The president has a new budget coming out. The New York Times calls it "a significant shift in fiscal strategy." The Washington Post calls it a "stark shift in strategy." National Journal calls it "a gutsy change in strategy."
Theoretically, one would expect this document to demonstrate some sort of change in strategy.
But does it, really? The full details of the plan have been shared with some congressional leaders, and they don't become public until Wednesday next week. But the blueprint looks remarkably similar to the plans Obama has proposed -- and which subsequently failed to move through Congress.
Here was Obama's last plan. It called for significant health care cuts over the next decade, particularly by reducing payments to drug companies and hospitals. It called for changing the way we measure inflation, which would raise taxes and cut Social Security benefits slowly for some recipients. It called for replacing the sequester. And it called for immediate additional spending, focused on infrastructure.
Here's what we know about the new plan. It calls for health care cuts over the next decade, particularly by reducing payments to hospitals and other "providers." (Check.) It calls for changing the way we measure inflation, which would raise taxes and cut Social Security benefits slowly for some recipients. (Check.) It calls for replacing the sequester. (Check.) And it calls for immediate additional spending, focused on infrastructure and education aid (Check.).