Will Moderates Abandon Ship?

Will President Barack Obama be able to steer his budget through Congress? Some moderates are already uneasy: Politico reports on a closed-door meeting yesterday of 14 Senate Democrats and one independent discussing how “centrists in that chamber can assert more leverage on the major policy debates that will dominate this Congress.” Democrats skeptical so far include Mary Landrieu, Ben Nelson, and Evan Bayh. In The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, Bayh criticizes the House’s $400 billion appropriations bill. “The Senate should reject this bill,” he writes. “If we do not, President Barack Obama should veto it.” The thrust of his op-ed is the importance of fiscal responsibility, although he fails to mention that Obama does, in fact, plan to halve the deficit by the end of his term.