Obama Wins! - So What's Next?

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That's class, folks.

 

How much power does a president actually have anyway? Really?

 

Hmm, while the Democrats have a slight majority, they don't have a clear majority, so I doubt they will "go crazy" with legislation. If they try, it will get shot down, IMO.
While the president can endorse or suggest legislation, it's Congress that passes it. The president merely has veto power than can be overruled by Congress.

People tend to forget how little power the president really has. The president is only one part of a three part system.

 

Except that he can veto anything.

 

Except that the election was clearly an Obama victory, not a Democratic victory. Hence the D's fairly modest Congressional gains. Neither Obama nor Pelosi/Reid are unaware of that. And it does matter to their relative power.

 

Hmm, since I am a pessimist at heart I think we are screwed. We are going into a regression, people will lose their jobs, the US debt is at an all time high. Up to now the negative effects of all this have been relatively mild, I think no matter who would be in charge things will get worse in the US. This will then lead to a backlash, Obama will lose the next election and someone far to the right of Bush will get elected. I have been browsing some conservative sites lately just to gloat and they scare me. Four years from now Obama will have reaped what Bush sowed and be blamed for it and then we will take five steps backwards for the one step forward taken last night.

Anyone care to soothe my fears?

 

I don't. What you suggest is quite possible.

 

joacqin: You've hit on the ultimate truth in politics. The economy takes years, even decades, to get in the shape it's in now. It will take just as long to correct. The politicians who cause such problems are long out of office when people start looking around for someone to blame -- so they choose a convenient target.

Although what you say is possible; I hope Obama is smart enough, and a good enough communicator, to get everyone focused on the solution. Franklin D. Roosevelt was able to do that during a worse time -- but then the press back then was kinder, gentler, and significantly smarter than it is today.

 

This is truely an historic moment. The United States of America has elected it's first African American President (well half at least, but how many in the US are 100% anything?), it has handed the reigns of power almost exclusively to one political party (it looks like the dems will miss their supermajority in the Senate), and it has chosen to trust the young, optomistic, charismatic candidate with little experience over the hardened, experienced candidate that, in many ways, represented a continuation of old policies (many of them much older than Bush). I would like to take this opportunity to look to the future.

My fears: with essentially all the reigns of power in the hands of mostly liberal democrats, I fear they will push through liberal legislation with little to no bi-partisanship. This may include such things as a federal recognition of gay marriage, a removal of almost all blocks to abortion, including parental notification, a ressurection of the so-called 'fairness doctrine', and many more. I fear that Obama will institute new green initiatives that will almost eliminate fossil fuel use for power, causing energy prices to sky-rocket. I fear that new tax laws will limit the growth of businesses big and small and that the ranks of the welfare dependant will grow. I fear that international crises will cause Obama to either forfeit all US power outside our borders, or ignite a new war with Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Palestine & Co., or any of a number of others. I fear the creation of his 'civilian national security force' and that it will be grossly abused by him or another. I fear that citizens will loose the right to bear many forms of protection, and that there will be a backlash to this attempt. I fear his renegotiation of NAFTA will needlessly lengthen this recession. I fear he will withdraw from Iraq before it is ready for it, and that all our many gains there will be lost. I just wish to make clear, these are not my expectations, they are my fears.

My hopes: Obama will stay true to the centrist policies he has advocated durring this campaign. He will make good on at least most of his campaign promises. His new econimic policies will shorten this recession, strenghten foreign trade, and shrink, or even eliminate the national debt. I hope Obama stand firm against any attempts by congressional democrats to force their agenda on the republicans. I hope his health care plans will produce a strong national health care system. I hope he will use his party's power in Congress to press through reasonable, logical, and practical legislation. I hope he will provide a real transition away from fossil fuels, one that, while painful, ends up benefiting the people of the US within a decade. I hope that he deftly handles the situations that are destined to arise abroad to preserve US influence and power without the use of military force, while at the same time ressurecting our reputation as fair and wise negotiators. I hope he will prove to the world, and to the US, that we (the US) have truely moved beyond race, and that he is criticized and praised for his accomplishments and deeds, and not for his race or history. I just wish to make clear, these are not my expectations, they are my hopes.

As for expectations, I remain cautiously pessimistic. I expect things to go poorly within 2 years, but I maintain hope that they will not. President Obama, no matter what happens, I will pray for you and yours.

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Because our only other choice was Gore!!
*shudder*
And then it was Kerry!
*shudder*
Actually, I didn't hold terribly high hopes for either candidate this year, either.
*shudder*
Well, we'll have to see.

