Certainly this president faces a serious hurdle in presenting himself as a champion of fiscal responsibility. With strong Democratic majorities in both chambers of Congress, he has presided over the two largest federal deficits in U.S. history. He also pushed through a bewildering health care overhaul of unknown long-term cost.
Public alarm over that trend played a key role at the ballot box in November as Republicans gained 63 seats and control of the House and significantly reduced Democratic control of the Senate.
Yet the president sounds as if he got the voters’ message. Yes, last night’s speech mentioned too many initiatives that would cost too much money. No, his budget-freeze plan would not cut spending as deeply as the return to 2008 levels proposed by the Republican House leadership. Still, his overall focus has correctly moved in the frugal direction.
Too bad some other prominent Democrats aren’t backing that shift….
Only in DC is a reduction in the rate of increase in spending touted as a cut.
Or not raising taxes sold to the public as a cut in taxes.