Hasta La Gadget!

With tonight’s State of the Union address, President Obama attempted to refocus his new second term with a focus on jobs and supporting the middle class. He clearly wants to stop talking about deficits and debt and start talking about reviving the economy for people. His best line was a clear attempt to pivot in the right direction:

“Let’s be clear: deficit reduction alone is not an economic plan. A growing economy that creates good, middle-jobs – that must be the North Star that guides our efforts.”

And yet, as Al Pacino, who longs to escape the mob, laments in The Godfather, “Just when I thought I was out…they pull me back in” President Obama feels like he has to assert that “a plan to reduce the deficit must be part of our agenda” and that he must keep negotiating with Republicans about cutting spending and raising taxes. He could have declared tonight that we’ve done enough on deficit reduction – and that, as the Economic Policy Institute has recently explained, we have stabilized the debt as a percentage of GDP and we should be spending money to spur growth. Instead, President Obama has clearly embraced the urging of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (and Republicans to the right of CBPP) that he needs to find and additional $1.5 trillion more in deficit reductions. As a result, he’s got most of the progressive movement working earnestly that we can accomplish this conservative goal in a way that doesn’t cut important spending – and mostly by raising taxes progressively – or cuts Pentagon spending.

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