Free Republic

It has long been an article of faith among politicians and pundits that the federal budget deficit is too arcane a subject to have real political impact. Time to rethink that notion. There's strong new evidence that the deficit is emerging as Democrats' main problem, an impediment to a health overhaul and the biggest underlying concern about President Barack Obama's agenda. Administration officials complain this is a bum rap. They note that the deficit was already heading north of $1 trillion for this year when the president arrived, thanks to sagging revenue, a $700 billion financial-sector bailout that was under...

Former vice president Dick Cheney continued his recent verbal assault on President Barack Obama’s policies, denouncing the new administration’s budget plans as “way out of whack.” “I think the budgets he submitted are way out of whack,” Cheney told CNBC’s Larry Kudlow in an interview. “I think what it does not only to the short-term deficit but long-term debt situation is very objectionable.” The administration’s deficit for the current budget year is expected to hit a record $1.8 trillion, mainly due to the government’s efforts to rescue the country from its current recession, such as the Wall Street bailout and...

As Gov. Bobby Jindal began to offer a Republican response, it became apparent that he would be no match with Barack Obama in the soaring-oratory department. The Republicans really should have tried a gimmick instead. Perhaps Jindal could have walked on and said, "Today, the president held what he called a fiscal responsibility summit." He could then afford a wide smile, knowing his audience had erupted in laughter. Honestly, now: Are we quite ready finally to declare the Era of Obama As Fiscally Conservative is over? Last year, Republicans warned that Barack Obama was ultraliberal — a socialist, in fact...