Deficits Restrict Obama as His Promises Come Due

From WSJ:

Barack Obama won the presidency making hundreds of promises large and small, from ending the war in Iraq and global warming to boosting low-income heating assistance and expanding the Peace Corps. Now comes the hard part: translating those pledges into policies, and whittling down the list while keeping his broad coalition of supporters happy.

As a candidate, Mr. Obama was able to promise all things to all people, and position papers still posted on his campaign Web site detail hundreds of pledges made. The Web site PolitiFact.com, a project of the St. Petersburg Times, counts 510 promises and is tracking action on each.

Many require new spending -- a total of hundreds of billions of dollars, according to internal tracking -- which will be challenging if not impossible given the record federal deficit. He proposes a billion dollars for autism research, a pricey global education fund and billions more for special education, to name a few.