Opinion
Work to do
Opinion of, The Orlando Sentinel
Published: November 14, 2012
President Barack Obama deserves a lot of credit for winning his re-election bid. It was a long, tough campaign. Ultimately, he persuaded a majority of Americans to stick with his approach for how to move the nation forward. But it's time to move on from his promise of "hope and change." For the president's second term, let the key word be "results."Published: November 14, 2012
Skyrocketing debt poses a threat to our national security and future prosperity. The president's own bipartisan commission on the debt put it succinctly in its 2010 report: "America cannot be great if we go broke."
The president must address the gap between spending and revenue that threatens to add trillions more to the nation's debt during his second term. This means coming up with a serious, politically viable plan to reduce deficits and debt. Ideally, it would generate more tax revenue and reduce cost growth in the biggest budget items, including Social Security, Medicare and military spending.
Obama will face the same divided Congress of the past couple of years. The president will need to find a way to deal more effectively with Republican leaders on Capitol Hill. At the same time, GOP lawmakers have a responsibility to meet the president halfway. We're not optimistic, but the nation can't afford another four years of gridlock. The challenges are too critical.
In his victory speech, the president acknowledged the need for both parties to confront these challenges: "Reducing our deficit. Reforming our tax code. Fixing our immigration system. Freeing ourselves from foreign oil. We've got more work to do."
He'll need to lead on these issues without the strong electoral mandate and friendly Congress he enjoyed four years ago. And he'll need to unite a sharply divided country. Let's make up for lost time.