With the one year mark of the Obama Administration a few months away, some people are calling out the president for not passing legislation that would support the big talks of action his campaign threw out during the election.

And yes, it may be coming from the same group that shrieked in terror with socialist fears when Obama simply told kids to be cool and stay in school, but these people have a point this time.

Many promises were made during the election regarding prominent issues, including health care and immigration reform and a reduction of dependence on foreign oil.

With health care, we̢۪re basically back to square one. The nation lifted a leg to get past the starting point by making legislative attempts toward reform. But those only led to amusing video footage of people screaming at each other while Obama went on a media rampage trying to dissuade the growing opposition.

Leg forced firmly back to place, if not pushed further back by the heightened hostility toward change.

When it comes to immigration, a push toward reform is almost nonexistent. Plans outlining a plausible solution to the handling of millions of people without proper documentation seem to have fallen off the radar.

If not approached in a more bipartisan manner that compromises the top concerns for conservatives as well as liberals, immigration reform could face a similar fate as the push for health care. The nation will be pushed away from progress, unsurprisingly locked in place by the politics that surround the passing of legislation.

A glimmer of hope comes with a move taken toward increased usage of sustainable energy in our nation. The full impact of the “Cash for Clunkersâ€Â program on the environment and the economy is yet to be determined.

But the apparent concept behind tackling the immense issues of dangers to the environment and the economy makes much more sense than the broad steps taken toward health care.

Under “Clunkers,â€Â a single program was created as a means to take a moderate step toward improving the status quo on two important issues. Concerns for the environment and the economy were targeted in a manner that focused on particular areas of both issues. Simply by targeting automobile pollution, gross polluters were taken off the road by placing incentives on the purchase of more fuel-efficient cars, while the car trade-in provided a necessary boost to the economy by stimulating the automobile industry.

This simplicity found in the “Clunkersâ€Â program is a key factor in its warm embrace by the public. It was made easy to see how “Clunkersâ€Â would benefit not only those directly involved in the program, but how it simultaneously carried the potential for a far-reaching positive effect on the economy.

Such programs and legislation that target particular elements of each issue and that can plainly be seen as a benefit to the general public are our best bet when it comes to real progress.

Moderate and steady steps are the ones Obama needs to be pushing for now. You can̢۪t expect to run full speed when your feet are stuck in mud at the starting line. It has to be one leg, one issue, one moderate but meaningful step at a time. Then, and probably only then, is steady movement attainable.