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'Obamanomics': A Tough Sell in America?

Obama's economics lean left and right, until he talks taxes

By Katherine Thompson, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 24, 2008 7:55 PM CDT

(Newser) – Barack Obama will face a crippled economy if he wins in November, but what fiscal policies will he put to use? “My core economic theory is pragmatism,” says Obama, a liberal who picked up free market notions when teaching at the University of Chicago. His policies on health care, emissions caps, and Wall Street oversight convey that balance. Then—and here conservatives really shudder—comes plans to tax the rich.

After tax cuts for the middle class, Obama would slam the wealthiest Americans by an average of $800,000 a year. But, writes David Leonhardt in the New York Times, that only balances the Bush tax cut and recent gains for the rich—and will redistribute wealth while keeping the deficit down. Obama's task is to sell this story to a nation wedded to the free market dream. "Telling it elegantly the way Republicans have," Obama says, "I think is more of a challenge."

[Images (6)]

[Quotes (2)]

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., steps off the plane at Chippewa Valley Regional Airport in Eau Claire, Wis., Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., with vice presidential running mate Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., waves at a rally in front of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama D-Ill., and his vice presidential running mate Sen. Joe Biden D-Del. appear together at a campaign stop Saturday, Aug. 23, 2008. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., winks at a member of the crowd during a Bar-b-que at Rod and Gun Park in Eau Claire, Wis., Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008. (AP Photo)

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks to a crowd at a barbeque at the Rod and Gun Park in Eau Claire, Wis., Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008. (AP Photo)

In this Oct. 16, 2007 file photo Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., unveils his "Real Leadership for Rural America" agenda at a farm near Fairfax, Iowa. (AP Photo)

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Reagan’s central insight—that the liberal welfare state had grown complacent and overly bureaucratic... contained a good deal of truth. - Barack Obama in The Audacity of Hope

There is a connection between the freedom of the marketplace and freedom more generally, (but) there are certain things the market doesn’t automatically do. - Barack Obama

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'Obamanomics': A Tough Sell in America?