HAS "YES WE CAN" BECOME ..... "BUT NOT RIGHT NOW?"

We've been through this before, the stump speeches, the promises, the "plans" that will bring our country back on track, all primarily devoted to gain our votes. But Obama was elected based on his promises and his visions for hope and "change." And as much as everyone jumped on the Obama band wagon, no one truly believes he can accomplish much right away.

And the Obama / Biden ticket realizes this, and has responded with there calls for lessened expectations for the immediate future. A CNN poll taken this week shows the country agrees; over half of the respondents expect the Obama led turnaround to take at least two years. Which is a magic number of course, as the Democrats desperately hope to keep, and possibly add to their congressional strongholds.

The only questions are, where does he start, and what achievable benchmarks should, and can we realistically expect? No one expects a full troop withdrawal from Iraq and a surge deployment in Afghanistan in the first year. Obama himself has put the expectation at early 2010 to see an appreciable troop movement. And, as the Iraqi war continues, so does the drain on his available financial resources to stimulate the economy and implement his plans to create jobs in the information and infrastructure projects he has been talking up.

And as the war goes on, as a second costly financial stimulus package is considered, and ultimately implemented, our federal deficits continue to spiral. of course, the damage in this area was created off from Obama's watch. We know he comes into power at one of the worst times in American history, but how long of a honeymoon is the American people willing to extend?

For me, here are my expectations, which I believe are achievable....

Middle of February 2009: passage of a second stimulus package, this time with prudent oversight of where the money goes, and how it is spent (the first stimulus money being largely a complete waste of time / money / faith in our government). This will include an extension of unemployment benefits and other factors that will target the money towards the middle class and lower middle class, who will put the money back into the economy and give us the kick start it needs.

March 2009: the creation of a financial oversight bill which will put safeguards into play from the graft and greed of the investment banks, mortgage industry and the banking community that has sunk our economy at present.

May 2009: a halt to the continuing slide in national job loss, or at minimum, a sharp reduction in job losses.

July 2009: stock market levels at 9,000, as the nation slowly comes around to having a modicum of confidence in the Obama financial plan.

September 2009: A slow, but consistent redeployment of troops from Iraq to Afghanistan.

December 2009: A reduction in our troop levels in Iraq by one-third, and a reestablishment of U.S. good will throughout the free world, and open communications in all non-Muslim countries.