Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Obama Fakes Center, Goes Liberal

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 4, 2009 6:36 PM CDT

(Newser) – If President Obama were a quarterback, he’d be a master of the fake, Fred Barnes writes in the Weekly Standard. Using “misdirection,” he markets “his product—the liberal agenda, plus a few add-ons—in a manner that disguises what he's really up to.” While trumpeting the free market, Obama has effectively nationalized GM, co-opting management and imposing an environmentalist agenda, all while making it “sound like the corporate equivalent of car repair.”

The same is true for the financial sector, Barnes writes. Sure, Obama says his plan will encourage growth. But in reality, incentives “created to increase investment and charitable donations will vanish” and companies’ “ability to compete in the global economy will fall.” Obama is even brasher when he claims to want to cut the deficit. “In truth,” Barnes writes, “Obama plans to borrow and spend far more than ever.”

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (1)]

President Barack Obama. (AP Photo)

Obama plays some hoops. (AP Photo)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

Obama's use of misdirection is working. But there's a lesson from football that may apply to Obama. If a team uses a tactic too often, everyone catches on. And it doesn't work anymore.
- Fred Barnes

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Boehner to House: Pass Deal by Wednesday

Even though 'there is no deal' yet

(NEWSER) - The House must move to raise the debt ceiling by Wednesday, John Boehner told a closed House GOP meeting. First, of course, a deal must be struck, and as yet, “there is no deal. There is no agreement in private,” Boehner told the press, and leaders aren’t “close” to one. The House, however, has “done its job” in seeking agreement, he said, and the Senate needs to do its part, the AP notes. Meanwhile, progress reports continue to conflict sharply. More»

Obama Weighs New Wave of Tax Cuts, Stimulus

Team searches for ways to bolster economy

(NEWSER) - With economic recovery looking sluggish at best , President Obama is considering a national infrastructure program, alongside a wave of tax cuts for businesses and individuals. Up for discussion are additional tax cuts for small businesses, a possible payroll tax cut for businesses and individuals, and other tax breaks aimed at encouraging businesses to hire, sources tell the Wall Street Journal . More»

It's the Anti -Stimulus We Should Be Worried About

State budget cuts are wiping out the effects of the stimulus

(NEWSER) - The success of the Obama stimulus in creating jobs has been broadly, and furiously, debated—and will continue to be as the election season nears. But Ezra Klein argues today that in the end it's the "anti-stimulus"—the massive constriction of state budgets—that will decide our economic fate. Budget gaps in 46 states have led them to slash jobs and/or raise taxes, overwhelming the effect of the stimulus. "In an effort to do right by the numbers, they're doing wrong by the economy." More»

1 Year In, Stimulus Has Saved 2M Jobs

Critics who say it's failed are off base: David Leonhardt

(NEWSER) - It may not “yet feel like much of a recovery” to jobless Americans, President Obama concedes, but it’s thanks to the massive economic stimulus package passed a year ago “that a second depression is no longer a possibility.” Obama celebrated the anniversary of the recovery act today with a reminder that it had saved or created around 2 million jobs. And David Leonhardt seconds the president's claim. The “best-known economic research firms” all agree with the president’s jobs numbers, he writes in the New York Times . More»

Obama Readies $3.8T Budget With Record $1.6T Deficit

Record shortfall in current fiscal year would shrink to $1.3T in 2011

(AP) - President Obama's proposed budget predicts the national deficit will crest at a record-breaking $1.6 trillion in the current fiscal year, then start to recede in 2011 to $1.3 trillion, a congressional official said today. The new budget, out tomorrow, says deficits over the next decade will average 4.5% of the size of the economy, a level economists say is dangerously high if not addressed, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the budget before its public release. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website