 

Near the start of this thread, someone asked who was going to take over Barry-O's senate seat.

Surely the answer is: it doesn't matter? Clearly, Barry O has not exactly been doing much senator-ing over the last year because he's spent the whole time campaigning. I hope he hasn't accepted any pay cheques over the last 12 months because he can hardly say he's been doing his actual job, can he? Same goes for O McCains as well, of course.

I'm glad I'm not in whatever part of the country is actually represented by those candidates.

 

If you replace someone not doing their job with another person who will do the job it will make a difference. Also if a Republican were to take his seat it could be a big difference as that is another body in the way of some 2/3 majorities (if I remember these things correctly).

 

So what does Obama have to do to steer the US out of the danger they face?

1: Nationalize Healthcare. As a Canadian, I can't stress this enough. I know people that would ahve faced financial ruin if there were hospital bills on top of the lost revenue from being off work. If this reduces the number of bankrupcies in the US, then that's a step towards keeping lenders strong.

2: Find a way to pay for the tax breaks he promised without increasing the tax burden on businesses.

3: Get international consensus on Iraq and Afghanistan. I don't think it's possible to pull troops out of either nation safely in the near future, and trying to carry the bulk of this load is going to drive the country further into debt.

4: Develop a 4 and 8 year plan for the Environment and get that ball rolling. Radical change is not the answer, but much can be done by taking small steps at a time.

5: Invest in alternative energy. Anything that can be done that would enable the nation to reduce it's dependance on fossil fuels will help with both 3 and 4.

6: Find new ways to look at wedge issues. 30 states--including California with their 54 seats in the electoral college have constitutional ammendments defining marriage as between a man and a woman. This means that if there is a will to address gay rights, they have to find some other way to look at the issue. Likewise with Abortion, pro choice won out in every state where restrictions on abortion was placed on the ballot. To reach out to the religious vote, then there has to be a way to make alternatives to abortion more viable, rather than legislating against it.

7: Discourage the bi-partisan bullshit. His focus has to be on 100% of Americans, not just the ones that voted Democrat. I heard that the popular vote was actually about 54% Obama and 46% MacCain. That needs to be taken into account. 46% of Americans believe in the Republican platform. Maybe to build the nation, he needs boards from both platforms...

8: Reach out to the hearts of the people. If there is to be any change, that's where it has to start...

Does anyone believe that any of this is really possible?

 

Lovely, lovely post. I think one of the main assets that Obama brings to the US is that foreign leaders are excited to work with him. I agree with nearly everything you said.

 

Well, him winning the ticket to the W-House is historical.

He has the hopes of so may people soaring high and inspired even more individuals.
Even far from the States, I could feel it.

But now he has to live up to those.

Hope the best!

 

One of the things I'm most worried about is what will happen if/when the US and the world realize he's just another politician with a pretty face. There's been so much hope tossed on his shoulders, I fear a nasty backlash if he can't hold onto it all.

 

Well the tax and business community is already starting to plan for Obama's tax increases. I received this on Friday.

Based on this, I'm already seeing businesses deferring expenses (bonuses will be paid in 2009 instead of 2008) and trying to shift the revenue into 2008. It should be an interesting year end.

 

Well, this is only good tax planning. Plus it means the government(s) will get tax revenues a year earlier, which doesn't hurt.

OTOH, because the Feds get tax money this year rather than next, it means that the 2008 deficit won't be as bad as it would have been, which in turn means that Bush won't look quite as bad as he otherwise would.

Damn Obama!!!

 

All I know is that Obama has already meet with his financial advisor before he is even in office; that tells me he going to take his new job seriously and push for change.

It is about time.

 

Can you hear that sound, TGS? Listen closely...and you will hear me playing the world's smallest violin for all those rich people who are going to have to pay an extra 3 percent in taxes.

Actually, those who are in business are either waiting for a bailout, Like GM, Ford or AIG, or they are waiting on the stimulus package (which is sort of a bailout for business as well).

 

First of all it is 4.6% not 3%.

Second you have to stop thinking of business as GM, Ford, or AIG. They are large businesses. Everybody knows them and they get in the newspaper, but fortune 500 companies are not the businesses that employ most of the country. Since the companies you mentioned are all losing money hand over fist, they could care less if the tax rate went up to 90% (a socialist's dream) as if you don't have a profit it doesn't matter what the tax rate is, you don't pay a cent.

You have to think about how this will affect the middle class. If companies delay their bonuses until 2009 and then pay next years bonuses in 2009 also it will be inflating taxpayer earnings in 2009 at a higher tax rate. This is sure to shock a lot of people in April 2010 when the piper expects to be paid.