Paul Krugman: As Another Confrontation Looms, Will Obama Stand His Ground?

Tuesday, 08 January 2013 09:56 

To make sense of what happened with last week’s deal in the United States, we need to ask what is really at stake, and how much difference it makes in the larger picture.

So, what are the two sides really fighting about? Surely the answer is the future of the welfare state. Progressives want to maintain the achievements of the New Deal and the Great Society, and also to implement and improve Obamacare so that the United States becomes a normal advanced country that guarantees essential health care to all its citizens. The right wants to roll the clock back to 1930, if not to the 19th century.