With each successive day, this administration is proving that packaging is not a clear indicator of contents.  On the box we bought it said, "Change."  Its ingredients were: a new style of governing—one where ideology is left behind and replaced with pragmatic collaboration; a government populated by the best and the brightest—all pulling together to constructively solve difficult problems; a well-oiled machine, ready to step in on day one and make a difference; Camelot.

Well, so far, Camelot feels a bit more like Sandlot.

Today's Fiscal Responsibility Summit is yet another example of what the Obama administration has come to embody.  It was political theater of the first order.  It's brilliance, should it continue to go unexposed, lies in the fact that it plays marvelously to the casual observer—which happens to be the preponderance of the electorate.  It's designed to give the illusion of open-mindedness.  John McCain played the perfect stooge at today's Summit-ending Q&A session when he was tapped by Obama to pose the first question.  Beautiful.  Just beautiful.

What has resulted from all this posturing and pseudo-listening over the past 30+ days?  From the GOP's standpoint, exactly nothing.  At every turn, Obama has pushed his Big Government agenda, all while singing from the bipartisanship hymnal.  Every major policy proposal has been out of the Liberal playbook—not a single bone for fiscal conservatives. 

Of course, he has every right to pursue his program.  The intellectual dishonesty, tough, is off-putting.  More than likely, it will also have political consequences down the road.  The bloom will come off the rose.  The opposition and the American people don't like to be played.  They will eventually see through the pretense.  If it doesn't stop soon, it will assuredly lead to more partisanship and less trust.  Exactly what Obama was elected to rise above.

The tipping point could very well be the budget negotiation.  Obama just pledged to halve the deficit within four years.  On the surface, that is music to the ears of many, including Republicans.  But, how does he get there?  There's the rub.  He somehow wants to reduce an already $1.3 trillion (and growing) deficit while simultaneously raising taxes and expanding government in unprecedented fashion (e.g. massive healthcare and energy spending hikes).  This is liable to be the last chance for bipartisanship.  The Republicans obviously cannot support a budget so constructed; it is antithetical to everything for which they stand.  It is also contrary to general  knowledge of what not to do in a major slowdown.  Raising taxes in the midst of a deep recession?  Besides lacking any common sense, it is eerily similar (minus the spending cuts) to Roosevelt's move in 1937 that triggered another significant leg down in the Depression.

So, will we get more political sophistry from Obama, or will he make a legitimate effort to incorporate some Republican pro-growth ideas into the budget.  If he does, there's probably a deal to be had.  If not, it will be a replay of the "stimulus" saga—a shutout in the House, and near shutout in the Senate. 

It's possible that Obama's first budget volley was intended to be so outrageously Big Government as a negotiating ploy—starting sooo far to the Left that he can be conciliatory on a few items, while not detracting materially from a very Left-leaning  plan.  It remains to be seen.  To date, he's conceded virtually nothing, while working diligently to give the opposite impression.

A lot of people bought the Obama package thinking it was fresh and organic; only to find out it's loaded with trans fats. 

So much for truth in labeling.