Raphael's Criticism

It's only fair to follow up a post about how much Calderón has done with one about what he has failed to accomplish. I hereby cede the floor to Ricardo Raphael:

The fight against discrimination is just one hot button. The reforms to the media law that Supreme Court mandated last year have also remained outside of the presidential magnifying glass; the postponed labor reform that is to democratize and make more efficient the labor market; the education reform that can't be replaced by the failed Educational Alliance; or reforms that would allow us to better protect consumers in these times of crisis and savage capitalism. 

Even if --relatively speaking-- we observe a squeezed presidency, it's worth noting the executive's priorities are the only ones that are discussed and resolved in the public space: Why was a reform of energy more important than that of education? Why do fiscal problems have more relevancy than labor issues? Why was the media reform forgotten?

Fair points, but I think it should also be noted that there's only so much one government can do. Calderón and his team scrapped their way to five major reforms, and it's hard to imagine him having had enough time or political capital to dedicate to several more in his mere two years at the helm. Nor am I convinced that the executive's failure to take up these reforms is a reflection of Calderón's lack of interest in teachers or unions or the media; each government has to assign priorities according to its own criteria, and inevitably some worthy goals fall further down on the list than is ideal. You can quibble with the order (I'd certainly have considered placing labor reform higher on the list), but I don't think you can yet paint Calderón's crew as not caring about education and the rest. I take Raphael's column more as a list of goals for the next few year, rather than an indictment of Calderón's performance thus far.