With the Presidential election now over Barack Obama is preparing for his transition to Commander-in-Chief. The following question was posed to members of the Juniata community asking what they think is the most pressing issue for Obama to tackle first.

What issue do you think should be Barack Obama’s first priority as President?

My thoughts would be around the economy, because if we go into a true recession then it seems it would be much harder to get anything else done. People would be reluctant to pay for any new issues that need monetary support and unwilling to support causes that don’t directly affect them. So I would say that getting not only our economy but working with the international financial situation as well should come first.
-Brianne Rowan ’12, Port Townsend, Wa

One of Obama’s first priorities should be to secure diplomatic relations with other countries. Obama needs to re-open the dialogue between America and other nations that I feel has been stifled during the past eight years. Most importantly, Obama needs to gain credibility from his counterparts abroad. This will be extremely important considering the current global economic crisis and the situation in the Middle East.
-Kimberly O’Connor ’09, Lone Tree, Co

I think that the first thing Barack Obama needs to do is to get our troops out of Iraq. Once that’s done, his first priority should be fixing the healthcare system.
-Sarah Davis ’12, Chevy Chase, MD

I believe that Obama should act on our economy for his first plan of action, and then right behind it should be the war in Iraq.
-Logan Fischer ’12 Crystal Spring, Pa

I think his first priority should be our economic and heath care issues. However, I do not like his universal health care idea.
-Sarah Sexton ’12, Coraopolis, Pa

While I think that the healthcare system is very broken and needs to be looked at soon, I feel that Obama should first either look at the economy or our reliance on foreign oil because they are our two outstanding problems at the moment, and I feel that they go hand in hand with each other.
-Chelsea Homes ’12, Glen Rock, Pa

I think the first thing he should do is look at the war and decide if he will take the troops out or not. This has been a major issue over the last few years for all Americans. I think if he takes the troops out it will show the American people that he does want change and that they picked the right candidate for president in him if he can follow through on this promise. This was one of the major issues between the candidates for president, and will be one of the more major important things he handles through his first term as president.
-Lance Curry ’12, Palmyra, Pa

Personally, I think something must be done to stabilize our economy. I know things like gas prices have been greatly lowered, but that quick of a fluctuation within the market is a possible sign of a weakening economy. I do think that our economy is slowly declining, but I don’t think that it is to the degree that everyone thinks it is. So I just believe that Obama should do something to help stabilize the market economy. Once prices have been stabilized I think that he should try to find some way to bring businesses back here to American soil. As many know, businesses are taking their companies overseas because many other workers in countries like China and India will work for cheaper than American workers which in turn will bring more profit into the hands of the few and take from the many jobless workers left in America. Something must be done in order to create more jobs for Americans.
-Bryce Rigg ’12, Bellefonte, Pa

Casey Shaw ‘09, Juniata Online Journalist