Repeal Bush
Obama can't undo the last eight years, but he can serve notice on Day One that the Bush Administration is really, really over. He could start by reversing Bush's regulatory efforts to weaken federal oversight of mining, housing, drilling, finance and other favored industries. He could offer the middle class much needed relief by proposing quickly to restore Clinton-era upper-income tax rates and reduce the tax burden for everyone else. He could drop Bush's legal battles to block California from enhancing its environmental protections. The End of the National Nightmare Executive Order could also include: No more torture. No more "threat levels" designed to make people freak out about unnamed dangers. No more "signing statements" declaring executive prerogative to ignore laws the President doesn't like. No more firing prosecutors for failing to go along with a political agenda. And while he's at it: No more timber lobbyists running the Forest Service, oil lobbyists editing climate reports, Wall Street lobbyists running the SEC or Arabian-horse commissioners running anything. (Sorry, Brownie.) No more T-ball in the Rose Garden either. It's cute, but it might bring back memories.
The Do Not Call Registry and that marine reserve in Hawaii can stay.