Obama Team Weighs What to Take On First

[onehandle]

Source: New York Times

WASHINGTON — With the economy in disarray and the nation’s treasury draining, President-elect Barack Obama and his advisers are trying to figure out which of his expansive campaign promises to push in the opening months of his tenure and which to put on a slower track.

Mr. Obama repeated on Saturday that his first priority would be an economic recovery program to get the nation’s business system back on track and people back to work. But advisers said the question was whether they could tackle health care, climate change and energy independence at once or needed to stagger these initiatives over time.

The debate between a big-bang strategy of pressing aggressively on multiple fronts versus a more pragmatic, step-by-step approach has flavored the discussion among Mr. Obama’s transition advisers for months, even before his election. The tension between these strategies has been a recurring theme in the memorandums prepared for him on various issues, advisers said.

“Every president is tempted to take on too much,” said one Obama adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. “On the other hand, there’s the Roosevelt example and the L.B.J. example, which suggest an extraordinary president can do an awful lot. So that’s the question: Is it too risky for the president to be ambitious?”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/us/politics/09promise...

[Double T]

1. Ahhh......it's the economy and financial system.

If issue #1 isn't taken care of first and foremost, NOTHING else will matter.

[OhioChick]

2. You're absolutely right. n/t

[RedSock]

11. yet Obama voted for the "bailout" (eom)

[Double T]

13. That is ONE of the reasons I did not vote for him.

NOW, I want him to prove me wrong.

[depakid]

18. And what would you have preferred?

[Earth_First]

3. Iraq/Afghanistan

Imagine saving our country over $12 BILLION UDS per month...


Iraq + Afghanistan

Per Month - $12.3 billion
Per Week - $2.9 billion
Per Day - $410 million
Per Hour - $17 million
Per Minute - $284,722
Per Second - $4,745

(based on adjusted DOD FY 2007 obligations)

[peacebird]

4. pushing solutions like a green revolution can HELP create jobs and therefore help the

economy, while also helping slow global warming, and help us as a country reach for energy independence.

It doesn't have to be an either/or situation.

[OhioChick]

5. I agree with a "green revolution"

However, it's going to take some time for these jobs to come about. Possibly years. Citizens need jobs yesterday....they're losing everything as the days pass.

[peacebird]

7. there are a lot of infrastructure jobs that need work now. Many states have

roadwork, bridge repairs, etc already planned and ready to go but lack the money to get them started. A national jobs program could be funded to help repair schools, fill potholes and rebuild infrastructure to get the some work that needs doing done while giving jobs to everyday folks. And at the same time our engineers and scientists at the government labs and colleges across the country can come up with workable green initiatives to start a green revolution.

[OhioChick]

14. But where is the funding going to come from

To pay for this "national jobs program?"

[OwnedByFerrets]

6. Treasury draining??? We have NO Treasury...Monkeyboy spent

every last penny and has borrowed our future.

[dkofos]

8. Listen to the people and they will tell what should come first.

My guess is it will be the economy.

[Bette Noir]

9. Don't put off health care!

That has to be passed during the honeymoon.

Ban torture, close Guantanamo, end the war. These things will save money, not cost it. Use the savings to fund health care. I can wait until next year for a tax cut-- those are popular, and easy to pass.

[bain_sidhe]

10. An infuriating quote/realization

I detected a certain (and infuriating) satisfaction at Baker's quote from John Tuck:

“The poor man has his hands tied by the economic and financial mess we have right now,” said John Tuck, a former aide to President Ronald Reagan. “I don’t know what his options are. They’re very, very limited.”

We left them a surplus, they not only looted that, but drove us deep into debt to achieve that "hands tied" state that Tuck so smugly notes. This "economic and financial mess" wasn't an unfortunate accident, it was the plan.

Now they expect Democrats to, once again, be the grown ups, and defer our needs in order to clean up after the 'Publican frat party. I don't doubt they also expect to be able to swoop back in after we've cleaned up and loot the treasury all over again.

Well, I say f*ck that sh*t. I think Obama should go ahead and run a deficit in the short term. Get some money into the hands of working people, with a jobs program aimed at rebuilding our public infrastructure and building a new, green-energy infrastructure. Then we (the 90% of us who didn't benefit from the last 10 years) will be better situated to handle the belt-tightening that will be necessary in the long term.

(I posted this as a comment in the NYT's Caucus Blog about this article too, but apparently they found my thoughts insufficiently interesting. Either that or the moderator is a really slow reader...)

[Zorra]

12. Whatever he takes on first, serious ELECTION REFORM should begin simultaneously.

Ban electronic voting completely by the election of 2010, and create laws that carry severe penalties for all types of nefarious election practices if these laws are broken.

[jmowreader]

15. We elected a high-bandwidth president

I have no doubt his team can work on solving the banking crisis, creating jobs via infrastructure enhancements, overturning the Bush executive orders, closing down the Iraq War and ordering a needle for Shrub all at the same time.

[Mari333]

16. seems like everyone has forgotten about the troops

bring them home.

[hedgetrimmer]

17. Obama, run with that ball... endzone baby, endzone!

Obama wants a touch down not first and ten... Obama, see the endzone... however, for obama - go for the three pointer and two.. take it all and get the technical to boot.