Blue States’ Fiscal Woes Test Obama
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Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- The electoral map, the demographicsbehind President Barack Obama’s re-election and the high-end taxincreases that were just wrung from the Republicans giveDemocrats reason to believe that long-term political trends areon their side in budget negotiations. This view, however,ignores what is happening at the state level.
The fiscal outlook for many states is unsustainable. Thiseventually may influence the politics of the national budget,both directly (through battles over federal measures to helptroubled states) and indirectly (through voters’ attitudestoward government).