There is a very short Daily Beast article that is making the rounds. The headline reads: “Obama Warns New House Dems That Liberal Policies Like the Green New Deal Are Very Expensive.” A funny thing happens if you read the article instead of just the headline.
In the article there is no direct quote from Obama but a summary from someone who attended a talk Obama gave to freshman Democrats: “He said we [as Democrats] shouldn’t be afraid of big, bold ideas—but also need to think in the nitty-gritty about how those big, bold ideas will work and how you pay for them.” Now, that doesn’t seem like a warning against “big, bold ideas” so much as a reminder of the truism that plans need to include revenue sources. Further, as the actual article makes clear, Obama didn’t name the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, or indeed any other specific bold policy. Obama uttered a banality, which was stretched out to make this into a story about inter-Democratic Party strife.
