101 Things People Want Obama to Do in Term 2
From the merely ambitious to the sublimely ridiculous, here's an exhaustive list of all the things people want Obama to do in his second term.
President Barack Obama is one of only 17 U.S. presidents elected to a second term. And ever since he defeated Mitt Romney to earn himself another four years in office, everyone from Paul Volcker to the Taliban has weighed in on what he should do now. In an effort to make life easier for the soon-to-be re-inaugurated president, Foreign Policy has gathered much of this advice into one concise list.
President Barack Obama is one of only 17 U.S. presidents elected to a second term. And ever since he defeated Mitt Romney to earn himself another four years in office, everyone from Paul Volcker to the Taliban has weighed in on what he should do now. In an effort to make life easier for the soon-to-be re-inaugurated president, Foreign Policy has gathered much of this advice into one concise list.
Obama should…
1. Think legacy
2. Go for greatness this time — and start with the inaugural address
3. Say this during the inauguration today — and these things
4. Resolve America’s political and economic problems
5. Help Africa do the same
6. Foster entrepreneurship and innovation
8. Broker lasting peace in the Middle East
9. Stay out of Israel-Palestine peace efforts, for now
10. Meddle in Israel’s election
11. Worry about Bethlehem, Pennsylvania rather than Bethlehem, Palestine
14. Assassinate Bashar al-Assad
15. Enact a Marshall Plan for 2013
17. Push gun control without Congress
18. Get tough on criminals instead
19. Admit his true feelings on the Second Amendment
22. Tackle gun control internationally, not just domestically
25. Pray that China overtakes the United States
27. Reform the Foreign Assistance Act
29. Admit he’s lost in Afghanistan. And leave. Thanks! – The Taliban
31. Stop governing like a visitor from a morally superior civilization
33. Answer this: Are you a moralist or a realist?
37. Forget Chavismo
40. Offer Iran a generous deal
41. Not expect Iran to come to the negotiating table
42. Write the rule book for drones
44. Use drones. They’re the best tool we have.
45. Keep the drones, but develop alternative solutions
46. Abandon his cybersecurity executive order
47. Reduce the nuclear arsenal with New START II
48. Stop worrying and learn to love the bomb
49. Come to the table with congressional Republicans
50. Bypass congressional Republicans
51. "Work like a third world dictator and put [the opposition] in jail"
52. "Help save [the GOP] from [its own] crazy people"
53. Break the House Republicans
54. Play more golf with John Boehner
55. Throw dinners à la Thomas Jefferson
56. Be more like LBJ
57. Be more like Abraham Lincoln
60. Be more like Ronald Reagan
61. Continue being just like Reagan
63. Be more like Vladimir Putin
65. Cut entitlements — that’s what the American people want
66. Spare entitlements — that’s what the American people want
68. Stop eating ice cream with a spoon
69. Freeze drilling in the Arctic
70. Tackle oil like Napoleon tackled salt
71. Approve the Keystone Pipeline this time
72. Discover his inner hedgehog
74. Bring climate change to the forefront
75. Confront climate change. Here are four ways to start. Here are some more ways — and here are some more.
76. Get with the Latin Americans and legalize pot
77. Close Gitmo
80. Reinstate the draft — everyone should have "skin in the game"
82. Visit Africa
83. Not visit Russia
85. Not accept parenting advice from the prime minister of Turkey
86. Compromise in his marriage
87. Not listen to his progressive daughters when it comes to policy
89. Make immigration reform a top priority
90. Do these six things to make immigration reform a reality
91. Back France in the fight against al Qaeda in Africa
93. Pay income taxes in the foreign countries he visits
94. Learn to skip the last question at a press conference
95. Appoint at least two Latinos to his cabinet
96. Appoint a female FCC chair
97. Protect Main Street from Wall Street
99. Do more for D.C. than change his license plate
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