Barack Obama launched his re-election campaign at the weekend. Americans could be forgiven for failing to spot the difference. Having attended almost 200 fundraising events so far, which is more at this point than his four predecessors combined, Mr Obama will step it up another notch. Let us hope he also raises the quality. Neither he nor Mitt Romney have done much to enlighten the electorate so far.
Their biggest failing is common: neither has credibly specified how they would handle the fiscal reckoning that falls due before the end of the year. Dubbed “taxmaggedon” by some, Congress faces a quartet of choices that will set America’s course for years to come. These include another increase in the sovereign ceiling, the expiration of all the Bush-era tax cuts, a $1,200bn “sequestration” if lawmakers fail to agree on a fiscal plan, and the end of the payroll tax cut and extended benefits for the jobless.
A wrong turn on one or more of these could plunge the US back into recession. An intelligent approach, which is asking a lot of Congress nowadays, could restore US growth on to a fiscally sustainable path. Both candidates have failed to offer a realistic account of what should done. Both are happy to say how they would distribute whatever gains are to be had from their fiscal plans. Neither say how they would distribute the pain. America needs a more honest debate than this.