Postelection: Governing Vs. Campaigning

The election is over, and we have come such a long way. We have the same president, the same speaker of the House and the same majority leader in the U.S. Senate and the American people are as divided as ever. I find it difficult to use the word “mandate” or “landslide” when 50 percent of the people in the United States voted against this president. If there is a mandate for anything, it is for compromise. It is for both sides to move off of their extreme positions and move to the middle.

What we can’t aff ord is the same bitter, partisan gridlock we have had for the last four years. The president has proven he can run for oftce, but the jury is still out on his ability to govern. Even some of his staunchest supporters would agree he mismanaged his priorities when he focused on health care instead of jobs in 2009. He wasted valuable political capital as he rammed Obamacare through Congress by using the reconciliation process in the Senate.

Next, his budget couldn’t get a single vote, Republican or Democrat, in the House or the Senate for the last two years, and the Democrat-dominated Senate hasn’t passed a budget for more than three years. He has blamed everyone from George W. Bush to God almighty (the tsunami) for all of his problems and thus his lack of progress on our major issues.

I hope the president has learned something during the last four years. Humility wouldn’t be a bad thingfor him to grasp (or any of us actually). Personal responsibility is high on my list of traits for him to embrace. An ability to find middle ground with Republicans will be a must.

Remember, the banner for this column is “The View from the Middle.”

John Boehner recently said he hoped the president would be successful in his second term. While I applaud this signal toward cooperation, I will disagree slightly with him. I hope America is successful in the president’s second term.

So, what must happen for America to succeed?

In the short term, Congress and the president will have to avoid the fi scal cliff we’ve all been peeking over for the last year. The president wants revenue. His proposed tax rate increase on the wealthy ($250,000 or more annual income) would deliver $80 billion a year to the treasury. If he can get the same revenue from Speaker Boehner through closing tax loopholes, he should take it. Americans don’t care how he gets the revenue as long as he gets it and it comes from upper income groups.

But compromise means giving up something, too, so what should the president be willing tomove on? Republicans have been pushing for reform of Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid, and I don’t know of anyone who thinks these programs are on stable paths. Real reform for these programs would not only supply the needed accommodation to Republicans, but would send signals to rating agencies and the markets and would likely result in an economic expansion desperately needed here in the United States.

There should also be long-term signals if the president’s policies are working. “We thepeople” cannot accept vague promises like “hope and change” to gauge the success of an administration. Yogi Berra, hall of fame catcher and philosopher, once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up someplace else.” This would suggest the president should set specifi c, measurable goals so we’ll be able to tell if his policies have been successful. Since the president is a little shy about setting these goals, let me set some for him.

Annual gross domestic product growth of 3.25 percentby the end of 2014 and similar growth in the next two years.

This is our average annual growth since 1947.

An unemployment rate below 6 percent by the end of 2014. Our average rate since 1942 has been 5.6 percent.

Total debt below $19 trillion. This gives him almost $3 trillion more debt to pile up in the next four years and still claim success.

If America achieves these goals, I will be willing to declare President Barack Obama’s second term a success. However, if he does not, I will hold himand his policies responsible. Every American should do the same. Set your own expectations or feel free to use mine, but we must all set concrete goals for our representatives in Washington and then hold them accountable. If the American people do this, we will fi ll Washington with the successful “doers” we need and sweep out the self-centered narcissists and felons we have too many of today.

KEVIN CANFIELD, A SPRINGDALE RESIDENT, IS A PROCTER & GAMBLE RETIREE AND AUTHOR OF “MASTERING SALES.”