Obama's Big Week Provides Much-Needed Momentum

I'm sure last week was the reason President Barack Obama wanted to be the president in the first place. It was a week filled with heavy legislative accomplishments topped off with a flexing of his foreign policy muscle.

Obama's week included a "historic remaking of America's health care system, a vast overhaul of how students pay for college and a groundbreaking deal with Russia to shrink both country's nuclear arsenals," the AP writes.

And then when he was supposed to be spending the weekend with Sasha amd Malia at Camp David, Obama hopped on a 12-hour nonstop flight and showed up in Afghanistan to watch the NCAA tournament with the troops and tell Hamid Karzai to get his stuff together.

All of these accomplishments were pushed to the point of success by Obama's passage of health care reform. It has provided a legislative momentum to tackle the other tough issues facing this country, such as immigration reform and the creation of a badly needed consumer protection agency. The AP writes:

The biggest foreign and domestic policy victories of Obama's presidency positioned him to keep swinging big. He has fresh results to back up his argument that persistence pays. The White House's thinking is that the burst of success, particularly in extending health coverage to millions more people, will carry over to other issues and show lawmakers, and perhaps foreign leaders, the value of sticking with Obama. As a vindicated tone took hold in West Wing offices, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs put it this way: "Accomplishment demonstrates leadership and strength. And those are tangible currencies in Washington."

They also fade quickly.

Republicans are already plotting ways to win back a majority in Congress. Even if they do, Obama can still lead. He can force the Republicans' hands by forcing them to address important issues. The argument: You wanted power, now you have to do something with it.

The trip to Afghanistan signaled that Obama was moving on to the other important issues facing this country. There is no shortage of things that Obama can address. One of the biggest has to be job creation.

So many people have been out of work or underemployed for so long that foreclosure is becoming a fact of American life. No matter who controls Congress after the mid-term elections, Americans should demand action on these issues.

"We proved that we are still a people capable of doing big things and tackling our biggest challenges," Obama said.