Top Ten

Here were the priorities laid out by Calderón during his speech (paraphrased):

1) Use every resource at the state's disposal to combat poverty.

2) Achieve universal health care coverage.

3) Install a quality public education system, overcoming the special
interests in place to do so.

4) A deep reform of public finances so as to do more with less. The
government will not demand anything it is not demanding of itself, and it
pledges to reduce tax evasion and increase the taxable base.

5) A thorough economic reform that makes the Mexican economy more
competitive, which requires a further energy reform. The goal will be a
root-level transformation away from special privileges and toward transparency.

6) Telecommunications reform that improves competitiveness.

7) Labor reform that strengthens the rights of the workers.

8) Thorough regulatory reform.

9) Widen and deepen the frontal attack on organized crime, focusing on
crimes like robbery, kidnapping, and extortion.

10) Political reform that addresses the leftover issues from the 2007
electoral reform. The goal is a political system that processes conflict
constructively, and moves from merely effective elections to effective
democracy. The system should have an effective balance between the three
branches of government.

Calderón also said that "things cannot continue the same way" and that what the government has achieved so far had been plainly insufficient. As far as the ten points, the striking thing is that organized crime occupies only one spot, and it is the ninth at that. One suspects that the list marks a change of emphasis from Calderón and company.