David Brooks claims he’s beginning to suspect Obama is more liberal than he may have once hoped:
“But the Obama budget is more than just the sum of its parts. There is, entailed in it, a promiscuous unwillingness to set priorities and accept trade-offs.”
He also suggests that a good community organizer, perhaps on principle alone, isn’t necessarily good for community organizing once in power:
“The U.S. has always had vibrant neighborhood associations. But in its very first budget, the Obama administration raises the cost of charitable giving. It punishes civic activism and expands state intervention.”
IF this is likely to happen, would it really be part of Obama’s vision…or would it be the eventual consequence of him not being able to meet such a vision; having to settle short of his expectations in the thicket of liberal redistributionist policies and government bloat?
Brooks, painting himself as a moderate and Obama as immoderate, seems to be questioning any faith he’s put in the Obama express:
“Moderates are going to have to try to tamp down the polarizing warfare that is sure to flow from Obama’s über-partisan budget…
…They’re going to have to offer an agenda that inspires confidence by its steadiness rather than shaking confidence with its hyperactivity.
If they can do that, maybe they can lure this White House back to its best self — and someday offer respite from the endless war of the extremes“
Are you convinced?
Also On This Site: Charles Krauthammer seems to be off the express as well, if he was ever on it From The Washington Post: Charles Krauthammer-The Fierce Urgency Of Pork…and Obama did make an appeal to George Will: From Bloggingheads: Noam Scheiber And Matt Welch Discuss Obama’s Appeal To George Will And The Right
Liberal and Conservative Mistakes
