More than one left-leaner I know has been complaining that Democrats are walking into a trap when it comes to talking about deficit reduction, and that it really should be jobs that they go on about instead. I think there's an intersection of the two issues that is being ignored: all these un- and under-employed people are struggling with their own finances, and giving up a lot to balance their own budgets. It's not fun to do.
When everyone's sore about cutting their own spending, it's easy to (falsely) compare the Federal budget to a household one, and act like it really is that simple. Mr. and Mrs. Public have been cutting back so they can make their student loan payments, and if anyone should be cutting back, it's that wasteful Federal Government. They're throwing away billions every year on the governmental equivalent to daily Starbucks stops! Even I know better than that!
I was disappointed to see that Obama himself is going for the "household budget" frame. We may well go broke underestimating the American public.
