This editorial appeared in The Anchorage Daily News.
President Obama's inaugural speech didn't offer the most stirring rhetoric and his delivery was more somber than inspiring, but he did what a leader must do – point the country in the right direction. He made clear we're going to get to work fixing the economy. Not just by dumping money out of the government treasury but with investments that pay long-term dividends.
We're going to leave Iraq on responsible terms and shift our security focus where it belongs – Afghanistan. He rejected the notion that we must sacrifice our ideals to be safe as a nation.
With President Obama, we're going to take global warming seriously and we're going to stop sending so many petrodollars to renegade regimes that stoke hatred of the west.
The hands-off approach to the excesses of the Marketplace will end. His government will be more open and accountable. The nation's education will improve. Health care will be more affordable.
The question, he said, "is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works."
Precisely.
He reminded us that the nation "cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous." But he's offering a hand up, not a handout. We'll extend opportunity, not guarantee results, he said.
To read the complete editorial, visit The Anchorage Daily News.