Most progressive economists think that long-term deficit reduction is a good idea, but budgets should increase in the short term, even at the expense of deficits, in order to help inject more money into the economy -- to create jobs.
Obama, on the other hand, seems to be on the verge of doing the opposite: freezing the federal budget in the short term (3 years). He is supposedly going to propose a few minor -- i.e. low cost -- sops to the the middle class. One of these involves tax credits (for college expenses and child care) which means, of course, no help for those who don't pay taxes. This group includes some of our neediest citizens, including many of the jobless.
Also, Obama seems to be sticking with Bernanke at the Fed; of course, so is Paul Krugman, who says that Bernanke is less bad than others waiting in the wings. So there's not even a symbolic change in the economists who have the Presdent's ear.
We'll just have to wait and see if the President is going to disappoint progressives once again. He's been bad on the war(s), bad on the economy, and, so far, bad on even healthcare where he has exercised weak -- in fact, bad -- leadership. That's three strikes. Hmmm.
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“I think people are dazzled by Obama’s rhetoric, and that people ought to begin to understand that Obama is going to be a mediocre president — which means, in our time, a dangerous president — unless there is some national movement to push him in a better direction.” - Howard Zinn
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