Some commentators have seen President Obama’s second inaugural speech as brazenly confrontational, pushing a liberal social agenda without regard for what Republicans (or anyone else) thinks. But another interpretation hits closer to the truth: President Obama’s second inaugural was a bait and switch, throwing red meat before the liberal base to distract them from his looming fiscal failures.

Whatever you think of civil rights or climate change — issues that the president put center stage Monday — they aren’t among the most serious issues confronting the nation at the moment. America’s crippling debt and deficit — $37 trillion for Medicare alone — is the defining issue of our time.