Well, we have a President-Elect. And I have to admit, I'm glad the election is over. No more political ads everywhere you turn, no more anger about candidates and issues (well, at least less anger and hopefully fewer arguments).
But President-Elect Obama has a big job ahead of him with respect to the U.S. economy. Who would have guessed when he threw his hat in the ring two years ago that the biggest issue for voters this election would be the economy.
According to one source, Obama's economic to-do list once he's in office will likely include attempts to boost the economy, make the bank bailout work, get to the bottom of the housing problem, and reform financial regulation and oversight.
Pretty daunting tasks, if you ask me. But Obama does have the benefit of taking the time to find the best and the brightest to help him tackle these tasks. But he also has to wait before taking office, and given the changes that happened in October alone, who knows what the next few months will bring.
Unfortunately, from conversations I've overheard, a lot of people expect Obama to take office and immediately solve all of our economic woes. And that's not something any President could do. Our economy didn't get this way in a few weeks and it's not going to recover in a few weeks. I hope that the slow speed of improvements doesn't hurt public confidence even more. Because things will get better. They will. It just takes time.