TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Warmth Of Fireside Chat Also Brings Some Smoke

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 26, 2009

Most of us felt better after hearing President Barack Obama reassure the nation Tuesday night that today's hard times are merely a prelude to future greatness.

He masterfully balanced references to economic crisis with the new political and private opportunities that have the potential to improve the lives of us working Americans.

He warned of the possibility of an "open-ended recession," but said, "I refuse to let that happen." He told us "there will be no real recovery unless we clean up the credit crisis," but also promised that "the money you've deposited in banks across the country is safe."

He shared his goals of affordable health care, a resurgent economy, and better education for all.

He decided the time wasn't right to bring into sharp focus the sacrifices necessary for his visions to come true. Some smoke and mirrors were evident, but the bipartisan applause he received was deserved as Obama reminded Congress of the importance of the old-fashioned values of personal responsibility, fiscal restraint, honesty, courage and generosity.

How broad agreement on principles will translate into policy remains hazy. Perhaps the lack of details suggests Obama will use consensus and compromise to accomplish his ambitious agenda.

He promised to cut the budget deficit in half by the end of his first term, and says he has already found $2 trillion in spending to eliminate over the next 10 years. We're anxious to hear how much fat he will be able to cut this budget year.

He promised to stop accounting for war spending off budget, something former President Bush should have been doing all along so taxpayers could see the full cost. Obama should take honesty in budgeting a step farther and include in future budgets the best estimates of the growing obligations to Social Security and Medicare.

His deficit-reduction promise assumes a surge in revenue, but he also promised not a dime of tax increases for families earning less than $250,000 a year. That will be a hard promise to keep.

He said the federal government will stop subsidizing fat agribusinesses. Most Americans wish him luck, but it's something his predecessors also talked about but couldn't get Congress to do.

He promised to double the supply of renewable energy in next three years, but didn't mention how much it would cost.

Amid the vague optimism was a solid foundation of American can-do optimism, and it felt good to hear it.

The answers, Obama reminded us, "exist in our laboratories and universities, in our fields and our factories, in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth. Those qualities that have made America the greatest force of progress and prosperity in human history we still possess in ample measure."

It was a timely reminder that even troubled economies can be marked by new ideas and accomplishment. During the dark days of the 1930s, the United States invented thousands of things, including the first all-electronic television, fiberglass, FM radio, the automatic teller machine, the game of Monopoly, Social Security, and the cheeseburger.

Obama told us he believes in responsibility, not in bigger government. Americans should take him at his word and give him a chance to show he means it.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT