for those of you wondering what obama stands for, what his core beliefs are, i would suggest that you read or watch the speech. it was an intelligent, passionate defense of his view of america and of the role of government. it is left of center but not that far from the center. he starts, after all, by taking the problem of the long-term debt seriously, proposes major spending reductions in all areas, and crucially proposes a failsafe mechanism that would kick in if the deficit did not shrink. it sounds like a technicality, but it is crucial and a sign of obama s seriousness because most budget deficit plans, including his own make, shall we say, generous assumptions about growth and revenue and efficiencies and cost savings so that on paper the plan always shows the deficit going down. now, the failsafe works thus. if the actual deficit does not go down, something that always happens, in fact, congress is then forced to choose more