2011 Essays

Obama's Budget Dilemma

Mitchell, Lincoln A.

Faced with a budget deficit that is largely not of his making and has been exploited by his political opponents, but is nonetheless serious and an economy that has been agonizingly slow to recover, Obama has no easy way out. Ignoring the reality of the deficit would not be wise, but ignoring the reality that spending cuts will hurt the economy would also be unwise. The President is going to make some unpopular decisions, but looking at the current proposed budget, progressives are right to wonder when he is going to make a decision which is unpopular with his political opponents, rather than just with his base.