Barack Obama set a serious but optimistic tone in his inaugural address to a nation facing serious challenges on many fronts.
He spoke of sacrifices, putting differences aside, government accountability and finding solutions to move our country forward " all things that resonate from Washington, D.C., to the steps of the state capital in Carson City.
Here in the Silver State our lawmakers, who will begin the 2009 Legislative session in two weeks, already have begun the work of responding to the proposed budget Gov. Jim Gibbons presented last week in his State of the State address.
A weakening economy fueled by a national financial crisis has deeply affected the state's fiscal health. Gibbons' budget calls for deep cuts in education funding and asks for significant wage and benefit sacrifices from state workers. The Democrats' response calls for an overhaul of the state's financial structure "so that we are not considering draconian cuts to education and public safety every time the economy tanks."
As the political forces begin lining up and posturing in preparation for what is expected to be a heated battle to pass a state budget some four months from now, they may look to President Obama's words for inspiration on the eve of the 2009 session.
"What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them " that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works," Obama said.
"And those of us who manage the public's dollars," he added, "will be held to account " to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day " because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government."
President Obama knows that enormous challenges overshadow his personal triumph and that, beginning today, it's time for the nation to "pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off." That's good advice on a national scale and, in a state where people have a reputation of getting right back in the saddle after suffering a fall, right here at home in Nevada.