Friday, April 15, 2011

The buck stops there

David Brooks praises President Obama's speech - for its vague, "choices must be made - but not by me" feel.
The president, meanwhile, hit the political sweet spot with his speech this week. He made a sincere call to reduce debt, which will please independents, but he did not specify any tough choices. He called for defense cuts and asked the Pentagon to find some. He called for a reduction in tax credits but didn’t point to any that should actually go. He called for reductions in Medicare costs and asked his board of technocrats to come up with some.

Thus, saying what people want to hear - but will fail in the near future - makes Obama's speech a political success.

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