Ted Frank of the Manhattan Institute's Point of Law blog has thoughts on President Obama's Wall Street Journal op-ed piece in which the president announces "a government-wide review of the rules already on the books to remove outdated regulations that stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive" and declares, "we are also making it our mission to root out regulations that conflict, that are not worth the cost, or that are just plain dumb."
Mr. Frank writes, "One can cynically suggest that Obama is triangulating, moving to the center (or worse, trying to create the appearance of moving to the center without actually moving) to try to regain the business community's support lost in the first two years of his administration."
But one does not necessarily have to be a cynic to suggest this. Other recent moves by the president or his administration that might be categorized as steps to the center include his agreement to extend the Bush tax cuts on income, dividends, and capital gains; bringing in Bruce Reed from the Democratic Leadership Council as Vice President Biden's chief of staff; sending out Secretary of State Clinton to press the Arabs on democratic "reform" in what a Wall Street Journal news article called "a tone reminiscent of the Bush administration"; and the president's Tucson speech, which was widely praised by those on the center-right. And Larry Kudlow loves Mr. Obama's new chief of staff, Bill Daley.