Obama Avoids Hard Budget Choices ; a Weak Leader Talks Tough and Passes the Buck

The Washington Times › February 23, 2010

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Summary

President Obama said on Thursday, "The politics of dealing with chronic deficits is fraught with hard choices, and therefore, it's treacherous to officeholders here in Washington. As a consequence, nobody has been too eager to deal with it." He then handed the problem off to a commission, thus proving his point.

Mr. Obama likes to use the expression "hard choices," but he has yet to make any when it comes to federal spending. After announcing his fiscal commission, he went to Las Vegas and announced a $1.5 billion housing assistance program, seeking to bolster the flagging fortunes of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. It is hardly a hard choice to treat the government budget like an unlimited checkbook, funding targeted programs seeking political advantage. That part is easy. Paying for it is difficult, but that is not Mr. Obama's problem.

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Obama Avoids Hard Budget Choices ; a Weak Leader Talks Tough and Passes the Buck

When he introduced his 2011 budget proposal on Feb. 1, the president said, "We can no longer afford to leave the hard choices for the next bu...

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