Obama Laments Lack of Fiscal Flexibility

March 27 - Inyesterday's speechon the Economy, Barack Obama pointed to deficit spending as a key contributorto the current economic downturn:

"The policies of the Bush Administration threw the economy further out of balance. Tax cuts without end for the wealthiest Americans. A trillion dollar war in Iraq that didn't need to be fought, paid for with deficit spending and borrowing from foreign creditors like China. A complete disdain for pay-as-you-go budgeting - coupled with a generally scornful attitude towards oversight and enforcement - allowed far too many to put short-term gain ahead of long term consequences. The American economy was bound to suffer a painful correction, and policymakers found themselves with fewer resources to deal with the consequences."

The Senator clearly understands the dangers largedeficits pose both to our economy, and the flexibility of our policy making. Wehope to hear more from Senator Obama on how to solve this problem moving forward.