On Tuesday a record number of Americans turned out to vote giving Senator Barack Obama the Presidency over Senator John McCain.  This race represented the first Presidential campaign with no incumbent President or Vice President on the ticket since 1952.  It also was the most expensive campaign in U.S. history with total expenditures approaching $1 billion.  After 18 months of endless campaigning, Tuesday voters finally got to have closure.

Now that the votes have been counted, and the celebration by many has ended, the question will become can Obama deliver?

During this long and arduous campaign there were hundreds of promises made, everything from lower taxes to troop withdrawals, a stronger economy, to improved foreign relations.

Like all candidates, Senator Obama’s message was for change, a brighter future and a better economy.  We know millions of Americans flocked to the polls believing in his message of change.  Senator Obama’s consistent refrain of hope and change inspired millions of Americans that he could provide an array of programs and services that would benefit the majority of voters.  One promise that Sen. Obama repeated again and again in the closing months of the campaign was tax relief.  His plan was to provide a tax cut for “95% of all Americans.”

For most people, we don’t want to pay more in taxes, so this is a promise that we want President Obama to deliver on.  The reality is there is little change he can deliver on this one.  Current analysis of Federal tax revenue shows that 38% of income tax filers don’t pay any tax, while 1% of wage earners pay 40% of all Federal income taxes.  This 1% of wage earners is the group that Sen. Obama wants to increases taxes on in order to provide a “tax break” to millions of Americans who currently don’t pay any Federal income tax.  Does anyone believe Sen. Obama’s tax plan has any real economic viability in the face of a federal budget projected to have a trillion shortfall?

The hope of lower taxes for 95% of Americans is just one of the many promises made on the campaign trail that has little chance of becoming a reality.  There are dozens more from lower health care costs to less dependence on foreign oil (without drilling) that are a mere pipe dream.

Despite the large majorities in the Congress, the budget realities, will fortunately or unfortunately depending on your political philosophy, not allow Obama to make good on many of his campaign promises.

Senator Obama has certainly inspired many Americans with uplifting speeches, but change usually comes slow, particularly at the federal level, and he will soon find out that it is easier to talk about change than to actually deliver true change.