Green Economy Will Be Obama's First Big Challenge

What’s on the front burner for a hypothetical Obama administration? Most of Washington seems to be jockeying for spots in the Cabinet, but Joe Klein of Time points out that Barack Obama (or John McCain) will be the first president since FDR to inherit neither peace nor prosperity. Obama’s top priority, “a government-propelled transition to an alternative-energy economy,” addresses both.

Legislatively, a transition like that will look like a big stimulus package. "There is a back-to-the-future quality to this," Klein writes of the likely $300 billion undertaking. "It's what used to be derided as big-spending liberalism." And it entails seriously limiting earmarks. “I know one huge ally Obama would have on this," says one campaign-finance expert. “John McCain.”
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