[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/04/23/art_avlon_cnn.jpg caption="John Avlon was director of speechwriting and deputy director of policy for Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign."]
By John Avlon
The Daily Beast
After last week’s tea party tax protests, President Obama acknowledged “a confidence gap, when it comes to the American people. And we’ve got to earn their trust.”
Democrats have been slapped with the tax and spend liberal label for decades – and candidate Obama spent much time on the campaign trail trying to distance himself from that legacy. “When I'm president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely,” he promised, offering assurance to the moderate majority of Americans that his would be an administration dedicated to fiscal responsibility.
Of course, all that was before the fiscal crisis and neo-Keynisan Kool-Aid started to be passed around Capitol Hill, with congressmen chugging it by the billions as the deficit ballooned.
This week, President Obama tried to square his young administration’s record with his campaign rhetoric by announcing a commitment to cut $100 million dollars in wasteful spending at his first cabinet meeting.