News Conference News: Obama to Run in 2012 as Moderate Republican

No Official Announcement, President Feels Most People Will Figure It Out

President Obama held a news conference on Monday prior to another negotiation with Republican House and Senate leaders about how to cut the federal budget by trillions of dollars over the next decade, and how to get very modest tax increases on the wealthiest of Americans to slightly ease the burden.  Given the President’s rhetoric both earlier in the discussions and at the news conference it has become clear to most observers that the President has given up on the Democratic Party and has secretly switched his affiliation so that he is now a moderate Republican.  

For those who doubt that Mr. Obama has changed to a moderate Republican, consider the evidence of this change from the news conference..

1. After VP Biden’s negotiations reached agreement on cuts of about $1.5 billion, Mr. Obama signaled he wants much bigger cuts in federal spending.

2. Mr. Obama has suggested any revenue increases from tax law changes would not come until 2013, knowing full well that a Republican Congress at that time will likely kill any revenue increase.

3. Social Security cuts are in the bargaining mix, bringing forth a long held goal of Republicans to reduce and ultimately privatize Social Security.

4. The President criticized Democrats for wanting social programs without providing a means to pay for them, ignoring completely the fact that Democrats had proposed higher taxes on the wealthy to pay for such programs and reduce the deficit.

5. The “Confidence Fairy” was invoked by Mr. Obama.  The Confidence Fairy is the fantasy that business investment will increase because business will gain more confidence in the economy from a deficit deal, even though the economic conditions that support investment are deteriorating.  The Confidence Fairy has long been a fixture in the imagination of Republicans.

6. One solid piece of news is that the President will support continuing the reduction in payroll taxes on employees.  Tax cuts to reduce the deficit have been an integral part of Republican economic policy despite the failure of them to actually do so.  The failure of the current payroll tax cut to stimulate job creation was not noted by Mr. Obama

7. Republicans who want budget cuts never name the programs they want to cut or the rationale for cutting them.  Mr. Obama did not name the programs he wants to cut or the rationale for cutting them.

As reported in the Washington Post

Obama’s political strategy since his party lost the midterm elections has been to portray himself as a reasonable man in partisan Washington, at times angering Republicans and Democrats in doing so.

Yep, that’s the very definition of a moderate Republican, one who has no support in either the Democratic or Republican parties.  Great re-election strategy.