Krauthammer 3/20/09

What Obama Wants: Part 2

My take on Charles Krauthammer's latest. His column was published in the Washington Post.

Summary: It seems that the big economic plan is just more old-style government spending.

Quote:

Obama delegates to Nancy Pelosi and her congressional grandees the writing of all things fiscal -- and gets a $787 billion stimulus package that is a wish list of liberal social spending, followed by a $410 billion omnibus spending bill festooned with pork and political paybacks.

My Views: The larger point here is that Obama is acting more like an old pol rather than a new agent of hope and change. Since FDR, every left-winger has measured success by more government programs and more government intervention. At least if O would take a stand against some Democrat special interest group - any group will do. Instead, it is just more of the same politics. Where there is newness, it is in directions that lefties have wanted for years and righties have feared, such as government takeovers of companies. (Hello auto industry!)

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Charles Krauthammer is a more establishment columnist. He came to punditry by way of psychiatry (at Massachusetts General Hospital) via the New Republic Magazine. He appears on TV where you never see his wheelchair. Here's his Wiki bio.

He wrote a book which is pictured at the right. I am drawn by the substance and the thinking than any particular writing flair.