A series of memos to President-elect Obama identifying policy areas where his words line up with our vision.
Seeking common ground, The Heritage Foundation is reaching out to President-elect Barack Obama with specially designed policy memos on subjects where his words line up with our vision of how to solve the most critical issues facing America. Each entry in the series, titled “Change We Believe In: Memos to President-elect Obama,” will cite the incoming president’s own words as a starting point for potential agreement and necessary follow-through.
"I'm cutting more than I'm spending so that it will be a net spending cut..."Fulfilling Your Budget Reform Promise of a Net Spending CutPresident-elect Obama, you campaigned on fiscal discipline and the need to make tough choices. Although your budget blueprint specifies large new spending hikes, you also promised a cumulative "net spending cut"...     | |
"And I will make it a top priority in my first year as President not only because we have an obligation to secure our borders and get control of what comes in and out of our country."Fixing Border Security and ImmigrationPresident-elect Obama, we applaud your commitment to secure our nation's borders, but securing our borders is simply one step toward protecting America and fixing our broken immigration system. Your statement acknowledges that those who come into our country illegally have broken the law, so you should ensure that immigrants brought "out of the shadows" are not granted amnesty but are instead required to return to their home country with the opportunity to apply for legal entry as lawful visitors, temporary workers, or legal residents at a later date...  | |
"But we also have to help make the case that the biggest threat to Pakistan right now is not India. It's actually militants within their own borders."Stiffening Pakistan's Resolve Against TerrorismPresident-elect Obama, developing an effective policy toward Pakistan will be one of the most immediate challenges facing your Administration. During the campaign, you rightly pledged to support Pakistan's nascent democratic government and to convince the military establishment to shift its focus away from India and toward militants within Pakistan's own borders that threaten to destabilize the country... | |
"Secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square..."Protecting and Strengthening Religious FreedomPresident-elect Obama, you spoke truthfully when you said that "[o]ur law is by definition a codification of morality, much of it grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition." That being the case, it is, as you note, a "practical absurdity" to expect Americans not to "inject their 'personal morality' into public policy debates." We agree with you that "[s]ecularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square.” | |
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