Again, Obama Can't Make the Hard Choices
President Obama rose to the U.S. Senate without having to take many politically courageous moves. The closest he came was his speech against the Iraq War.
Far from challenging the rampant political corruption around him, Obama aligned himself closely with Mayor Daley and State Senate President Emil Jones, two of his political patrons who were well known for abusing their power. (I wrote about this under-covered subject at length.)
So today, Obama promises to make hard choices. Did he? Here is the first thing you need to know about Obama's debt speech, courtesy of The Washington Post:
Obama proposed sharp new cuts to domestic and military spending, and an overhaul of the tax code that would raise fresh revenue. But he steered clear of fundamental changes to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security — the primary drivers of future spending.
Next: Obama's speech demonstrates that he relies on "revenue-raisers" that are dead-on-arrival well in advance:
[W]hile I agree with the goals of many of these deductions, like homeownership or charitable giving, we cannot ignore the fact that they provide millionaires an average tax break of $75,000 while doing nothing for the typical middle-class family that doesn’t itemize.
If you recall, the idea of capping charitable deductions has already been rejected by Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. Unless you want a full-blown revolution among non-profits that depend on fundraising, this isn't going to go over well.
In any case, this -- like the rest of his ideas for raising taxes on the 2% of Americans with the highest annual incomes, isn't going to raise nearly enough money to deal with any the problems the nation faces.
The bottom line from Obama's speech is that he is not the guy to look to if you want someone to make politically difficult choices. It's easy enough to promise America that you can solve all of its problems by raising taxes on a few, but that's just not the way the world or the budget works. The revenue he hopes to recoup with tax increases, most of which was included in his February budget, pales in comparison to the future Medicare expenses he will do nothing about.
Unsustainable entitlement programs will remain unusustainable, and Obama will do nothing to touch the subsidies that effectively "reward his friends" in the fields of clean energy and ethanol.
Republicans would do well to respond to this speech by accepting any defense cuts that Obama proposes and adding them to something resembling the Ryan Plan. If they cannot move it all the way this year with a concurrent budget resolution, then they can try their odds in the 2012 election and hope the electorate will reward them for telling the truth.
Then plan for a budget reconciliation process which, for the first time I can remember and possibly the first time in the history of the modern budget process, actually does what budget reconciliation is supposed to do-- reduce deficits.
- Comment (10)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (2)
Comments :
May '10
Re: Again, Obama Can't Make the Hard Choices
Today it became official that "Win the Future" is a euphemism for "Soak the Rich." As if we didn't know that already!
I like the way President Obama complained (of Rep. Ryan's Medicare proposal), "instead of guaranteed health care, you will get a voucher. And if that voucher isn't worth enough to buy insurance, tough luck -- you're on your own. Put simply, it ends Medicare as we know it.''
Yes, it would end Medicare as we know it... which is the point, since Medicare is going bankrupt. The Left really needs to get over this obsession with everything being "guaranteed" by the government.
Aug '10
Re: Again, Obama Can't Make the Hard Choices
Has anyone else noticed how Obama picked a target date for cutting $4 Trillion 12 years out into future?
Why is he talking about 12 years out? I think we know: He's blowing smoke.
Apr '11
Re: Again, Obama Can't Make the Hard Choices
As someone said on one of the brilliant ricochet podcasts, Medicare is going to end medicare as we know it.
Jun '10
Re: Again, Obama Can't Make the Hard Choices
I think what Obama means when he talks about undertaxed wealth is not limited to income, but includes all accumulated wealth. He's not saying that today, but that's what he's thinking. That's what the far left (e.g. Michael Moore) is talking about when they say, "We're not broke, there's plenty of money. It's just in the wrong hands."
Oct '10
Re: Again, Obama Can't Make the Hard Choices
There always seems to be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow or being hoarded by liitle folk clad in green in Liberal eyes. Myth is just that. The idea of M. Moore dressed in green with a pot of gold comes to mind, might not be able to sleep with that image....Like to see him scream and hop about after paying up...
Mar '11
Re: Again, Obama Can't Make the Hard Choices
I think I was most impressed by his use of the word, um, "quahgmire". But seriously, this was just more unseriousness. Kick it to Biden. Kick it to 2014. Kick it to some "fail safe mechanism". But by all means, punt.
Re: Again, Obama Can't Make the Hard Choices
It's a pretty shady way of doing the accounting. Ryan's budget, of course, has a ten-year window, and his office couldn't provide me with a 12-year window because that's not how it was calculated. Obama presumably has to do this to get to $4 trillion, but based on his speech, I don't even believe he can get to $4 trillion. You can't save anything if you don't reform anything.
Dec '10
Re: Again, Obama Can't Make the Hard Choices
@ etoiledunord:
Bingo!!
Jan '11
Re: Again, Obama Can't Make the Hard Choices
I just did the math - based on IRS tables for 2008, the latest I could find.
Total income for all households reporting above $200K in income: $2.1 trillion.
So if you raised taxes for all those people by another 10% on top of whatever they are already paying, you could squeeze another 200 billion out of them. Which, in ten years, would amount to another 2 trillion in revenues....if you assume that none of them go out of business, retire, work less to make less, leave the country, or find even more interesting ways to shelter their income.
Democrats assume taxes have no effect on economic behavior, so I guess this flies with them.
Apr '11
Re: Again, Obama Can't Make the Hard Choices
Seriously, if the Bamster had just played some Roller Coaster Tycoon, and maybe some Sim City, he might get it. Instead, our President was busy writing two autobiographies. Because the world needs to know all about how special he is for having a multicultural heritage.