Governor Robert Bentley couldn’t find the politics more aligned for a successful four-year tenure in office as he begins.

The obstacles in the Legislature are seemingly removed because the Republicans are in control of each chamber.

Bentley also has the advantage of some of the strongest ethics laws in the nation, passed by a special session in the waning days of former Gov. Bob Riley’s administration.

In his inaugural address, Bentley did not give specifics of plans to shore up Alabama’s economy and to improve its jobless rate.

Improving the jobless rate — creating jobs — is key to addressing all the challenges facing the state, Bentley said Monday.

Bentley says a strong economy leads to better education and “can open the doors” to improved healthcare for all citizens.

Bentley called on all state agencies to help create jobs in the state, including offering tax cuts, building roads or through quality of life issues, such as construction of a new convention center on the Gulf Coast.

Before our new government gets carried away, it should remember the words of columnist Steve Pearlstein: “In terms of new job creation, the data show that most of it happens in a small number of very fast-growing companies that are no longer what most of us would consider small… [And] the dirty little secret is that a lot of small-business job growth has also been driven by the decision of big businesses to outsource many tasks that they used to do in-house. In an economic sense, jobs haven’t been so much ‘destroyed’ and ‘created’ as they have been shifted from one company to another.”

The key to this state is small business. The new administration might do well to look inside and create policies with the Legislature that true small business owners’ run the same lines as the middle class, for example, health care costs, a nest egg for retirement and education.

In other words, Bentley’s administration and the rest of the state needs to come in with fresh ideas that are well-grounded.