How often has the Leader and his cohorts on the Hill told us about the importance of making “hard choices” — while running away from those choices as fast as he can? In fact, the burgeoning federal deficit has afforded Mr. Obama the latest occasion for sounding off on the unwillingness of others to make “hard choices.” Having met with his bipartisan (read: “Republicans will give me some cover”) commission to address the debt, the New York Times reports that Mr. Obama emerged to proclaim:
“This alone will not make up for the years in which those in Washington refused to make hard choices and live within their means.”
“The years”? Mr. Obama, perhaps you mean this year, with yet another annual federal deficit exceeding $1 trillion? There is plenty of dark humor in a bipartisan commission to reduce the deficit when it has been both parties that have been responsible for reckless, often unconstitutional, appropriations. But that the Candidate of Change — who has pursued ballooning the deficit as if it were his motivating purpose in life — could deliver such a line while maintaining his composure is breathtaking.
No, there is no sign that “choice” is a meaningful term when speaking of federal spending. What, one might wonder, would constitute a “choice” on Capitol Hill?