Obama’s Budgetary Dance With the Devil

The president's budget negotiations go from bad to worse.

By Imara Jones Apr 05, 2013

President Obama may be on a new collision course with those that put him in office. Today’s headline in the New York Times shows why. "Obama Budget to Include Cuts to Programs in Hopes of Deal," flashed the world’s busiest news site. According to the Times, Obama is set to offer up close to a trillion dollars in new cuts to domestic programs ranging in areas from health to unemployment insurance. This latest round of reductions would fall hardest on those hit by the recession and demand very little from the few who’ve never had it better. As such, the president would continue an unfortunate pattern on economics of yielding to the power plays of Republicans against the interests of the vast majority of Americans. But beyond this, the proposal includes two curveballs which might aggravate his base even more.