Barack Obama is caught between a rising deficit, stubborn unemployment and political paralysis

A MEETING between Barack Obama and Republican members of the House of Representatives last week proved to be an unusually frank, if polite, affair. The president sought to put the members of the minority party on the spot before the television cameras, allowing them to voice their concerns but also asking them to offer proposals. Both sides were pleased with having a chance to make their rivals squirm. The deficit was an area of particular focus.

The Republicans, as well as the amorphous but vigorous “tea party” movement, have managed to put deficit spending on the national agenda like at no time since the early 1990s when Bill Clinton came to office on a wave of anxiety about the economy. During Mr Clinton’s terms the economy boomed and deficits became surpluses. During those of his successor, George Bush, the public let slip its attention on overspending. Two wars, two popular tax cuts, economic ups and downs, and an expensive drug benefit for Medicare (the health system for the elderly) that was supported by both parties, pushed public finances deep into the red. …