisked around at fantastic speeds.
Now, President Obama wants to make them real. He said so the other day as that inveterate Amtrak rider/supporter Vice-President Joe Biden stood beside him, salivating.

There he was, our president, on TV as usual, urging millions of Americans to refinance their homes by clicking on MakingHomeAffordable.gov. But wait! The first two hits on Google are for commercial sites and have nothing to do with his plan. Its best to go to WhiteHouse.gov to get to the government's site.