How Should Obama Prioritize?

A few months ago, I wrote a post where I said I do not envy the president for having to make such difficult decisions. Sure, it would be great to have such an impact, but making the decisions President Obama must make in the next few months would, well, quite frankly, suck.

President Obama has been very clear that he wants jobs legislation, energy legislation, immigration reform and financial regulatory reform. And advocates for each issue want this done now, and done perfectly. But let’s face it; there are going to be a lot of disappointed people.

We saw how long healthcare took, which even though it was a very contentious issue, shows how long the legislative process can take (discounting the fact that politicians have tried to achieve universal healthcare for many decades) when strong emotions are evoked.

Yesterday Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) made headlines when he decided to step away from his work with Senators Kerry (D-MA) and Lieberman (I-CT) on energy legislation because Democrats have decided to try to pass immigration reform right now.

So why would President Obama and the Democrats do this? Well, Arizona Republican Governor Jan Brewer signed very stringent legislation last week that will allow police officers to question and detain illegal immigrants if they suspect them of being in the country illegally. Now, both sides of the immigration issue want to see the fight become national.

On the heels of Earth Day, and in the midst of immigration turmoil, you have other issues that are, arguably, even more important. We still need to do something about the huge job losses caused by the economic collapse of 2008. We also, according to two-thirds of Americans, need to do something about the circumstances that allowed banks to be so reckless with our economy in the first place.

These four issues are huge right now (should I mention the Supreme Court vacancy or budget process?)! Assuming you can’t do all four (which the Democrats are trying to do), which one should be the priority? The obvious answer, for the unemployed, is jobs. But then is that so obvious to the environmentalists who argue inaction now will cause global catastrophe and create an uninhabitable planet? Is that so obvious to the people that are being rounded up by police officers in Arizona or Americans that truly believe immigrants are stealing their jobs? Are we supposed to forget the serious fear we all felt when the stock market crashed and our grandparents reminded us of their childhoods during the depression? It’s not so easy, but it sure would be nice if it were.

Every president comes into office with an agenda. Both parties have to deal with circumstances beyond their control. Do you think Obama wanted to be president immediately after an economic collapse? Do you think Bush wanted to lead a post 9-11 world? Their priorities were hijacked and they had to adapt. We complain government is in our lives too much, but we expect Obama to solve our economic woes and expected Bush to keep us safe.

Let us recognize the realities of America and its infinite competing interests. We don’t need perfect policy, just like we don’t need a perfect union. We need better policy, which will allow us to create a more perfect union. That is what American democracy is about. It is time we start living up to the principles of our founding fathers.