The Gary Null Blog

Progressives are furious that Obama, yet again, pulled his punches. The White House says it's all part of the master plan.

By David Corn | Tue Aug. 2, 2011 3:00 AM PDT

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/08/obama-tactics-liberal-anger

You may remember the moment when Barack Obama declared war on the Republican game plan—or so it seemed. Five days after negotiating a budget-cutting deal [1] that averted a government shutdown in April, Obama gave a speech [2] at George Washington University, slamming the GOP over the slash-and-burn budget proposal [3] of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). Republicans, he declared, were pushing a "deeply pessimistic" vision [4] of America's future: "This is a vision that says even though Americans can't afford to invest in education at current levels or clean energy, even though we can't afford to maintain our commitment on Medicare and Medicaid, we can somehow afford more than $1 trillion in new tax breaks for the wealthy." Such a vision, Obama vowed, would not prevail "as long as I'm president."

Fighting words—and liberals were elated. Jonathan Chait of The New Republic cheered [9], "He beat Ryan and the Republicans to a bloody pulp.…He expressed moral outrage in a way I've never heard him do before, and in a way I didn't think he was capable of."