What Should Obama's Top Priority Be When First Taking Office? - January 15, 2009

Ask not what you can do for your country, ask what your country can do for you. Although that sounds a little backwards from Kennedy’s inaugural speech back in 1961, it seems more relevant today as the country’s dismal status is in need of the government more than the people itself.

With less than a week away from the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, the House Democrats made their voice heard today in that they are pushing for an $825B stimulus package that calls for tax cuts and federal spending cuts in an effort to revive the lagging economy.

With their top emphasis on health care, education, energy and highway construction, the Democrats are looking for the cost of federal spending to total only $550B and tax cuts of $275B over the next two years.

In addition, the report calls for $90B in aid to all U.S. states in order for them to fight the increasing costs for providing health care for the poor. It also calls for an additional $39B worth in subsidies to those people who are out of work and cannot afford health care, being the sole bread winner who is out of work.

The package would also be able to infuse billions of dollars to state and local governments for the improvement of roads and bridges along with the modernizing of current infrastructure works.

“It’s about modernizing our roads, bridges, et cetera, education for the 21st century, tax cuts that make work pay and create jobs and initiatives to lower healthcare costs and help workers who are hurt in this economy, and protect our vital services,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an earlier interview.

“Next week the bills will be marked up in committee, Appropriations, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce,” Pelosi went on to say. “The following week we will vote on the floor, send it to the Senate. They will act upon it, go to conference, and then come to agreement; go back to both floors and send it to the president of the United States, all by the President’s Day recess.”

In a survey of more than 1,000 Americans by the International Communications Research (ICR), the study showed that heading into the new administration, those surveyed revealed that the top priority of the Obama administration should focus primarily on the economy and the proposed stimulus package. Nearly 60% gave that answer as the first major goal for the incoming president.

Heading out the rest of the list of priorities is Obama’s attention to healthcare reform, which came in at 10%, followed by the war in Iraq at 9% and the overall safety of the nation as a whole, which came in at 9% as well. The remainder of the list was the use and impact of ‘green” energy programs, which came in at 6%, and an “other” category which came in at 7%.

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