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Thanks to Dems, Centrist America Suffers Again

We're rehashing the stale debate of big vs. small government

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 23, 2010 11:30 AM CDT

(Newser) – David Brooks sees himself as an advocate of "progressive conservatism," which he says puts him at the center ("or a step to the right") of American politics. And he's not happy with the plight of the "broad middle" these days. He had hopes that Barack Obama could move the nation "past the old polarities," leading to a "revival" of the center, but it hasn't worked out that way.

"In the first year of the Obama administration, the Democrats, either wittingly or unwittingly, decided to put the big government-versus-small government debate at the center of American life," Brooks writes for the New York Times. Their policies, taken as a whole, have the feel of a "federal onslaught." Cue the outrage. "The Democrats have become the government party and the Republicans are the small government party. The stale, old debate is back with a fury."

President Barack Obama speaks about financial reform at the Great Hall at Cooper Union in New York, Thursday, April 22, 2010.
President Barack Obama speaks about financial reform at the Great Hall at Cooper Union in New York, Thursday, April 22, 2010.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 44 comments
aces08
Apr 26, 2010 10:07 PM CDT
Being a "centrist" is basiclly saying "I know this country has problems and people are starving, losing their homes, etc but i really just don't want change. I basically want to look like I'm not evil while keeping the status qua".
Queens4life
Apr 24, 2010 4:57 PM CDT
"In the first year of the Obama administration, the Democrats, either wittingly or unwittingly, decided to put the big government-versus-small government debate at the center of American life," Brooks writes for the New York Times. <- um.... really? You NEVER seen a glenn beck episode? Someones confused with their reporting..
emptycalm
Apr 24, 2010 12:43 AM CDT
The biggest problem with this left-right political structure is that people for some reason assume the answer is somewhere in the middle. A land where we can be sort of socialist and sort of capitalist or vise versa. This is wrong. Lazy undecided centrist america is as much to blame for their problems as the politicians and the businessmen are.

 
Democrats • bipartisanship • Obama administration • Republicans • small government • big government

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