President Barack Obama faces a dilemma as he fights the recession: The public identifies both rising unemployment and soaring budget deficits as its top policy concerns — but fixing one could worsen the other.
Mr. Obama can ill afford to lose public support on the cusp of the biggest political fights of his presidency, over health care, energy and financial reregulation. Three separate polls this week, including one from the Wall Street Journal/NBC News, have raised red flags at the White House that the president, though still personally popular, is losing some ground with the public on his economic policies.
Officials concede there is little the president can do to please everyone, given the economic Catch-22. If he heeds concerns on the deficit and pulls back on economic stimulus, he risks choking off the “green shoots” of what may be a fledgling recovery.
Stimulus, right or wrong, is one thing, adding trillions in new programs on top is something else. We can’t even pay for the existing programs. If you thought Bush’s spending was bad, this is on sterods. But, while it will ultimately ruin the country, it will assure Democratic acendency as voters know which party will vote them large quantities of money.
On the contrary, the “new programs” are investments in the country’s future which will pay dividends to the nation for generations to come.