Last week I speculated that the worm was turning on the popularity of President Obama’s spending programs. Today the Wall Street Journal notes American’s growing anxiety over the budget deficit and government intervention in the economy:
WASHINGTON — After a fairly smooth opening, President Barack Obama faces new concerns among the American public about the budget deficit and government intervention in the economy as he works to enact ambitious health and energy legislation, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.
But the poll suggests Mr. Obama faces challenges on multiple fronts, including growing concerns about government spending and the bailout of auto companies.
A solid majority — 58% — said that the president and Congress should focus on keeping the budget deficit down, even if takes longer for the economy to recover.
Today also brings news that the President may be losing control of the healthcare reform debate as the opponents of ObamaCare seem to have discovered that free speech and open debate are still available options in the District.
….And the trouble spilled over to powerful interest groups that have been muting their concern in hopes of keeping a seat at the table. Now they’re no longer staying quiet, issuing critical public statements and strategizing privately with allies.
For months, the unusual harmony among interest groups, lawmakers and the White House made the task seem almost easy. But in last few days, the cold reality of piecing together the most complex bill in decades has begun to sink in.
Ed Morrisey observes that this is déjà vu all over again:
Republicans have a great opening here, as the Democrats appear completely unprepared for the mammoth costs associated with ObamaCare. The same lack of realization doomed the Clinton effort in 1993-4 as well. The Democrats tried to impose a massive reorganization of the health-care industry on a nation that clearly didn’t want it, at a cost we were clearly not prepared to pay. The end result? A massive loss in Congress for the Democrats as the country made Clinton pay for his overreach.
Supposedly, all of the Hope and Change would make 2009 different from 1993, but so far, it looks like a replay.
Keep your eye on the price of crude oil and the ten year Treasury bond, both of which serve as the canary in the mine for this economy. Americans seem to be stirring to the reckless spending and the damage it portends for the US economy.
