(MinnPost asked several Minnesota leaders and public-policy experts to share their thoughts on Inauguration Day and the Barack Obama presidency. To read more of their responses, click here.)

I wish the new president well in the large task ahead of him.

Certainly, his election is historic.  The tasks facing any new presidency are enormous: a mounting deficit, job loss, war, terrorism and more. 

My hope is that President Obama will truly want to work with the GOP to get some solid solutions through Congress. More spending, wasteful pork projects, exploding deficits and more federal government programs are not the answer. In fairness, the prior administration and some in the Republican Congress of 2001-2006 never learned those important lessons either.

I would also hope that the news media will be equal in their treatment of Mr. Obama as they have been with the past administration. Something tells me that there may be a bit of favoritism in the coverage witnessed so far. Both ESPN and the Disney Channel had pre-inaugural specials on January 19th.  I wonder if Sen. John McCain had won, if there would have been much of a mention in the "mainstream" media, much less these non-news channels?  Despite the unending stream of positive coverage, the reality of governing will set in.

Here are some observations as we enter the Obama administration:

1) Cabinet appointments are role models and should be held to high standards. The Treasury Secretary-designee may be a good guy, but someone who doesn't pay taxes in charge of the U.S. Treasury lacks credibility with the average person. I would suggest that there are other qualified people when nominees run into a rut. Gov. Bill Richardson did the right thing by withdrawing from the Commerce position, and the same should happen at Treasury.

2) President Obama spoke of cutting the deficit in half and moving toward a balanced budget during the campaign. Proposing almost $1 trillion in new debt is a simple broken promise and should be addressed. Hypocrisy is something people watch out for in politicians. Railing against the excesses of spending money on unneeded things and then dumping twice as much money into the Obama inaugural events as the two Bush inaugurals combined seems to be contradictory.  The same goes for abiding by spending limits in the campaign and other smaller items. 

3) The American people are tiring of bailout-mania, no matter how bipartisan. Right-sizing failing 20th-century bureaucracies in private business needs to happen as much as right-sizing outdated bureaucracies in government. Are we going to subsidize business as usual or do the right thing?

4) Giving out more TV rebate coupons and re-seeding the Capitol mall area are not proper stimulus items to move our economy forward. Obama would have enormous credibility with the center-right citizens in his country if he were to focus like a laser on private-sector job creation by cutting onerous regulations and taxes, not propping up government-funded boondoggles. If he were to insist that junky items be jettisoned from the "stimulus bill" and be firm about it, he would not only be right, but he would gain immense credibility with people who question his politics.

5) Obama announced that George Bush's secretary of defense would stay on as his own. Would he have won any Democratic primaries or caucuses if this had been announced a year ago? It may not matter much now, but it seems the left is giving him a big pass on some major items like this.

6) Obama starts out with enormous good will. He can use this to truly move our country forward if the right strategy is employed. As President Clinton found out in 1993, sometimes the biggest obstacle to progress is his own party. The country did not lurch to the far left last year; they were growing tired of the never-ending problems announced by the media and they reacted accordingly. Obama is a great speaker and has a very interesting life story. 

7) President Obama shows us that almost anyone can move from humble beginnings and rise to the highest office in our land. Let's celebrate the fact we still live in the best country in the world that holds so much opportunity; we should never take it for granted.

Rep. Marty Seifert is the minority leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives.