I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: I am a committed conservative (fiscal and social) who is rooting like hell for President Barack Obama. We don’t have 4 years to waste, so to President Obama in his first week in office, I offer 8 tips for leading our nation to a better place. First, here are 4 things he can do that will almost ensure that President Obama will be a very unsuccessful 1-term President: (DON’T) Pursue investigations of Bush & Cheney. I can’t think of one thing that would be more damaging to an Obama presidency than spending one moment contemplating the lawfulness of the Bush administration in its prosecution of the war on terror. Throughout his campaign, Obama’s message and tone was optimistic and forward-looking, and not once did he even hint that he would support an investigation. Even as unpopular as Bush was exiting office, an investigation would be political suicide.
(DON’T) Close Gitmo. I almost left this one off the list because he signed the order to close on Day #2 in office, but he still has nearly a year to reverse the order. There is no place in the world to put these 245 prisoners that will make Americans more safe than where they are today. And bringing them onto U.S. soil and try them in our criminal justice system is the worst possible option.
(DON’T) Issue tax rebates to people who pay no taxes. By any reasonable definition, such a practice is “redistribution of wealth”, something our tax code has enabled for generations. Checks for the non-tax-payers out there is welfare, no more, no less, and putting into action the “spread the wealth around” comment that brought fame to Joe the Plumber, will spell doom for President Obama.
(DON’T) Roll back the Bush tax cuts (or let them expire in 2011). After running as a “tax cutter”, increasing the tax rates on the majority of Americans is tantamount to the “Read my lips: No new taxes” campaign statement that sunk Bush #41. Saying one thing and doing another almost never works, and screwing tax-paying Americans will cost him in November 2012.
Here are 4 things that will help him earn a second term:
Capture or kill Bin Laden. This one is a no-brainer. While we can debate the long-term impact it would have on Al Qaeda, or the war on terror in general, nailing Osama Bin Laden would be jet fuel for President Obama’s re-election campaign.
Enforce the law, which is what the Executive Branch of the government is supposed to do. Hire an Attorney General who will go after Immelt, Madoff, O’Neal and all the other corporate crooks who have not yet been introduced to the world. Nothing will restore Americans’ trust in government more than nailing to the cross people who are even less worthy of our trust.
Back off nationalized health care. Tom Daschle is going to go after this hard, just like Bill and Hill did 16 years ago, but as financially over-leveraged as our nation is, there could possibly be no worse time in our history to pursue such a program. Didn’t make sense 16 years ago, makes even less sense now.
Drop this Fairness Doctrine nonsense. Like the 43 guys before him, Barack Obama took an oath (twice!) and pledged to uphold the Constitution of the United States. I don’t you can do that and pursue the idea that government has any role in the programming of talk radio stations. Being President of the U.S. means respecting and protecting the freedoms and rights of all Americans, even Rush Limbaugh, Hugh Hewitt and others you don’t agree with.
