10 Things Obama Can Do ASAP

President Elect Obama (smiling broadly) should do ten things as soon as possible:

1. Name his Treasury Secretary to soothe the markets. They don't like uncertainty. Doing so can act as a "stent" in the clogged arteries of credit lenders until he takes office and might save Christmas for small businesses who need to buy inventory now.

2. Speak publicly about his regulatory intentions for banks and send a transition team to Treasury.

3. Announce a WPA-like infrastructure project to rebuild crumbling bridges, roads, levees will be the first order of business.

4. Announce his plan for a Conservation Corp that will be building Green Infrastructure.

5. During the lame duck session of Congress pass a Foreclosure Freeze until well into the first weeks of the 111th Congress and pass a stimulus package.

6. Name his Defense Secretary. Call for an end to air raiding villages in Afghanistan as President Karzai has asked today. 40 Civilians at a wedding party were killed today by US air-strikes and 28 wounded. This is ginning up the Insurgents.

7. Meet with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Explain that we have a mandate. Let them know he intends to be bold. Their constituencies are the house and the senate and they have to sell it. Being overly cautious and timid is not the way to undo the damage that was done by the radical right. Physics is physics. Clinton governed from the middle and it was perceived as weakness and exploited by Newt Gingrich.

8. Make Joe Lieberman Ambassador to The Palestinian Territories!

9. Do The Randi Rhodes Show!

10. Buy those beautiful girls a puppy. Tip: Yorkies and Silkys don't shed!

Read more reaction from HuffPost bloggers to Barack Obama's victory in the 2008 presidential election

Comments

[helpusa]

1. Randi Rhodes - Eductor of the House - to make sure they understand legislation they are voting on, plus to review and understand the Constitution, especially about the part of Impeachment, and how they should have Impeached Bush/Cheney.
2. Randi Rhodes - Schmoozer of the House - She can keep them laughing and entertained.
3. Randi Rhodes - Any position she wants. (As long as she doesn't wander into the Senate Building where Hillary might still be:-)

LOVE MORE RANDI!!

[AlwaysaLiberal]

Randi I love you!!!

[talismantrader]

Rhandi is the BEST!

So smart.....and always does her homework.

So glad to see her on the Huffingtonpost - I hope you get invited to the White House again ASAP!

[casey208]

Randi- First time long time. I know that people are unhappy with the idea of bailing out the big 3, but we're dying here. I heard you speak here last year for Peace Action so I know you have a sense of Detroit. The downsizing of the auto industry has devastated our local economy. I am a teacher of young children. Families are moving because they're loosing their houses. As teachers we are trying to come up with ways we can care for the families from our school. Food, clothing... If one of the big 3 goes down I can't imagine what will happen here. Please keep Detroit in your heart and on your radio show.

Love you more!

Casey

[muthrjonez]

Void all executive orders (for the past 8 years). I am certain this would not harm one agency or citizen. Reinstate all provisions of the American with Disabilities Act (to include carpal tunnel). Replace the Bush appointment of the head of the Mining Safety and Health Administration (a former mining operator who had dozens of MSHA Complaints). Everyday in 2005 (the last year with complete statistics) 16 workers died everyday in Bush's America. Everyday 12,000 are made sick, not including diseases that KILL 50,000 to 60,000 more workers EACH YEAR. The Bush administration has been systematically dismantling and cutting funding for workplace safety rules and oversight since it came into office . Reinstate the funding for OSHA. Reinstate the funding NLRB as a the protector of rights for all working Americans. Remove all Bush political appointees in the NLRB and the removal of the "NLRB vs: Collier" and the "NLRB vs: Dubo" excuses not to continue a case on the behalf of a worker. My personal opinion is John Edwards would make a great Secratary of Labor.

[Underachiever]

I totally agree Randi, especially on appointing a Treasury Secretary. I would have thought it would have been announced yesterday. I would hope by at least Monday we know.

I do hope we get some women appointed to his cabinet as well, if he hopes to get anything done.

But I have to say, so far I am impressed by his decision of Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff. It definitely sends a message about how this administration will operate and I have confidence Mr. Emanuel can help keep the bitter snarling radical right at bay while the rest of our government rolls up their sleeves and starts to dig us out of this hole.

I also would like to throw in my vote for goldendoodle! They are absolutely adorable.

[mi]

Thanks for all your passion Randi.
Stop CEO's from leaving with millions while
employees have empty pension funds.

[lither]

Randi Rhodes is a national treasure and we all owe her a lot. Great to see her on Huffington Post.

