A Washington Post Editorial: The President's Priorities

Facing an economic crisis, a banking crisis, a housing crisis and an auto industry crisis, President Obama used the opportunity of his address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night to load his plate with even more. Mr. Obama said he would press ahead with plans to overhaul the nation’s health-care system, bolster education and lead the transition to new forms of energy — all while curing cancer and getting the deficit under control.

We understand the president’s instinct not to let short-term demands obscure the need to meet the country’s long-term challenges. His priorities for fundamental reform, the causes that animated his campaign, are admirable ones. Yet we cannot help wondering: Isn’t the most critical task to ensure a swift and effective response to the stomach-churning downturn? Does a new, understaffed administration have the capacity to try so much so fast? And does the political system have the bandwidth to accommodate all that Mr. Obama is asking from it?

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Posted in * Economics, Politics, Office of the President, Politics in General, President Barack Obama

3 comments on “A Washington Post Editorial: The President's Priorities

  1. Harvey says:

    I am not looking forward to a future time when my children, grandchildren, and two great-grandaughters may wind up being saddled with a multi-trillion dollar tax bill.

  2. vu82 says:

    Easy answers:

    Yes

    No

    No

  3. libraryjim says:

    The President’s priorities? Recreate socialism in America, piece by piece and replace the ‘flawed Constitution’ with legislation that allows this without riots.