Cameron’s America
By ROGER COHEN
NYT
LONDON — Prime Minister David Cameron came into office seeking relations with the United States that were “solid” but not “slavish.” That was a not-so-subtle allusion to the perceived poodle complex of his predecessor, Tony Blair. As President Obama arrives here for a state visit, I’d say the Cameron team can declare mission accomplished — although preferably not from the flight deck of a warship.
They might also mutter: Careful what you wish for. I’ll get to that in a moment.
Cameron has been most conspicuously un-slavish on the Middle East. Along with France and Germany, Britain voted in favor of a U.N. resolution in February condemning Israeli settlements, while the United States vetoed it despite Obama’s repeated criticism of said settlements. Score one for British consistency over American contortionism.
He’s also been un-slavish on the economy. Britain has tackled its fiscal crisis head-on with draconian cuts while the Obama administration has left those hard choices for another day. The British recovery is austerity-clouded, but Cameron cannot be accused, like Obama, of having no plan for getting public finances under control. The U.S. deficit is a time bomb aimed at future generations.
The required political trade-off in the United States is obvious: Republicans must accept rising taxes while Democrats must accept falling entitlements. Obama could do worse than listen to Europeans, who have grappled with such issues — particularly bringing runaway entitlements under control — for a long time.
(More here.)
NYT
LONDON — Prime Minister David Cameron came into office seeking relations with the United States that were “solid” but not “slavish.” That was a not-so-subtle allusion to the perceived poodle complex of his predecessor, Tony Blair. As President Obama arrives here for a state visit, I’d say the Cameron team can declare mission accomplished — although preferably not from the flight deck of a warship.
They might also mutter: Careful what you wish for. I’ll get to that in a moment.
Cameron has been most conspicuously un-slavish on the Middle East. Along with France and Germany, Britain voted in favor of a U.N. resolution in February condemning Israeli settlements, while the United States vetoed it despite Obama’s repeated criticism of said settlements. Score one for British consistency over American contortionism.
He’s also been un-slavish on the economy. Britain has tackled its fiscal crisis head-on with draconian cuts while the Obama administration has left those hard choices for another day. The British recovery is austerity-clouded, but Cameron cannot be accused, like Obama, of having no plan for getting public finances under control. The U.S. deficit is a time bomb aimed at future generations.
The required political trade-off in the United States is obvious: Republicans must accept rising taxes while Democrats must accept falling entitlements. Obama could do worse than listen to Europeans, who have grappled with such issues — particularly bringing runaway entitlements under control — for a long time.
(More here.)
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