President-elect Barack Obama gave a brief address to the Democratic Governors Association yesterday. Buried within it is one tiny statement which finally gives me hope about how his administration intends to address the nation’s long-term fiscal problems. In this era of monstrous bailouts and runaway deficits, barely one politician from either dominant party has broached the subject of fiscal discipline, until now:

“…we are not, as a nation, going to be able to just keep on printing money. So at some point, we’re also going to have to make some long-term decisions in terms of fiscal responsibility. And not all of those choices are going to be popular.”

Finally, someone who recognizes the problem and is not afraid to speak about it! The full transcript is here.