Today is one that will most certainly go into the history books and justly so. The Nation inaugurated the 44th President of The United States, President Barack Hussein Obama. America’s first Black President.

Although I am on the record as opposing Obama in the 2008 election for a multitude of strong reasons, I sincerely wish President Obama “God Speed” and all the best for him, his family and our Nation.

While Obama was elected for all the wrong reasons there has not been a President in my life time that has more reasons to succeed than he. Despite his campaign rhetoric engineered to cater to the left, he has already demonstrated a willingness to govern from the center and in order to be successful he must. The lofty ideals of liberalism are simply unrealistic when taken as a whole. Much like a diet of candy may sound good the simple fact is that it is unsustainable and would be damaging to your health. Liberalism unbridled is just as unsustainable and would damage the health and security of our Nation.

Challenges

President Obama faces many immediate challenges that are just as historic as his Presidency. The faltering economy, the real estate slump, the War on Terror and a House and Senate controlled by the far left are just a few of the challenges ahead. The latter may prove to be his biggest challenge for without the support of the House and Senate it will be difficult to successfully address the others.

Politics and Real Estate

I have recently fielded a couple of calls reprimanding me for discussing politics on a real estate blog. Yes my Mother was a Real Estate Broker and did teach me never to mix politics and religion in real estate however; the current real estate industry crisis we face was created solely by politicians in the name of politics, power and corruption. Let us not forget that the collapse of Wall Street was preceded by the floundering of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The truth is that there is no separating Politics and Real Estate.

While President Obama campaigned on promises of “feel good” programs and legislation that would be detrimental to the real estate industry it will be interesting if President Obama attempts to keep Candidate Obama’s promises. My guess is no and that even if he is that naive when it comes to the economy, his economic advisors will enlighten him.

Summary

President Obama must abandon many of his campaign promises and govern from the center if he is to overcome the obstacles and challenges ahead and concentrate on his legacy from day one instead of repaying his political allies. He must rein in spending by the House and Senate and limit any “stimulus” expenditures to programs that will actually stimulate the economy. Ideals such as dumping billions into the Education system in an effort to repay the Teachers Union for their election support must be quashed. Notions such as this are very easy to see through and will not stimulate the economy. He must act and spend responsibly or we may be in for a very rough ride and the Obama Presidency will be mired by failure and controversy. The decision is his alone.

May God Bless President Obama and the United States of America.