Big_Mike
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- Jan 25, 2009
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<Not sure if this is the right forum for this, but I guess the mods will let me know.>
I've been reading the book "Letters to a Young Conservative" by Dinesh D'Souza (One of Reagan's Staff members). On page 70, he writes an interesting paragraph that I think has tons of relevance to today's political climate. Let me share the part of the paragraph I have been thinking about:
"Reagan instinctively understood that the President, as powerful as he is, cannot change the world in 65 ways. He can change the world in only two or three ways. And so Reagan set his priorities. He wanted to defeat inflation, revive the economy, arrest the advancement of the Soviet empire - and that's about it. The other stuff Reagan didn't care about. In the White House we were sometimes frustrated when Reagan avoided issues such as affirmative action and conceded to the liberals on farm subsidies and such. But Reagan understood, better than we did, that a President has to choose his fights."
D'Souza, Dinesh, "Letters to a Young Conservative"
Basic Books, Cambridge, MA 02142 (pg. 70)
Of course, after reading the excerpt, you know where I'm going with this. Obama made many, many, many promises, offered "change" to America, and was elected on feelings of hope. But, realistically, he cannot do all that he promised. He can only accomplish a few things.
So, my questions are these:
1) How much can a President realistically accomplish? Two or three real changes, or more? Less?
and
2) What do you think Obama's priorities should be? Out of the hundreds of campaign promises he made, and given the thousands of different desires by the various parties which form the American electorate, what should he seriously try to accomplish and what should he set aside as "Nice if I could do it, but not serious if I can't?"
I've been reading the book "Letters to a Young Conservative" by Dinesh D'Souza (One of Reagan's Staff members). On page 70, he writes an interesting paragraph that I think has tons of relevance to today's political climate. Let me share the part of the paragraph I have been thinking about:
"Reagan instinctively understood that the President, as powerful as he is, cannot change the world in 65 ways. He can change the world in only two or three ways. And so Reagan set his priorities. He wanted to defeat inflation, revive the economy, arrest the advancement of the Soviet empire - and that's about it. The other stuff Reagan didn't care about. In the White House we were sometimes frustrated when Reagan avoided issues such as affirmative action and conceded to the liberals on farm subsidies and such. But Reagan understood, better than we did, that a President has to choose his fights."
D'Souza, Dinesh, "Letters to a Young Conservative"
Basic Books, Cambridge, MA 02142 (pg. 70)
Of course, after reading the excerpt, you know where I'm going with this. Obama made many, many, many promises, offered "change" to America, and was elected on feelings of hope. But, realistically, he cannot do all that he promised. He can only accomplish a few things.
So, my questions are these:
1) How much can a President realistically accomplish? Two or three real changes, or more? Less?
and
2) What do you think Obama's priorities should be? Out of the hundreds of campaign promises he made, and given the thousands of different desires by the various parties which form the American electorate, what should he seriously try to accomplish and what should he set aside as "Nice if I could do it, but not serious if I can't?"
