International Herald Tribune: David Brooks: A moderate manifesto
But the Obama budget is more than just the sum of its parts. There is, entailed in it, a promiscuous unwillingness to set priorities and accept trade-offs. There is evidence of a party swept up in its own revolutionary fervor – caught up in the self-flattering belief that history has called upon it to solve all problems at once.
So programs are piled on top of each other and we wind up with a gargantuan $3.6 trillion budget. We end up with deficits that, when considered realistically, are $1 trillion a year and stretch as far as the eye can see. We end up with an agenda that is unexceptional in its parts but that, when taken as a whole, represents a social-engineering experiment that is entirely new. …
…The U.S. has always had vibrant neighborhood associations. But in its very first budget, the Obama administration raises the cost of charitable giving. It punishes civic activism and expands state intervention. …
…Those of us who consider ourselves moderates – moderate-conservative, in my case – are forced to confront the reality that Barack Obama is not who we thought he was. His words are responsible; his character is inspiring. But his actions betray a transformational liberalism that should put every centrist on notice. As Clive Crook, an Obama admirer, wrote in The Financial Times, the Obama budget "contains no trace of compromise. It makes no gesture, however small, however costless to its larger agenda, of a bipartisan approach to the great questions it addresses. It is a liberal's dream of a new New Deal." …
The last paragraph I quoted nails it. Throughout the election, I heard from many quarters what a centrist and consensus builder Obama is. My worries about his liberal voting record (most liberal senate member) were just part of my conservative paranoia. I saw zero evidence of "Obama, the centrist" in his slim political record leading up to his election. What I saw is likely the most radical left-wing candidate we've ever elected who can charm people with his disarming smile and non-anxious presence. I have yet to see anything that evidences a consensus-building centrist. I'm also not holding my breath.
I may be paranoid. But being paranoid doesn't mean someone isn't out to get you. 🙂
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