Obama can quickly deliver on some Florida promises

[seafan]

Obama can quickly deliver on some Florida promises

By William E. Gibson | Washington Bureau Chief
November 6, 2008

With help from Democrats in Congress, President-elect Barack Obama will have the clout next year to deliver campaign promises to Florida voters who helped send him to the White House.

Look for Obama to quickly remove the limits imposed by President Bush on Cuban-American travel to visit relatives in Cuba. Obama can do that with the stroke of a pen.
Obama also is likely to help South Florida members of Congress create a national catastrophe fund to ease the cost of homeowner insurance in disaster-prone areas.
And he has vowed to encourage development of alternative fuel sources — such as solar power and ethanol that can be made from citrus scraps or sugar cane — an emerging industry in Florida.

The president-elect has said he would agree to expand offshore oil drilling as part of a new energy policy, but he and Congress are unlikely to allow exploration near the shores of Florida and other environmentally sensitive areas.

.....

On Cuba policy:

Obama has pledged to loosen the U.S. embargo of Cuba by allowing Cuban-Americans to make unlimited visits to the island and to send money to their families. This can be done by executive order, without action in Congress.
"I expect he will do that fairly quickly," said William LeoGrande, an expert on U.S.-Cuba relations at American University in Washington.
Congress may go further by lifting the travel ban for American tourists. And Congress likely will make it easier for Cuba to finance food purchases from American farmers.

"Sen. Obama also has said the policy of isolating Cuba and not talking to Cuba has failed," LeoGrande said. "You can expect much greater diplomatic interaction between the U.S. and Cuba than we've seen over the last eight years."

On offshore drilling:

Drilling proponents last summer gained traction in Congress when gasoline reached $4 a gallon. ..... But falling oil prices over the past few months and Republican losses on Tuesday broke the momentum for offshore drilling.
"The Republicans took such a beating that the only push for more drilling would have to come from the public, and that's not going to happen while prices are down," said Kenneth Green, an energy expert at the American Enterprise Institute, an independent research group in Washington.

On homeowners' insurance:

Obama told the Sun Sentinel in May that he supports the creation of a national disaster fund that would pool resources from states to cover losses from major disasters. The idea is to spread risk and curb homeowner insurance rates.
Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, said he is cautiously optimistic that Congress next year will pass his legislation to create such a fund.
"Some of the gridlock of the past will be over," Klein said.

Yes. We. Can.


Millions of people want Bush out of power NOW, so that we can set about the business of restoring America. But, we must wait. And, by the way, we need a new Speaker of the House.

[seafan]

1. Weekend kick. n/t