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.

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