Is Obama Progressive at all?

      The boobirds have been out in force-nothing new here-but with the latest deal many feel Obama has totally drunk the (austerity) Koolaid and given away the store. The knock on him is that by allowing the debate to be framed as one where the main focus for America right now is to cut the deficit and "live within our means" he has sold out in the fight to help America's economy even rhetorically.

     I will grant that I am no fan of the "politics of austerity" and have felt that it is surreal that while the economy continues to suffer we are talking about "tightening our belts" etc. One can't help but return to something Michael Lind wrote about years ago(I believe in "Up From Conservatism") namely "the strange death of Maynard Keynes."

     For it does seem that Keynes is dead to hear the priorities of US policy makers these days and it's almost like Keynes "died" just at his highest watershed, when Richard Nixon-of all people-declared "we are all Keynsians now." Not for nothing that while liberals hated Nixon at the time  he is now almost a figure of nostalgia- many have called him"the last liberal."

     It does seem that by speaking of "living within our means" Obama concedes way too much. Yet I think there is a-progressive-method on such madness. 

    First of all even if the politics of austerity is wrongheaded-as I believe it is-it does have resonance with a large part of the public who believes that there should be a balanced budget amendment or even that we shouldn't have raised the debt ceiling at all. So when Rush Limbaugh and Michelle Bachman said "don't raise the debt limit period" they were in line with the majority of Americans.

     Now doubt this is the problem with American opinion-it is often as in this case blinkered and contradictory. For while it desired to cut the deficit and didn't even like the idea of raising the debt ceiling it also didn't want the savings to come from SS(in reality Medicare and Medicaid are facts of SS so simply writing that should encompass them all).

      For this reason Obama had to talk the language some as there is a sizable part of the electorate who has bought into austerity-in theory.

    Here's one thing he has done for liberals very recently no more co-pays for women's birth control
http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/08/maybe_the_protracted_debt_ceiling.html

     Or new strong fuel efficiency standards
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/08/02/automakers-support-higher-mpg-rules-for-now/

     Nor has he forgot us. While many of his left-wing critics claim that now that he has "drunk the koolaid" there's nothing left for any kind of jobs agenda Obama was right on it just after the debt limit deal passed.

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-says-debt-bill-not-only-step-economic-172436865.html

     In many ways I think he is using Clinton's strategy when he fought Gingrich on the government shutdown. Ultimately Clinton outwitted Gingrich and company and I think in time we may find Obama did the same.

     At the least he was quietly able to achieve two pretty big victories while this ceiling farce was front and center.

     As to the cuts they are backloaded at least and can be maneuvered to where they can do minimal damage.

    And the mandatory cuts aren't so "mandatory." They have to be voted for by Congress and can be vetoed by the President. And this will not happen in worst case scenario before 2013 so if we can take back the House there is nothing to worry about.

     Cenk Ughur has said he doesn't think Obama is progressive at all. When you look at even these 2 recent items-54.5 average mpg by 2025 and no co-pay for women's birth control clearly Cenk overstates it.

      A blue dog Democrat would never do either of these things.