Hope for Change: Reversing the Bush Legacy

[Evo]

This article really gives me hope that we are going to see a lot of the negative changes that Bush made reversed.

President-elect Obama's transition chief said Sunday the incoming administration is looking to reverse President Bush's executive orders on stem cell research, oil and gas drilling and other matters.

John Podesta said the president can use such orders to move quickly without waiting for Congress to act, highlighting the extraordinary powers a president can wield beyond signing legislation approved by Congress. Podesta said people should expect Obama to use those powers to reverse many policies of the Bush administration.

"I think across the board, on stem cell research, on a number of areas, you see the Bush administration even today moving aggressively to do things that I think are probably not in the interest of the country," Podesta said in a broadcast interview.

"There's a lot that the president can do using his executive authority without waiting for congressional action, and I think we'll see the president do that," Podesta said.

I hope that the Republicans aren't going to fight him tooth and nail on everything. I'm referring to

But Rep. Eric Cantor also said to expect Republicans to serve as a check against the power held by Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California.

"There is going to be, I think, a willingness to try and get things done," Cantor said. "But at the end of the day I think you will see a Republican Party in Congress serving as a check and a balance against Mr. Obama's power and Speaker Pelosi's power."

I don't necessarily see that as a good thing when you consider the changes that Obama wants to bring about. Serving as a "check and balance" is one thing, serving as a means of continuing what we have seen happen the last eight years, no.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081109/ap_on_el_pr/obama

 

[phyzmatix]

I hope that the Republicans aren't going to fight him tooth and nail on everything. I'm referring toI don't necessarily see that as a good thing when you consider the changes that Obama wants to bring about. Serving as a "check and balance" is one thing, serving as a means of continuing what we have seen happen the last eight years, no.

I agree completely. Let's hope that it will be a case of "check and balance" that includes conscious thought and reason and not just a teenage-type stubbornness in refusing every proposal out of principle and without merit.

 

[LowlyPion]

I think the danger that the Republicans face in being a "check" is in not being obstructionists.

To the extent that they stand in the way of successful programs their balance may only be a check to themselves.

 

[noumed]

The Californians have been in this "check and balance" mumbo-jumbo since the beginning of summer, when the budget was already overdue... We still don't have a budget to this day...