Balancing the Ticket

I believe that balancing the ticket is a very useful and successful tactic used in elections. This allows the president to have a running mate that could make up for one of their weaknesses. In many cases this tactic has had a strong influence on the results of elections. In McCains situation this had backfired due to a poor choice of asking Sarah Palin to be his running mate, but Obama used this to his best advantage. His choice to run with Biden helped make up for his lack of experience. Also Biden is known for being very up front so he can be used to be more aggressive as Obama can remain more composed.

Extension of Bush-Era Tax Cuts

Obama agreed to extend Bush-era tax cuts for 2 years and unemployment benefits for 13 months. "As outlined by Obama and sources, the deal would add up to hundreds of billions of dollars in more federal spending or lower revenue in coming years at a time when the president, Republican leaders and a federal deficit commission appointed by the president all say that the growing federal debt must be brought under control"(http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/12/06/obama.taxes.debates/index.html?hpt=C1). Although this may be bad for federal spending I believe this was completely necessary. As the American people struggle and unemployment is at around 10%, many cannot afford for these tax cuts to expire.

Prop 25

As California's economic state continues to struggle, the passing of prop 25 was completely necessary. The ridiculous 2/3 needed to pass anything allowed no room for change. I am now more hopeful for California's future now that this has been passed and now that a much need budget can be passed. This will allow for less arguing and more progress to be made. Especially since party lines are drawn, a 2/3 majority is too much to ask for parties that struggle to come to agreements in the first place.