I should simply outsource all my political blogging to Matthew Yglesias, since I 98% have the same views as he does (or at least I think I do when I read him, maybe I'm just weak willed). In any case, this seems about right:
The striking thing about [recent Republican and liberal Democratic budget] proposals is their mix of radicalism and conservatism. Ryan’s budget really would leave the tax burden more-or-less where it’s historically been. And the People’s Budget really doesn’t entail a dramatic expansion in social services. It’s just that maintaining historical levels of taxation require huge cuts in service levels, and maintaining historic commitments to social services requires big tax hikes. But to the “moderate” on the street, this all sounds extreme. A sensibly centrist budget plan shouldn’t have to include big cuts in major programs or big tax increases. Things should just more or less continue as they’ve been. At the elite level, people tend to know this isn’t workable and thus find themselves pushed to a whole variety of views that the public doesn’t like.
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