Why Obama Isn't Fighting the Budget Battle

Robert Reich, the twenty-second Secretary of Labor explains why Barack Obama is acting coy in the budget battle. Worry on the part of Congressional Democrats is justified. Here is a quote from Reich at his web log:

Worried congressional Democrats say the President needs to use his bully pulpit to counter defections in Democatic ranks, such as the ten Democrats and one allied Independent who on Wednesday voted against a Senate leadership plan to cut $6.2 billion from the federal budget over the rest of fiscal year 2011. They want Obama to grab the initiative and push a plan to eliminate tax breaks for oil companies and for companies that move manufacturing facilities out of the country, and a proposal for a surtax on millionaires.

Most importantly, they’re worried the President’s absence from the debate will result in Republicans winning large budget cuts for the remainder of the fiscal year – large enough to imperil the fragile recovery.

But Obama won’t actively fight the budget battle if the current White House view of how he wins in 2012 continues to prevail.

-- http://robertreich.org/

(This is the 600th post on The Musical Patriot.)