President Obama's Bush-like Spending Habits Are Dangerous
By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog.
When President Obama was elected, a lot of my liberal buddies used the phrase "adult" to describe Mr. Obama's approach to public policy. It was a direct reference to what they considered to be the childish policies of the Bush administration.
President Obama's extension of an olive branch to Iran is one example of how his policies do differ from those of his predecessor in an adult manner.
War is outdated, immature, and uncalled for in this day and age. It would be difficult to foresee a situation in which Iran might become a close ally of the United States. But we can at least be talking. I wish him success in this venture.
But his spending habits are turning out to be just as profligate, wasteful, detrimental to the economy, and quite frankly, as childish of those of former President Bush. Even Democrats are starting to notice that if President Obama gets all he wants from Congress, we're headed for economic ruin via inflation or stagflation:
Reporting from Washington — President Obama's $3.55-trillion budget has stumbled into a series of economic and political pitfalls that threaten to undercut his grandest ambitions.The chairman of the Senate Budget Committee on Thursday projected deficits far higher than the Obama administration had calculated, possibly as much as $1.6 trillion higher over the next 10 years. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is expected to issue a similar assessment today.
It was hard enough for the country to endure Bush's overspending. Two in a row? Forget it! House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says wrapping healthcare and education funding in with the stimulus package will help bring the economy back. I beg to differ. We need to set priorities and spend just enough to get the economy going again, but abstain from increasing the government dole.
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Tags: economy | Barack Obama | fiscal policy
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Reader Comments
Terrible economic policies
I agree with Turbo Tim on this one. It's as if Obama has never heard the word "inflation".
Spending trillions on healthcare, payouts to unions, etc is not the answer.
Can these entitlement programs and social programs be sold for profit or promote investment? I didn't think so. Which means what? His policies do nothing to promote ECONOMIC GROWTH. His policies are geared to realize his idea of "social justice", where they demonize the rich/corporations and give handouts to the poor so they can have a standard of living higher than they can sustain.
You're right, Obama is no Bush. Bush's highest deficit was about $850Billion. Obama? $1850Billion in his first year.
For the record, entitlement/social programs are a drain on the economy. They don't promote the economic growth necessary to create jobs.
My prediction: Obama's economic policies will fail. And once they do, people will FINALLY see past the rosy words and speeches about "how to talk about issues" (instead of actually talking about the issues...see his Notre Dame speech), and see that his idea of "change" will weaken the US terribly. The rich will become mediocre, and the poor will become destitute. These socialist-leaning policies are a no-win situation. Policies that promote business investment, entrepreneurship, venture capital, and economic growth are win-win policies (the rich get rich, the poor can find jobs, and the middle class can prosper).
AIG BAIL OUT AND 90% TAX ON BONUSES
Obama doe snot have an experience in fiscal management and he is probably giving too much to the treasury secretary because he himself does not have any idea on how to bring this economy back on track.
His spending and Bushes are similar because they must both answer to those who put them in office first before the American people.
They are spending because they had to bail out their friends who run the big corporations.
They are both similar in how they manipulate the American people to their advantage with the help of the media.
Just like Bush, once he is caught in the AIG scandal, his administration decided that the best way to keep th American people quiet is to pass a law that will require bonuses to be taxed. Instead of laws that can garnish wages including assets and allow these CEOs to bail out their own companies if they want to remain in business.
The federal government knows that, the rich and powerful in this country do not have to pay tax and are never held accountable. AIG donated money to the powerhouse currently in Washington and the president is in the second place, receiving over $100, 00.00 donations from AIG, why do you think there will be any laws enacted to protect the taxpayers’ money.
Our problem in this country is that we have been brainwashed to believe every other country is bad but ours and that our political system is the best in the world that we are not able to see the REAL corruption in American politics. No first world country allows politicians to raise money the way we do and when a candidate raises a lot of money we never question where the money came from. Instead, we see this as a reason to elect the person to office. Should not this tell us that someone with so much money would definitely answer to those individuals who provided the money to put him/her in office over the American people?
The media only reports a candidate whom they feel should be exposed and not because that candidate is doing something new and worse than others.
Obama talks about bringing change to Washington and yet he is not different from all those other politicians, in fact he is worse because he is using his race to his advantage. Obama is as crafty as Bush and he knows that the media and others will not want to expose him because they do not want to be perceived as racists. He used this during his campaign and it worked for him. Therefore, no one questioned his lies and his community activism.
Any one, who denounces his pastor of twenty years, is an opportunist. This should tell us something about his character.
Priorities?
I think the issue is less about how much President Obama wishes to spend, and more about WHEN he wishes to spend. At this crucial juncture, President Obama is deploying his massive political capital in an attempt to roll many of his long-term domestic policy goals into an economic rescue plan that the American people wish to generate solid short-term results.
It's no secret that the President sees great value in spending now to streamline healthcare and improve pay, performance and accountability in public schools down the road. He's championed this idea for years. While those are certainly necessary investments in America's future, it may be unwise and overly hasty to make them at this point in time. Congress and the people demand quick, resolute, effective action on the beleaguered economy- freeing up credit, rescuing home values, creating jobs. Those are the worthy goals today. Less deserving of immediate support is massive spending on other issues that, while important, are best left for a more secure economic climate.
Once our financial woes begin to abate, then it will be time for a thorough discussion of the sacrifices that must be made to insure a strong American tomorrow. I stand with the President in the principles of his plan, but his timing seems less than perfect
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