Obama’s image of himself is not just pompous and hackneyed, but downright insulting.
We don’t need to worry that Obama is a socialist or a Marxist or any such thing. Yes, Obama believes in greater government investment in and regulation of business; yes, he supports an increase in welfare spending, particularly for health care; yes, he wants to raise taxes on the wealthy. However, Obama believes in government as a supplement and partner to the free-market system, not as a replacement for it. In The Audacity of Hope, Obama speaks of the “bankruptcy of socialism and communism” and praises America’s “business culture,” which has resulted in “a prosperity that’s unmatched in human history.”
There is good reason to believe, moreover, that Obama’s plans to increase welfare spending will founder. The government has already spent trillions on the bailout of the American financial sector, and now the Democrats want to bail out the automakers too. It will be difficult for the Democrats to justify increasing the size of the welfare state after this orgy of spending. Democrats will also find it hard to convince Americans that businesses should spend more on employee health insurance during a recession when business will be struggling. Finally, fiscal conservatives will be able to make a strong case that tax increases of any kind will retard economic recovery by lowering investment.Obama undoubtedly favors amnesty and other forms immigrationliberalization, although not as passionately as John McCain does.However, Mark Krikorian, the foremost expert on American immigrationissues, has convincingly arguedthat the new administration recognizes the unpopularity of amnesty andwill not push for it in the foreseeable future. The incoming WhiteHouse Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has said that amnesty has “emerged asthe third rail of American politics” and once told a Hispanic activistthat “there is no way this legislation [comprehensive immigrationreform] is happening in the Democratic House, in the Democratic Senate,in the Democratic presidency, in the first term.” Many of the incomingDemocrats ran on an anti-amnesty platform; in fact, the next Congresswill not move substantially to the left on immigration.