Deficits Restrict Obama as His Promises Come Due

Prioritizing Spending Pledges Will Be a Challenge for a New Administration With Ambitious Goals for Health Care, Energy

By LAURA MECKLER and NEIL KING JR.
Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama won the presidency making hundreds of promises large and small, from ending the war in Iraq and global warming to boosting low-income heating assistance and expanding the Peace Corps. Now comes the hard part: translating those pledges into policies, and whittling down the list while keeping his broad coalition of supporters happy.

His opening moves are ambitious. The incoming administration plans to move fast on his proposal to overhaul the health-care system, with a major event at the White House, likely in March, two Obama officials said. There, members of Congress and interest groups will hold a working session of sorts to launch the debate.

Mr. Obama also will press for overhaul of the financial-regulatory system, a bookend to the $700 billion bailout lawmakers reluctantly approved.

And he will push for legislation to require use of alternative fuels such as wind and solar for electricity generation, known as the renewable portfolio standard, an Obama aide said.