d left them alone completely; then again, ex-Governors who have lived through a budgetary crisis often wish for a strong federal government whose strictures would keep their unruly and parochial state legislatures in line.) We will make our President a moderate: he believes that the federal government should lead the way, but recognizes the limitations of centralized administration and bureaucracy.
Still to ask: Is our President a fiscal conservative or liberal? Of course, in the climate of rhetorical imbalance that passes for political debate these days, a "liberal" most certainly wants a strong business economy, while conservative politicians "understand" the necessity for federal expenditures in their home districts. Political equivocation aside, let us continue to make our man a moderate: recognizing the need for a certain amount of government spending on social welfare and economic regulation, he also believes that free market incentives cannot be ignored in the real world of business health.
Our President is a pragmatist if nothing else: despite having the necessary majorities in Congress loyal to the core and ready to pass any reform package he proposes - how they came to be this way God only knows, perhaps our President is a cousin to Ross Perot and paid everyone's campaign expenses, or has a great little research team digging up blackmail on Capitol Hill - our reform-minded President knows that he cannot ram any old program down the throats of the American public. Popularity is one thing, arrogance another - neither pragmatically nor idealistically will our President abuse his opportunity by taking an autocratic approach to the problem.
And - as a first step - he will not have to. Rather, appealing to the conservatives who lauded (also-popular) Ronald Reagan's attacks on the "system not working," our President can immediately increase government revenues by attacking inefficiency and waste on the organizationa...