President Barack Obama entered office on Jan. 20 with one of the highest approval ratings for an incoming president in recent history -- but can afford to waste no time in tackling America’s many critical problems, according to a panel of Georgetown University experts.

As Judy Feder, professor in the Georgetown Public Policy Institute, wryly noted, the Obama administration “will have to walk and chew gum at the same time” from its first day in power.

Four Georgetown experts in finance, environmental studies, health care policy and international relations gathered on Jan. 16 for a roundtable discussion moderated by Paul Begala, affiliated professor of public policy at Georgetown and former counselor to President Bill Clinton. Meeting only days before Obama took the oath of office, the panel indicated that strong leadership would be key for the new administration’s success.

All four of the issue areas are intertwined, but all need individual attention as well, according to the professors.

“The first thing Obama will need to do, and he’ll need to do it in his inaugural address, is to say we’re putting the past behind us. We’re sending a new signal,” said Tony Arend, professor of government and foreign service. “We are going to close Guantanamo, we are going to pay attention to international law … we are going to pay attention to how we define torture. The first thing the president can do is make that statement.”

The international community “breathed a collective sigh of relief” at Obama’s election, but that good will may be quickly squandered without definitive action on global issues, said Arend, who also serves as director of the Master of Science in Foreign Service Program.

Chief among those issues are the country’s environmental practices. Timothy Beach, professor of geography and geoscience in the Walsh School of Foreign Service’s program in Science, Technology and International Affairs, said the new administration must keep its campaign pledges to make the environment a top priority while fighting perceptions that green practices harm the economy.

“We need to develop both economic and environmental policies that build on each other,” Beach said. “I think that’s quite possible … There are a number of ways of reducing (carbon dioxide) output that can build new jobs and innovation.”

Begala questioned whether increasing gas taxes would be necessary to spur new alternative energy innovation, something Beach called a tough policy issue while blaming cheap gas on much of the world’s environmental woes. Raising taxes may help, he added.

“It’s going to be very unpopular. Cheap gas has always been a very popular thing in the United States, and to overcome that is going to take a level of leadership that we haven’t had in this country for a long time,” Beach said.

Yet higher taxes on any product as the United States faces what is now a 13-month-long recession could create backlash. Addressing the credit meltdown and plummeting consumer confidence should be Obama’s first item on his to-do list, said Reena Aggarwal, professor of finance in the McDonough School of Business.

“If you don’t get the economy going, it affects people in so many ways, whether you’re thinking about health care or international issues,” she said. “These are unprecedented times, and it’s impossible to say that this can be solved in the next 100 days or in the next 30 days or exactly when. It puts the new administration in a pretty difficult spot.”

In response to the continuing economic difficulties nationally and globally, Begala asked whether more regulation for financial institutions should be established. But Aggarwal said more effective -- not necessarily just more -- regulation is the key.

“So many regulators are saying, ‘I regulate this part.’ So who’s responsible for the whole?” she asked.

Feder said these issues must not overwhelm the nation’s health insurance situation, in which consumers are facing more expensive plans and a growing population finds itself uninsured or underinsured.

“Affordable health care is critical to the prosperity of this nation and everyone needs to share in that prosperity,” Feder said.

She added that Secretary of State nominee Hillary Clinton could be both a national and global leader in this because she was so involved in health care issues as first lady.

The professors agreed Obama’s agenda is daunting. But they said the new president inspires levels of excitement unseen in Washington and around the nation since President Ronald Reagan’s first term. Given that, one student asked the panel how best to capitalize on opportunities offered during the Obama administration. Advice ranged from considering public service work after graduation to finding one’s passion.

Begala noted that Washington is now the world’s power, military and financial capital. He urged Georgetown students learn all they can while at the Hilltop and tap into the resources available within the university and city.

“What a wonderful time to be at Georgetown, what a wonderful time to be in Washington,” Begala said. “This is just such a terrific moment in such a remarkable place … so let’s maximize it.”

Source: Blue & Gray (January 21, 2009)