Crisis Cripples Obama Vows on Taxes, Trade

Some of President Obama’s best campaign applause lines will likely be silenced by economic reality, the Wall Street Journal reports. With the recession raging, Obama probably won't roll back the Bush tax cuts as promised, and his pledge to eliminate tax loopholes for corporations that shift jobs overseas is meeting a wall of opposition. On Thursday, he reassured Canada that his tough talk on NAFTA wouldn’t hamper trade.

Obama will likely wait until 2011 to let taxes on those earning $250,000 or more go back up, despite calls from Nancy Pelosi and others to act sooner, and businesses are saying they can’t handle a tax on overseas earnings right now. “That will be the largest fight" that team Obama has "with the business community,” said one lobbyist. “And they will probably lose.” (More budget stories.)