At Ricochet, former presidential speechwriter Peter Robinson on Obama’s budget abdication:
The sumo wrestlers have now entered the ring. They may still be circling one another warily, but the fundamental nature of the contest–the terms of the fight that will last until election day 2012–are now clear. Republicans intend to do their duty, cutting spending dramatically, trusting to the American people to demonstrate the character and maturity to accept any sacrifices the budget reductions entail. President Obama intends, by contrast, to mislead voters, attempting to persuade them that–despite federal spending at the highest levels of GDP since the Second World War–the federal government can still shower largesse upon its favored constituencies.
Republicans see the American people as fundamentally virtuous, self-reliant, and capable of sacrifice and restraint. Barack Obama sees the American people as foolish, dependent, gullible, and infantilized.
They can’t both be right.
We shall see.
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