To the victor ...
 

Obama to use executive orders for immediate impact

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press Writer
1 hr 21 mins ago

WASHINGTON – President-elect Obama plans to use his executive powers to make an immediate impact when he takes office, perhaps reversing Bush administration policies on stem cell research and domestic drilling for oil and natural gas.

John Podesta, Obama's transition chief, said Sunday Obama is reviewing President Bush's executive orders on those issues and others as he works to undo policies enacted during eight years of Republican rule. He said the president can use such orders to move quickly on his own.

"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 think that he feels like he has a real mandate for change. We need to get off the course that the Bush administration has set."

Podesta also said Obama is working to build a diverse Cabinet. That includes reaching out to Republicans and independents — part of the broad coalition that supported Obama during the race against Republican John McCain. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been mentioned as a possible holdover.

"He's not even a Republican," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said. "Why wouldn't we want to keep him? He's never been a registered Republican."

Obama was elected on a promise of change, but the nature of the job makes it difficult for presidents to do much that has an immediate impact on the lives of average people. Congress plans to take up a second economic aid plan before year's end — an effort Obama supports. But it could be months or longer before taxpayers see the effect.

Obama could use his executive powers to at least signal that Washington is changing.

"Obama's advantage of course is he'll have the House and the Senate working with him, and that makes it easier," said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond. "But even then, having an immediate impact is very difficult to do because the machinery of government doesn't move that quickly."

Presidents long have used executive orders to impose policy and set priorities. One of Bush's first acts was to reinstate full abortion restrictions on U.S. overseas aid. The restrictions were first ordered by President Reagan and the first President Bush followed suit. President Clinton lifted them soon after he occupied the Oval Office and it wouldn't be surprising if Obama did the same.

Executive orders "have the power of law and they can cover just about anything," Tobias said in a telephone interview.

Bush used his executive power to limit federal spending on embryonic stem cell research, a position championed by opponents of abortion rights who argue that destroying embryos is akin to killing a fetus. Obama has supported the research in an effort to find cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's. Many moderate Republicans also support the research, giving it the stamp of bipartisanship.

On drilling, the federal Bureau of Land Management is opening about 360,000 acres of public land in Utah to oil and gas drilling. Bush administration officials argue that the drilling will not harm sensitive areas; environmentalists oppose it.

"They want to have oil and gas drilling in some of the most sensitive, fragile lands in Utah," Podesta said. "I think that's a mistake."

Two top House Republicans said there is a willingness to try to work with Obama to get things done. But they said to expect Republicans to serve as a check against the power held by Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress.

"It's going to be a cheerful opposition," said Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind. "We're going to carry those timeless principles of limited government, a strong defense, traditional values, to the American people."

Pence, of Indiana, is expected to take over the No. 3 leadership post among House Republicans.

In other transition matters, Obama's new chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, would not say whether Obama would return to the Senate for votes during the postelection session this month. Obama's presence would be extraordinary, given his position as president-elect, especially if Congress takes up a much-anticipated economic stimulus plan.

"I think that the basic approach has been he's going to be here in Chicago, setting up his economic, not only his economic team, but the policies he wants to outline for the country as soon as he gets sworn in, so we hit the ground running," Emanuel said.

Also, Emanuel would not commit to a Democratic proposal to help the auto industry with some of the $700 billion approved by Congress to for the financial bailout.

Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a letter Saturday to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that the administration should consider expanding the bailout to include car companies.

Podesta appeared on "Fox News Sunday," as did Pence, and CNN's "Late Edition," where Reid also was interviewed. Emanuel spoke on ABC's "This Week" and CBS' "Face the Nation."

l am your new president. From this day on, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish.

Silence!

ln addition to that, all citizens will be required to change their underwear
every half hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside so we can check.

Furthermore, all children under sixteen years old are now sixteen years old.


Woody's line . . . "What's the Spanish word for "straitjacket?" :D

Nothing startling here. Sounds like he's off to an appropriate start. I for one hope he votes on things of significance in the Senate.

I always loved the fact that John Adams returned to the House after he was president and served a good long while there afterwards.

I'm pretty much okay with most of that list. The only one that stands out as a completely bad idea to me is the drilling ban. I think it is terribly short-sighted to reinstate the presidential prohibition.

Lesson learned.

If you believe in praying, pray for him. That guy has a helluva job ahead of him. I hope he has the wisdon to make the right decisions. We can't afford too many more bad ones after the last eight years.

Agreed. If the aim is affordable energy and "energy independence", or even just buying yourself time until you have workable alternatives, that one is a non-starter.

Let gas head back towards $4/gallon, and that one will come back to haunt him big time.

As with all elections, we get to see the transition from campaign promises to what can actually happen. IIRC on changes.gov Obama called for 10% of all electricity to come from renewable soruces by 2010.

Two years is too short a time to build dams or solar towers. I doubt the infrastructure exists to build nearly enough wind turbines or miles of high voltage lines into the prarie. Two years might be required just to wade through the enviromental "save the frecked rock gecko" challenges and the injunctions from NIMBYs who don't want windmills spoiling the view from their decks.

I definately don't envy the Obama the task of meeting that promise.

Are you sure you're not confusing drilling in parts of Utah with offshore drilling? Sounds to me like you are.

You are confused in your assumptions concerning what I may or may not know. It's because I put my foil hat on BEFORE I came to this site.

You learn these tricks over the years.

B

I think I see through your foil hat.

You're not the only one who believes in remote mind reading. It's an amazing facility wasted outside of Las Vegas.