Obama's promises, vision to collide with reality
By JIM DRINKARD
Associated Press
November 5, 2008
Page 3 of 3
DEFENSE
The promise: Pull all U.S. combat forces out of Iraq within 16 months, send more combat troops to Afghanistan and provide better care for wounded troops and veterans.
The problem: A troop pullout by mid-2010 is feasible, although some argue that it risks shifting full responsibility to Iraq's security forces before they are ready. The Bush administration, which originally opposed setting any pullout date, has targeted departure by the end of 2011, although the Iraqis have yet to agree.
Until U.S. forces are pulled from Iraq, there are none to bolster the force in Afghanistan. Balancing needs in those two countries will be an immediate challenge for Obama. There is broad consensus on the need for more troops to combat an emboldened insurgency in Afghanistan and to train government troops there, but the trick is to accomplish that without giving up gains against the insurgency in Iraq and without robbing combat-weary soldiers and Marines of the rest periods they need.
Caring for veterans and the wounded entails enormous costs, and the scope of the health care requirements for returning troops is not yet fully known.
EDUCATION
The promise: An $18 billion plan that would encourage, but not mandate, universal pre-kindergarten; teacher pay raises tied to, although not based solely on, test scores; an overhaul of President Bush's No Child Left Behind law to better measure student progress, make room for subjects like music and art and be less punitive toward failing schools, and a tax credit to pay up to $4,000 of college costs for students who perform 100 hours of community service a year. Obama would pay for part of his plan by ending corporate tax deductions for CEO pay. He has backed away from his proposal to save money by delaying NASA's moon and Mars missions.
The problem: With the budget stretched thin, a huge infusion of cash for early childhood education or college costs seems unlikely. Federal spending on education has already been rising for more than a decade. Congress and the White House will be in no hurry to tackle No Child Left Behind, which was due for a rewrite in 2007; the economy, the war and health care are stickier and more pressing concerns.
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Associated Press writers Tom Raum, Kevin Freking, Robert Burns, H. Josef Hebert, Matthew Lee and Libby Quaid contributed to this story.
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