What Obama will spend
Will Democrats run up deficits? If so, will that save the economy?
So much for “pay as you go” budgeting in Washington, said The Wall Street Journal in an editorial. “Democrats ran on ‘paygo’ in 2006,” promising to offset spending increases with spending cuts elsewhere, or tax hikes. Now, “with the recession as an excuse for just about anything,” Democrats are promising President-elect Barack Obama they won’t tie his hands with anything as annoying as fiscal responsibility.
Voters just gave Obama permission to move away from conservative policies, said E.J. Dionne in The Washington Post, the same way they gave Ronald Reagan the OK to abandon liberal strategies. So, like Reagan, Obama should “not be afraid to be audacious” as he pushes for health care, energy, tax reform, and education policies to help the middle class.
Obama says the nation needs another stimulus package now, said Amity Shlaes in the New York Post. Call it a “pre-Christmas bonus.” That, along with all the Democrats’ talk of spending on roads, bridges, and other infrastructure, sounds like Obama has in mind a modern version of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. The trouble is, “the economy never quite recovered” under Roosevelt.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Right, so Obama has to be more bold than FDR, said Paul Krugman in The New York Times. The New Deal had long-range success—bank-deposit insurance and Social Security have insulated Americans from financial hardship for decades. But Roosevelt's public works spending was an “inadequate response to the Great Depression.” If Obama hopes to deliver an economic recovery, he should “err on the side of too much stimulus” rather than too little.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
What should you be stockpiling for 'World War Three'?
In the Spotlight Britons advised to prepare after the EU tells its citizens to have an emergency kit just in case
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Carnivore diet: why people are eating only meat
The Explainer 'Meatfluencers' are taking social media by storm but experts warn meat-only diets have health consequences
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human blood
Under the radar Drugging the bugs
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
By The Week Staff Published
-
'Seriously, not literally': how should the world take Donald Trump?
Today's big question White House rhetoric and reality look likely to become increasingly blurred
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?
Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Democrats vs. Republicans: who are the billionaires backing?
The Explainer Younger tech titans join 'boys' club throwing money and support' behind President Trump, while older plutocrats quietly rebuke new administration
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
US election: where things stand with one week to go
The Explainer Harris' lead in the polls has been narrowing in Trump's favour, but her campaign remains 'cautiously optimistic'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is Trump okay?
Today's Big Question Former president's mental fitness and alleged cognitive decline firmly back in the spotlight after 'bizarre' town hall event
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The life and times of Kamala Harris
The Explainer The vice-president is narrowly leading the race to become the next US president. How did she get to where she is now?
By The Week UK Published
-
Will 'weirdly civil' VP debate move dial in US election?
Today's Big Question 'Diametrically opposed' candidates showed 'a lot of commonality' on some issues, but offered competing visions for America's future and democracy
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published