Maybe Saturday night isn't the most high impact time for me to post my first diary, but I found this NY Times article and topic to be interesting.
The article covers the debate over whether President-Elect Obama (sigh of happiness) should make a wish list and cross things off one at a time, or go after his agenda in a big swoop.
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.
So my question for you, Kossacks, is whether you think Obama should go big and have a multi-faceted agenda immediately, or work more systematically to push through initiatives over a period of time, and which path do you think he will choose to follow? Additionally what are your most pressing items on the agenda?
My personal opinion is that Americans are impatient and the new administration should go after as much as possible as soon as possible. Few elections have been followed by as many for as long. And although voters will have a substantial honeymoon period with President Obama (due to the novelty of a President who isn't a blithering idiot), the expectations are going to be sky-high. Failure to achieve considerable change could result in bad news in 2010.
I tend to agree with this position: "health care, energy and education are all part of systemic economic problems and should be addressed comprehensively." I would add to that a substantial investment in infrastructure that would put many to work and improve our highways, mass transit, and electric grids. Additionally, I think mounting a plan to get us out of Iraq and closing Guantanamo as rapidly as possible is key to restoring our standing in the world.
Although I do have faith in our soon to be President, I'm not sure that he will go down the path I favor. He strikes me as being first and foremost a pragmatic person, and I'm not sure that he won't see the more measured way as a better method. And maybe that's right. Who am I to say? Your thoughts?
Please excuse any typos, I'm busy celebrating (read drinking) over the fabulous Iowa-Penn St. game. Go Hawks!