Today Show: Michelle Obama at Oscars & is Telecommuting Unproductive?

Today Show: American Sequester a Week Away

With the sequester priming to take place this Friday, the Today Show asked the Today Show Professionals who they thought was to blame for the $1.2 trillion in spending cuts that almost everyone has agreed will hurt the economy, yet seems to be in line to take place.

Dr. Nancy Snydermann said it is the fault of the American people more than it is the fault of the government officials. She said we are the ones who put them in office, we are the ones who didn’t do anything to get them out of office when they went back on promises and we are the ones who have to weather this impending storm. Donny Deutsch agreed the American people are to blame but pointed out the politicians are the same as we are.

Star Jones didn’t answer the questions. She was simply flabbergasted at how the American government even works. For a normal business or organization, they would take the time to sit down and discuss such a serious topic but Congress hasn’t even had a single serious talk about the sequester this week.

Matt Lauer wanted to know if the Professionals blamed the Republicans or the Democrats more and Deutsch said it was the Republicans for two reasons. They have more to lose than the Democrats and they are the party of the “no.”

Today Show: Telecommuting Halted By New CEO Of Yahoo

Marissa Mayer, the new 37-year-old CEO of Yahoo, has decided telecommuting is not the wave of the future, making all employees of Yahoo come to the Yahoo campus to get their work done. Is she doing the right thing?

Dr. Snyderman thought she was just “adopting the boys rule” by bringing everyone to campus, although she didn’t seem to have a problem with bringing everyone to campus, but more of a problem with a female executive following the ways other companies have started doing business.

Star Jones said it was more of a “professionals rule” she was following. It basically came to money when Jones thought about it. If the company needs to make more money and stopping telecommuting is the way to go, then stop the telecommuting.

Deutsch pointed out many studies have shown people become more productive and less innovative when they telecommute. He thought companies utilize telecommuting because it has been shown to retain more employees when used. What about the people who have their lives set up around telecommuting? Deutsch said those people are having their worlds flipped upside-down. But even with that said, he knows it is about the shareholders and making more money.

Today Show: Michelle Obama At the Oscars

The First Lady has been in the public eye quite a bit lately, from being on Jimmy Kimmel Live a while ago to presenting the Oscar for Best Picture. But is this how everyone wants to see her?

Deutsch was a little aggravated by Michelle Obama showing up everywhere. He doesn’t want to see a politician mingling with people in the entertainment business. He wants to keep his entertainment and his politics separate. But if he does have to watch her he wants options. For instance, when she was on Jimmy Kimmel Live he could turn it off but when she was presenting for the Oscars he had to watch because he wanted to see who won.

Dr. Snyderman didn’t have a problem with her presenting but she did wish Michelle Obama had introduced the armed forces that were on stage with her.

Today Show: Seth MacFarlane Mixed Reviews After Hosting Oscars

Seth MacFarlane is getting mixed reviews after hosting the Oscars with many people saying his jokes were sexist and juvenile, even while ratings for the event were higher than they have been in the past.

Star Jones was a little taken aback by the jokes saying she didn’t know whether to cry or cringe, but Deutsch and Dr. Snyderman said they liked the jokes and they made them laugh. As Deutsch put it, “he is raw and that is what the young people want,” which is probably why the ratings for the 18 to 49 demographic were up by 11 percent.