Some liberals feel betrayed by Obama

WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Some liberals say they feel betrayed by U.S. President Barack Obama, contending he isn't changing enough of the former administration's policies.

Critics of former President George Bush's faith-based White House initiatives, advocates for stem cell research and civil liberties groups are among those expressing feelings of betrayal at moves made or not made so far by the Obama administration, The Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

The newspaper said the labor movement, one of Obama's most important support backers, is feeling trepidation, with some union officials and their allies indicating frustration that Obama seemed to call for limits on "buy American" provisions in the recently passed economic stimulus bill.

"He made very clear promises, and he should live up to them," Arthur Stamoulis, director of the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign, told the Times. "The fact that he's hedging on this is not promising. He's catering much too much to the desires of Republicans who are not going to support the change that voters wanted."

"We would like to have him stand more forthrightly behind the positions that he took during the campaign," said Thea Lee, policy director of the AFL-CIO.