President Obama’s plan for taxes and spending has been hailed by the media as “populist.” A more accurate word to describe his agenda is “reactionary.” It won’t, to use Obama’s catchphrase, “win the future.” It probably won’t even win the past.
Gary Locke
The Obama administration has adopted the fiscal strategy of the Greek government. The Greeks favor raising taxes on the wealthy and massive borrowing to freeze in place the present size, scope, and spending of the government. So does Obama, thus the reactionary nature of his plan.
The Greeks have balked at laying off a single government worker or privatizing any of the immense assets—in land, resorts, and a lot more—owned by the government. When told recently by a visiting delegation from the EU, IMF, and European Central Bank that Greece must cut spending and the bureaucracy deeply to qualify for another bailout, the Greek finance minister abruptly left the room—and didn’t return.
Now Obama has left the room. His speech in the Rose Garden last week vowing to veto any budget compromise without large tax increases means a deal with Republicans is off the table. Assuming he’s serious, the bipartisan congressional “super-committee” assigned to come up with $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction might as well disband. Obama is demanding tax hikes on the wealthy and various business interests—a poison pill to nearly all Republicans and many Democrats who fear a new recession.
The president led a crowd in Cincinnati last week in chants of “Pass this bill,” referring to his $467 billion “jobs bill.” Those in the crowd should have saved their breath. That measure is dead, too, killed by Obama’s insistence it has to be “paid for” entirely by raising taxes.
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