General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: A Letter to My Sublime Allies on the US Left [View all]merrily
(45,251 posts)As did the Grand Bargain Commission--but the Sperling's sequester proceeded anyway.
He made a pre-inauguration promise to cut entitlements and his first budget indeed included cuts to fuel subsidies and SNAP has been cut a number of times.
No one is buying the 27 dimensional chess fairy tales anymore, if ever they did. McConnell stuck fast to his "Don't support Obama on anything (except TPP, shhh) policy. Obama had no way of ensuring McConnell would do that, despite putting prized plums like OASDI and Medicare on the table.
Besides, the promise to cut entitlements was, in itself, damaging, coming, as it did, from a very popular Democratic President Elect. Now, it can forever be cited as proof that both major parties acknowledged that entitlements must be cut.
Obama has done a number of good things, but your post is dreamland.