Re-elected President Obama now faces “Sophie’s Choice” on Fiscal Cliff

Re-elected President Obama has a difficult choice to make during his second term. He can stick to his principles and remain loyal to the majority of folks who re-elected him, and hope for the best. Many think that will likely fail him and the nation, leaving America foundering economically and him with a miserable legacy as a failed president. Or, alternatively, he can put the welfare of the nation above his personal ideals, work in earnest with republicans, just as President Clinton did in the 1990’s. That approach worked for Mr. Clinton and just might spur a robust economic recovery, thereby leaving him with a presidential legacy to rival the best in history.

The President’s management of the economy during his first term was at best disappointing. Many think that continuing his liberal agenda with more big government, characterized by more spending, more taxes and more regulation will yield more debt and more deficits and ultimately more disappointment. A large part of the President’s political base hails from states that not only want more of the same, but indeed practice what they preach; so much so that it has lead many of them to financial ruin. Many of the blue states are a fiscal disaster. Five states, which account for approximately 40 percent of electoral votes that re-elected the President, are among the fiscally weakest in the nation: California, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey and New York. Those and other blue states will continue to weaken as the exodus of population and business from those bastions of big government to fiscally strong red states continues. It is inevitable that the Federal Government will be called upon at some point to bail out many of those blue states, but who will bail out the U.S Government if the nation follows their lead into financial oblivion?

President Obama was re-elected by a narrow margin at this particular point in time by the narrowest of popular margins, by a voter base that represents about 25 percent of the adult population that could potentially have voted in that election. However, millions of businesses and residences have been electing for years to leave blue “big government” states in favor of red “small government” states. The lesson is simple and clear. Instead of fighting republicans that have proven they know how to manage their own fiscal affairs, the President should seek their advice and counsel. Otherwise, and if he emulates the fiscal practices of the states that by-in-large elected him, he is likely to fiscally weaken the nation further and irrevocably, which will be a disaster for the nation and his legacy as President of the United States.