Krauthammer points out that Obama has essentially become a born-again budget balancer. Put another way, Obama is doing the politically expedient thing. After he ignored the opinion's of the debt commission that he appointed and attempted to pass a bill that would increase the debt ceiling with zero debt reduction in April, Krauthammer agues that Obama has finally begun to understand that if the public want spending cuts, then the only chance that Obama has at re-election will be to give the people what they want.
He also contends that Obama, not congressional Republicans looking to avoid any form of tax increases, is the one who is truly playing politics:
As part of the pose as the forward-
looking grown-up rising above all the others who play politics, Obama insists upon a long-term deal. And what is Obama’s definition of long-term? Surprise: An agreement that gets him past Nov. 6, 2012.
Nothing could be more political. It’s like his Afghan surge wind-down date. September 2012 has no relation to any military reality on the ground. It is designed solely to position Obama favorably going into the last weeks of his reelection campaign.
The rest of the Krauthammer article can be read here.
