Scott Englert, Politics Editor

President Barack Obama formally began a second term on Monday, January 21, announcing “we must act.” Obama, who defeated former Governor Mitt Romney last November, continues his tenure at the helm of a nation facing a wide array of challenges – both foreign and domestic.

Obama’s to-do list is undoubtedly long, and, as Notre Dame senior George Alcorn notes, his second-term successes will at least partially dependent upon his relationship with Republican leadership.

“Hopefully some of the political brinkmanship between Obama and House Republicans lessens during the president’s second term, but I believe the situation will continue to make compromise on economic issues difficult,” Alcorn said. “I fear Obama’s recent focus on increased gun control may further solidify opposition between the two parties. Still, the Republicans did lose the presidential election.”

Many argue that agreement in Washington is dependent upon a change in Republican leaders and tactics. Indeed, the Grand Old Party’s future seems mixed. Despite losing the White House and failing to take the Senate, Republicans maintained control of the House of Representatives and continue to possess the majority of state governors. Yet, the presidential race demonstrated that the GOP faces an increasingly fluid and challenging voter demographic. The potential for change in Republican strategy and ideology gives Alcorn reason for optimism.

“In order to potentially make the party more attractive to voters, Republicans leaders may deem it necessary to alter their approach to certain issues and move the party closer to the center, which could mean more cooperation between the two parties,” he said.

Even if Obama and Republican leaders are able to compromise, they still must confront a number of difficult issues. Alex Li, a senior currently applying to medical schools, shared his thoughts.

“I think Michelle Obama’s bangs are the most significant event in President Obama’s second term,” Li said.

Jokes aside, Li expressed concern for and a rational understanding of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

“The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act takes $132 billion from Medicare policies and $62 billion from healthcare payments to fund the expanded coverage. This has the potential to drastically lower the salary of doctors and drive even more physicians away from primary care,” he remarked. “And this is when the US is already saturated with specialized orthopedic surgeons and suffering from primary care physician shortage.”
Neil O’Dougherty, a senior economics and mathematics major, is additionally concerned with several others issues.

“In my view, President Obama needs to address two issues: immigration and Medicare. Our current policies toward immigrants are what Mayor Bloomberg of New York called ‘suicidal.’ We continue to deny permanent residence to both high-skill and low-skill individuals who have a lot to contribute to American society and prosperity,” O’Dougherty expressed. “The second issue that Pres. Obama must address is skyrocketing Medicare expenses. That means that he needs to make serious entitlement reform a priority.”

Senior Stephen Wandor believes the nation also faces a moral crisis.
“I believe the country’s greatest challenge is the spread of emotivism and moral relativism.  We see this in many different areas from the gun debate, to religious freedom, to abortion, to health care and the economy.  Most political debates on these issues focus on superficial aspects, but the disagreements are much deeper than just legislative.  To govern a country there needs to be a moral base from which laws can be developed,” Wandor stated.

Despite such challenges, students are also hopeful for the next four years. O’Dougherty said that compromise is possible concerning immigration.

“Though President Bush tried to reform immigration in his second term without success, I think that this is one area where Obama could have a lot of success because it has a lot of bipartisan support,” he said.

In contrast, O’Dougherty conjectured that success will be difficult to achieve in fixing Medicaid.

“Unfortunately, President Obama has never made this a serious policy concern and he is thus not very likely to solve the single largest reason that our national debt is on an unsustainable path,” he lamented. “While Obamacare may optimistically curb healthcare costs, it does not address demographics: our country has fewer workers paying into Medicare and an increasing number of retirees collecting benefits. I suspect that Obama will not consider serious structural reform beyond lip service to cutting the debt.”

Wandor shares mixed feels concerning the probability that President Obama achieves solutions.

“I believe President Obama has the ability to solve many issues if he so chooses.  He is a great orator and people love listening to him. He is also a very likable man who has plenty of political clout,” Wandor said. “Despite this, he has not focused on finding a moral basis from which to govern, nor do I believe he will look to solve this issue in the near future.”

Scott Englert is a senior political science and economics major with plans to attend law school next year. Currently, he is attempting to stay warm amidst the ever sub-zero temperatures. For advice on staying warm or comments about the article, please contact him at senglert@nd.edu.