About the dog. The thing is, Malia has already researched the issue extensively. As far as I know, she concluded after careful thought that a Goldendoodle would be the best fit for their family. So shouldn't that sort of be the end of it?

I grew up with shelter dogs and have rescued several mutts in my New York neighborhood. (I placed them with new owners.) So I get the argument about adopting a shelter dog. But I've also adopted two Vizslas from Vizsla Rescue whose previous owners decided they didn't want them anymore. The Obamas could similarly rescue a 'Doodle surrendered by someone who for whatever reason can no longer care for the dog.

How can they say to Malia: "Thanks for all the research and careful thought, but various people on various blogs think that we should adopt a mixed breed from a shelter. Good luck with the allergy thing."

The Obamas should get whatever dog they feel will be the best fit for their family.

[dmsgrl2002]

While catching up on my Randi Podcast today, I had the same thought about the dog adoption - the Obamas should check out a breed-specific rescue group. Have had many conversations w/ friends & co-workers regarding the critical issues our new President needs to address asap - several end with talk of the new family pet.

We adopted two Vizslas from the V Rescue (Oregon and Colorado) - felt compelled to support your comment after seeing similar experience. Rescue groups are a great alternative.

Thank you Randi for your passion and commitment to all of us!

[ekyprogressive]

How about doing something to prevent questionable issues during elections, like with the voting machines before the next election comes around? Just an additional thought...

[dkliman]

Hi Randi,
You could compete with Limbaugh everywhere with a real National Information Infrastructure. With That, Internet radio, broadcasting & receiving, becomes ubiquitous, and free. Al Gore wanted an information superhighway for the country, but bush has allowd it to turn into an information dirt sidewalk.
Phone and Cable providers took over most of the internet, and they’re greedily hoarding most of the bandwidth for their TV and phone services. Can you imagine if road repair companies took over our highways the same way? It shouldn’t be like that. Instead of there being huge regional providers, the whole network should be public, and bidders could come in an repair small portions, but never offer their own services on our network, which does run on public land, by the way.
There’s much more to talk about here.
Talk to Lawrence Lessig http://lessig.org , Corey Doctorow http://craphound.com/, and Neal Stephenson http://www.nealstephenson.com/ about this subject, because this, more than a lot of things, can really change our lives, and Obama wants to make it happen.
Regards,
"Dave from Long Island"
PS: Nate Silver won!

[whonew]

I joined today because of Randi Rhodes!

My ideas:

1. Immediately announce that the United States does not and will not torture its prisoners and then distribute specific guidelines in that regard to the relevant agencies.

2. Announce the immediate closure of any remaining secret CIA prisons.

3. Announce the closure of Guantanamo Bay and a detailed plan for bringing the accused to trial in the United States and the intention to expedite the trial process. Release those who can not be indicted.

4. If possible, sign an executive order allowing our government to negotiate the price of prescription drug prices or immediately introduce legislation to that effect.

5. Ask the attorney general to look for a case to bring to the Supreme Court to decide if states can limit human rights, freedoms and equal protection using their state constitutions. Bring a case that will define sexual preference as a protected class.

[alexcharner]

Welcome Randi. Love you more!

[shockmagog]

Welcome to Huffington Post, Randi Rhodes! I heard you mention your post here on your radio show today.

I agree with your suggestions, especially the WPA and the Afghanistan air raids.

[greyseal in tampa]

Dennis Kucinich - Speaker of the House
John Edwards - Attorney General
Helen Thomas - Press Secretary
Robt Kennedy Jr - Head of EPA or Secy of Interior
Russ Feingold - Senate Majority Leader
Richard Clarke - Head of any and all intelligence agencies
Al Gore - anything he needs in order to fix global climate change crises
HIlary Clinton - give her another shot at that health care thingie

[FPElitist]

Sorry, the President doesn't choose the speaker. The speaker is elected by the House, and I think the majority in the house.

eek... I don't think John Edwards would pass the muster test not after his scandal. How about Mike Papantonio.

do you really think Helen Thomas would want to be a Press Secretary? I don't! I think she likes being the fox watching the hen house.

Bobby would be better as head of EPA.

Others I'm fine with, though I would be happy with Clinton as majority leader of the Senate.

[Steph 66]

Clinton-Senate Majority Leader
Colin Powell-Education
RFKJr EPA
Gore-Interior
Howard Dean-Health & Human Services OR Surgeon General

Get rid of Lieberman, anyway, anyhow.

And poodles also are non-shedding. So are Bovier De Flanders, but both require training because they are both smart and protective.
The ASPCA should get in touch with the Obama and find them a doggie!

[cooolandrew]

I think appearing on the Randi Rhodes show is a good one.