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Left to wonder if he’s on right

WASHINGTON — Stop spending! Cut taxes! Simplify the tax code! Expand free trade! Slice the deficit! Slaughter the pork!

No, that was not some Tea Partier or the battle cry of Republicans last night in response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address.

It was Obama himself, talking like a true convert to the Conservative Party.

The lefty liberal asked both parties last night to come together to eliminate the endless complexities in the tax code that has created a cottage industry for accountants but has been the bane of businesses and workers alike.

And he urged Congress to cut taxes. But not just any taxes.

The man many believe to be an all-out socialist whose policies have been hostile to businesses actually called on Congress last night to cut the corporate tax rate.

Few Republicans in these tough times have the guts to carry the banner of cutting this country’s corporate tax rates, which are among the highest in the world.

And it is truly astonishing to hear this from the leader of the party that is so completely devoted to trashing companies and corporate successes like Wal-Mart — even as Democrats claim to want to lower unemployment rates and foster a thriving economy.

Obama called for free trade with foreign countries, even as his fellow Democrats continue to insist that all free traders want to do is send jobs overseas.

And he hewed to a conservative line on cutting the deficit — a truly terrifying burden that just months ago Obama dismissed as insignificant as he added trillions of dollars to it.

The moment Obama really threw down the gauntlet came when he locked arms with conservative Republicans to denounce earmarks, those fat chunks of your money that lawmakers grab to pay for pet projects back home and plum favors for political supporters.

Obama explicitly vowed in no uncertain terms that if Congress sends him any piece of legislation with any earmarks in it, he will flat out veto it.

This was met with muted applause and just a small handful of decent politicians in the chamber leaping to their feet to applaud.

The question now is whether the President Obama we heard last night was genuine — or the speech was just another cynical political ploy by a Washington politician looking ahead to his re-election next year.

Will Obama actually follow through and lead his party to join Republicans to lower the corporate tax rate, dramatically cut the deficit and finally put an end to the political pork spending that politician after politician has proved is the “gateway drug” to corruption?

A glance at his record does not leave much room for hope.

churt@nypost.com