Obama should proceed boldly

The sand begins running out of President Barack Obama’s second-term hourglass today, and it is not too early to decide what his priorities should be.

The most significant goals visible on the horizon include the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act; a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants; a sensible strengthening of federal gun control regulations; and laying the groundwork for a long-term economic recovery. That’s a full plate.

"I’m more than familiar with all the literature about presidential overreach in second terms," Obama remarked following his victory last November. "We are very cautious about that."

Nonetheless, Obama has the highest approval rating since the early months of his administration. Democrats have added to their Senate majority and reduced Republican control of the House.

While that’s no guarantee of increased congressional cooperation, it’s a foot in the door for common-sense bipartisanship.

The Democrats’ liberal core can expect the president to use the political mandate that comes with reelection, which means taking significant gun control measures. Obama has pledged to push efforts to curb gun violence in the shadow of the school massacre in Newtown, Conn., and the mass shootings in Arizona, Colorado and Wisconsin. It’s hoped that such measures include ammunition limits on gun magazines, universal background checks and the means to enforce existing gun laws and study their effectiveness.

We also hope that Congress, including our own delegation, will resist pressure from the gun lobby and act in the national interest.

Immigration is where great progress can and should be made. Republicans were stunned by the Hispanic vote in the election and surely must recognize that they cannot afford to concede to the Democrats the largest growing minority group in the future.

A spokesman said Obama expects to "move very quickly" after today’s inauguration and outline details of his immigration plan in the State of the Union address Feb. 12. A path to legal status, along with a guestworker program, would offer hope for resolving this bitter political problem.

The White House was able to convince Congress to avert the "fiscal cliff" at the end of last year, but agreement on debt ceiling issues is anything but assured.

The baby-boom generation’s oldest members already have begun to collect Social Security retirement benefits and Medicare services, and the imbalance between spending and revenue will be a challenge.

Obama rightly has refused demands to negotiate spending cuts with Republicans in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. So it’s encouraging that the GOP appears willing to be flexible on this issue, providing some room for negotiating a more ambitious budget deal.

On the international front, we hope the president will make good on his promises to end the war in Afghanistan, bring our troops home and shift the military’s focus on the Asia-Pacific region, convincing allies of the importance of striking a strategic rebalance against Chinese dominance. That includes a military presence in Australia and continued importance of bases in Hawaii.

As Obama begins his second term, there is much at stake for Hawaii and the rest of the nation. Big issues that directly affect just about every American are on the agenda for both Congress and the White House. It’s time for our representatives in Washington to work together to accomplish big things.