That’s quite a feat in 100 days, and that’s not even half of it.

Obama – like everyone else – must prioritize. After eight years of disastrous foreign and domestic policy, it will take years not months, to extract the country from Iraq, stabilize Afghanistan and repair relations with our former allies. It will take years, not months, to repair our broken economy, find jobs for blue-collar workers and restructure this country’s financial system.

Obama is already facing the job head-on, but nobody – neither Democrats nor Republicans – should expect instant change just because we have a new president.

Obama has actually been moving with incredible speed, despite Republicans digging in their heels every chance they get. Even after Obama handed Republicans billions in concessions – like tax breaks for Limbaugh’s friends – no Republican congressional representatives and only three Republican senators voted for the budget proposal. How bitter can you get? After years of Democrats reluctantly voting for bills, lest they be labeled as against the country’s national security, Republicans apparently couldn’t be bothered to vote for a bill that everyone acknowledged needed to be passed.

The reason was not because they’re inconsiderate to the concerns of the workforce, just that they’re more concerned about their own coffers. I can’t blame them for not wanting to tax themselves, but they should at least acknowledge the conflict of interest, not try to make Obama out to be a socialist. It takes a man to raise taxes on himself.

Nothing that took eight years to screw up can be undone in 100 days, and nobody should expect Obama to move that fast.

I for one am glad he’s not trying to do it all at once. I’d rather get a good economy now and a good national health care system later, rather than a recessed economy and a floundering health care system all at once.

Obama ran an impressive campaign, rallying the country around the idea of a president who will not shrink from a problem because it seems too big. He has already shown his willingness to take on big situations that others on both sides of the aisle would likely avoid. Instead of generically lambasting Democrats out of spite, Republicans should take a second to take stock and decide if they want to start making a substantive contribution to this country’s political discussion.

William P. Davis is managing editor for The Maine Campus.

Home prices finally reached their bottom dollar value, a price determined by the market. It can all be explained by simple supply and demand. Many homes were built, the housing bubble burst and finally the price went down enough to move the supply of homes in a market where there is a low demand because of the recession.

The market corrected itself, which led to a boost in consumer confidence shown by a surge in the markets.

Regulation was supposed to be the answer to the recession – at least that is what the elected politicians told us. They told us the markets would not fix themselves and that banks needed to be regulated because they got us into this mess.

The fact is, this mess was caused by regulation beginning in the ’90s when Congress told banks they had to give out more loans so everyone could own a home. Then – just as the banks expected – these people became unable to pay their loans when times got tough. All because of government interference.

Winston Churchill said, “I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” He meant taxing the rich and spending their money in the way the government sees fit is futile and will not produce any results. Yet Obama, who says he is a “citizen of the world,” would not agree with this famous statement.

Another one of the solutions to America’s problems Obama has proposed is to tax the wealthy more and give more taxpayer money to the poor. The government should focus on making a favorable situation that promotes a strong economy while letting the markets run their course, instead of regulating the markets and taxing the productivity of those who run America’s businesses.

The favorable situation should be limited to the laws that keep customers from being cheated by predatory companies who try to take advantage of them. The best solution, and one that has been proven to work before, will happen on its own. American ingenuity working in the capitalist system will cause the markets to fix themselves.

The best solution – the one our politicians are not considering – is to let the businesses that survive make the decisions on how to right the course we’re on, rather than politicians. After all, politicians are paid the same whether they succeed or fail at running our country.

Jonathan Zappala is a junior psychology student.