Politico reports that the Obama Administration will “focus extensively on cutting the federal deficit in 2010.” Politico then lazily writes:
The big question for Obama – and the country – is whether the sudden concern about deficits will be more rhetoric than reality once his first State of the Union address concludes.
Hmm, let’s use the WABAC Machine to journey back to March 2009 where President Obama said:
The budget I submitted to Congress will build our economic recovery on a stronger foundation, so that we don’t face another crisis like this 10 or 20 years from now. We invest in the renewable sources of energy that will lead to new jobs, new businesses, and less dependence on foreign oil. We invest in our schools and our teachers so that our children have the skills they need to compete with any workers in the world. We invest in reform that will bring down the cost of health care for families, businesses and our government. And in this budget, we have — we have to make the tough choices necessary to cut our deficit in half by the end of my first term — even under the most pessimistic estimates.
At the end of the day, the best way to bring our deficit down in the long run is not with a budget that continues the very same policies that have led to a narrow prosperity and massive debt. It’s with a budget that leads to broad economic growth by moving from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest.
You don’t have to be Mr. Peabody to write a good news article, but it might help.