Just when President Obama appeared to be giving his progressive supporters something to cheer about, some on the left say they’re worried the president is setting them up for a major disappointment. Obama on Wednesday outlined a deficit-cutting plan that would protect Medicare and Medicaid from the dramatic changes proposed by congressional Republicans. But by Thursday, the president was already talking about the need for compromise and progressives say they’re watching to see if Obama breaks his pledge to protect those entitlement programs during negotiations with Republicans just as he did when striking deals on earlier budget cuts.
In stark contrast to his condemnation of the Republican budget plan for favoring the wealthy at the expense of the old and the poor, the president on Thursday said, “No matter how we may disagree between parties, no matter how much we spend time debating the issues, at some point we’re going to have to come together as Americans.”
Budget director Jacob Lew underscored that point, saying, “The more support there is for ideas in the broad center, the better off we’ll be.”
That kind of talk alarmed some on the left.
“I swear to God, if he gives in again to Republicans, it’s not going to be pretty — it would be a catastrophic error,” said a high-ranking official in a liberal activist group, who didn’t want to openly criticize the president. “I felt somewhat better after his speech. But we’ve been here before. He needs to keep the goalpost firmly where it is.”
Obama said he would oppose Republican proposals to turn Medicare into a voucher program and turn Medicaid over to the states, arguing they would wipe out benefits for seniors and the poor.
Republicans, meanwhile, declared as dead on arrival Obama’s proposal to increase taxes on those earning more than $250,000 a year, saying the deficit should be reduced through deeper budget cuts.
Now, some analysts doubt either side has left much room for compromise, even though Obama assigned Vice President Biden to work with Republican and Democratic lawmakers to reach one.
“I don’t think much will come of it,” Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said of the upcoming negotiations. “It will be hard for Obama to come off of any of the major parts of his plan without ending up with egg on his face.”
For many Democrats a stalemate may be preferable to a deal. They argue that Republicans will lose credibility on slashing the deficit if they don’t negotiate in good faith with Democrats.
“It’s the equivalent of ‘We’re going to find life in outer space,’ ” Simon Rosenberg, founder and president of the left-leaning think tank NDN, said of the Republican budget plan. “We’re not going to eliminate Medicare. Republicans have not put forward a serious plan. The ball is in their court.”
White House press secretary Jay Carney was adamant that Obama’s deficit-reduction proposal was not a political move and that a deal could be struck by the July deadline set by the president.
“What is true is that these are competing visions and that these are contentious issues,” Carney said. “Just because there’s a lot of heat in these discussions, in these debates, a lot of firmly held convictions, doesn’t mean that we cannot come together and find common ground.”
