| 1. "Defense Official: Obama Calling for Defense Budget Cuts": Fox News is reporting that "a senior U.S. defense official" is saying that the Obama administration "has asked the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff to cut the Pentagon's budget request for the fiscal year 2010 by more than 10 percent -- about $55 billion." Fox News may be trying to use this story to whip up the "weak on national security" offensive against Obama, but if public opinion data is any indication, it won't work. What you rarely hear from a Pentagon-worshiping media is that the American people believe we spend way too much on defense right now. According to a 2007 Gallup poll, "the public's view that the federal government is spending too much on the military has increased substantially this year, to its highest level in more than 15 years." The poll found a plurality - more than 4 in 10 Americans - now saying the government is spending too much for national defense and the military. Likewise a 2005 PIPA poll shows that, if given the chance, Americans would make deep cuts to the bloated defense budget and redirect most of the savings into domestic programs like health care. Big kudos to President Obama for starting to take on the long-overdue process of reducing defense spending.
2. "Obama's Order Is Likely to Tighten Auto Standards": In a move mixing progressive federalism with sound environmental policy, the New York Times reported last week that President Obama ordered his administration to approve applications from states that wish to raise their auto fuel efficiency standards. Again, this is long-overdue - and Obama gets big kudos.
3. "Main Street Reviles Wall Street Bonuses": The Washington post reports that the Obama administration has - finally - subscribed to the idea that "companies on the federal dole should be forced to radically cut their dividends." Progressives have been pushing for this since the bailout debate began - there's absolutely no reason why taxpayer money should subsidize bank dividends.
4. "Obama Signs Pro-Labor Executive Orders": Dow Jones reports on Obama signing a package of executive orders repealing those by Bush that effectively allowed all sorts of anti-union behavior by federal contractors. These aren't hugely significant in terms of their economy-wide impact, and they are absolutely no substitute for priorities like the Employee Free Choice Act, but they certainly do set down markers about the constructive relationship this White House wants to build with organized labor.
I'd say the significance of these three pieces of news are in the proper order in terms of importance. They are certainly all significant, but if Obama is really serious about getting the defense budget under control, that would be monumentally huge, because it would provide the federal government the additional revenues needed to fund almost every other major priority in front of our country.
Good on ya, Barack - more like this please.
UPDATE: Chris points out that the defense spending news is a smokescreen, and that actually Pentagon spending will increase by 8% this year. D'oh. Well, three pieces of good news is still good, right? |
