Reply #15: Health care reform is at least as essential to economic recovery as financial regulation,

[iceman66]

which I believe is the next item on the agenda.

The current heath care system is a huge drag on the economy and hinders the ability of American business to compete on a global scale.

On top of that, the lives of regular people are impacted directly and significantly by insurance industry abuses.

Obama had every intention of repealing the Bush tax cuts right after taking office, but was convinced not to because of last year's economic 'crisis' which IMO was deliberately engineered by the former administration. He still plans to let them expire next year.

As for Iraq and Afghanistan, he is not pursuing the same strategy as Bush. The Iraq occupation is winding down, and he is also looking for a way to wrap things up in Afghanistan without leaving that country in total chaos.