D

uring a bitter war in which half of the nation had seceded, President Abraham Lincoln knew how to get the job done. During a time when one issue tore the nation apart, Lincoln knew how to resolve it. He shrewdly did what was necessary to end slavery.

As was shown in Steven Spielberg’s recent release, “Lincoln,” the president knew that with the passing of the 13th Amendment, which outlaws slavery, the Civil War would end. By banning the thing that essentially caused the war, this amendment was obviously not popular among the border states. So, Lincoln effectively set out his staff to persuade undecided and influential members of the House of Representatives to vote for the amendment.

We need to see more of Lincoln’s bulldog approach to solving problems in Congress today. Debate persists over if Congress is less effective in getting things done because it is more polarized today than has been in the past, or if ways of compromising are not as effective. I’d like to say that the latter is more of the problem.

From the time we are born, our parents teach us that we will not always get our way. We cannot take a cookie out of the cookie jar whenever we please. We cannot have a sleepover on a school night. This is a hard concept to grasp when young, for in our minds, the world revolved around toddlers. Yet as we grew we came to understand the concept of compromise. We can have a cookie if we finish all our dinner. We could have a sleepover on Friday night if we helped mom and dad in the garden.

So who is the parental figure residing over Congress, now that the senators and representatives are all grown up?

Father Obama. 

He isn’t the perfect parent, but nearing his second term, Obama needs to prepare himself to be a shrewd politician and get things done in a timely matter. There are so many things I’d like to see in the next four years: the passing of the DREAM Act, marriage equality across the nation, extreme revision of the No Child Left Behind Act and a lower unemployment rate. These issues take time and thought to resolve. But with a combination of political savvy and compromise, things can get accomplished.

Currently, the major issue on the table is the fiscal cliff. On the eve of 2013, tax cuts for certain Americans will end and spending cuts will start to be made in areas like defense and Medicare. 

If these taxes increase and spending cuts occur, the deficit could be cut in half, yet they may cause the nation to go into another recession.

If the tax cuts are extended and the spending cuts cancelled, the nation’s debt will grow, and it could put the economy in a state similar to that of Europe.

Obviously, there needs to be some settlement in the middle of these two scenarios.

The route Obama is taking is to extend the tax cuts for middle class families and raise taxes on the wealthy, exactly what he said he would do in his campaign.

Republican House Speaker John Boehner is adamant on not taxing the rich more, although some of his counterpart-Republicans are starting to budge on this stance.

In order to avoid this fiscal cliff, which could very well devastate the economy if not settled, Obama needs to act on the Republicans who are wavering, much like the way Lincoln did to the Democrats in 1865. 

He needs to talk directly to these representatives instead of travelling and telling the nation that we will have a “Scrooge” Christmas if the issue is not resolved. He needs to send his staff out to convince the likes of moderate Republican Representative Steve LaTourette of Ohio, who said he would support tax increases on the wealthy if Medicare was reformed. 

“If we can get a few House Republicans on board, we can pass the bill. … I’m ready to sign it,” Obama said, according to Reuters.  

If Obama leaves the compromising up to Boehner, the nation could be in big trouble.

I encourage a hands-on approach from Obama to do whatever he needs to do to avoid this fiscal cliff.

This is a test of his compromising skills and his bull-doggedness, which will need to continue into the next four years. Obama will not be able to please everyone all the time and should look to Lincoln as a model of political savvy.

Kirsten is a sophomore in Media. She can be reached at [email protected].