Hmmpost

Many Americans tuned in to watch President Obama’s historic Inaugural address on January 20, 2009. I wasn’t one of them.   photo credit: http://flickr.com/photos/acaben/3216045876/ In fact, didn’t even DVR the event. Instead I waited until – or rather made time available - Sunday morning five days later to read the text version available via the Washington Post and have blockquoted text that stuck out to me. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

Take exception to the word “never” in the first passage. The last eight years there have been plenty of short-cuts and settling for less. It hasn’t, however, been a path for the faint hearted. The American people have had to endure the 9/11 attack, our government either lying to us or being seriously duped (whichever you believe) about the presence of weapons of mass destruction, a President and congress who spent like the money would never end and most recently a collapsing economy. But Obama’s inauguration shouldn’t dwell much on what happened the last eight years, it should focus on the future. He gets into that a little bit, but it’s still way too non-specific for my taste. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

The debt clock is ticking and I don’t think we’ll see President Obama be able to do much about it in his first term. I expect a lot of spending in 2009, perhaps more than even George Bush did in 2008. I hope one of Obama’s goal is to stop the incredible growth of the debt clock by the end of his first term and start reversing the trend by the end of his second term, should he be re-elected. If all Obama does is try to spend us out of this economic mess, I’m going to be very disappointed. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

New era of responsibility. I like that one. I hope this starts with personal responsibility and an increase in common sense in the judicial system. There are far too many regulations and laws in our system and it’s time to simplify things. I hope this is one area the Obama administration can have some influence in changing.

Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Maybe delivering safely to future generations should have been Obama’s slogan instead of ‘change’ as I feel much less safe in America than I did when George Bush took office. I don’t see how Obama can live up to the incredible expectations he set for himself over the next four years, but time will tell. If the only things he does is not only feel but make America more safe and sets a brighter path for future generations, he will earn himself a second term. I’m rooting for President Obama and our government to get their act together. No more excuses, no more political garbage. If the American people are expected to pull together and fix things, the government which is supposed to be about us and for us should work equally as hard. We’ll check the scorecard periodically to see how things are coming along over the next four years. As always, your thoughts on Obama’s inaugural address are welcome below. Are you, like me, waiting for some specific plans to be executed? I know he just took office, so he has a little more time, but I’d say the next 90 days is critical to get some serious forward thrust. His first action was to halt all pending legislation proposed by Bush on his way out but that is fairly commonplace from what I’ve learned. What will Obama change? What do you want him to change?