Back to Work: President Begins 2010 With Many Challenges

(Washington) President Obama returned to Washington Monday not only to face several big ticket agenda items on his desk but with a lesson that all presidents learn: no presidential vacation is truly time off from the job.

President Obama's nine day holiday trip to Hawaii was no exception. The Senate health care vote delayed the President's departure from Washington by a day and the attempted terrorist attack on December 25th kept the Commander in Chief and his staff busy, even cutting the holiday trip short by one night so that Mr. Obama could get back to work in dealing with the national security aftermath.

Over what he and his family had hoped would be a quiet holiday break, Mr. Obama received additional intelligence briefings and participated in video conference calls with his National Security team about the Detroit incident. Twice he stepped before the television cameras to speak to the American public about the matter. He also ordered reviews of US government watch lists and detection capabilities and received the preliminary findings.

Yet, even before the December 25th attack by accused terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Mr. Obama had a long list of issues to address in the New Year.

Domestically, the health care system overhaul proceeds through the legislative process. Having passed both the House and the Senate, it is now up to the conferees to reconcile the two different versions of the bill. Mr. Obama intends to have a hand-on role in that process.

"I'll be rolling up my sleeves and spending some time before the full Congress even gets into session, because the American people need it now," he told PBS's Jim Lehrer in a December 23rd interview.

And then there's job creation. Last month, the President outlined a new job stimulation program that focuses on help for small businesses through tax credits, increased infrastructure spending and rebate incentives for Americans who retrofit their homes to be more energy efficient. The White House said the President would make a big push for the President's proposals in the new year. And despite the increased focus on national security, that endeavor is still a top priority according to White House aides.

Also on the domestic to-do-list are the President's first budget and State of the Union address. No date has been set for the speech, though it is expected to be at the end of the month. Mr. Obama held several budget meetings towards the end of 2009 as he works through agency budget requests and potential cuts ahead of the February deadline. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs wouldn't hint at what would be (or not be) in the President's budget, but he said, "suffice to say, that it will not look as it has in the past."

Internationally, Mr. Obama, along with allies in the P5+1 group, have to deal with Iran's refusal to meet its year-end deadline to exchange its enriched uranium for nuclear fuel. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs alluded to possible action against Iran as the deadline loomed in the last week of December, "The decision for them to live up to their responsibilities is their decision. We have offered them a different path. If they decide not to take it, then our delegation, with the P-5-plus-1, will move accordingly," Gibbs said. Experts believe the passing of the deadline could be a turning point for the Obama Administration's stance toward Tehran.

"The President and US allies are going to have to talk about sanctions and other methods for trying to get the regime in Iran to move on this issue," says Jim Robbins of the American Foreign Policy Council.

But moving forward would require getting China and Russia on board. Whether the US has the backing of allies may or may not help the President's stance, adds Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Having more governmental support is helpful," notes Alterman, " it doesn't by itself make the Iranians change what they do. I think the Iranians are still testing the world and the world has to demonstrate what the result of that test are going to be."

Nuclear disarmament is also a hefty issue to be dealt with in 2010. The US's 1991 nuclear arms deal with Russia, known as START, expired last month. The White House would like a new one, but with negotiations stalled between the two countries, how fast will a new deal become a reality?

There's also Afghanistan -- the President's troop surge begins this year and the Obama administration faces the daunting challenge of getting the Afghan government to step up to the plate; and global warming -- the Copenhagen summit resulted in more promises to combat climate change, but progress on cap and trade legislation is something the White House still strives for.

The list goes on: financial deregulation; Pakistan; North Korea. White House aides maintain the President remains undaunted.

"When you're President of the United States you've got to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time," noted Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton Monday as the President headed back to Washington, "and you can bet that the President and his principals and deputies will all be taking on their full plates of work with rested minds hopefully and we'll be able to make some good progress here right out of the starting gate."