Posted by
Patrick Henry on Monday, June 28, 2010 12:30:54 PM
Usually regarded as a clever politician, Barack Obama let slip in his comments at
the G-20 summit in Toronto a broad hint of his political strategy going forward by
first committing to cut the U.S. deficit in half by 2013, and then saying that he was
going to "call the bluff" of those decrying debt and deficits and face the country with
"some hard choices."
With his tax and spend binge Obama has lost the hearts and minds of the American
public. His poll numbers are in freefall and his legislative agenda is stalled because
legislators fear voter wrath if they spend more money. So he has opted to seize on
the opportunity to become the great deficit slayer. As a fiscal conservative I applaud
the sentiment, but his track record hardly inspires confidence either in the means to
his end or the sincerity of his promise.
His "call the bluff" and "hard choices" rhetoric almost certainly presages enormous
across-the-board tax increases. That's true because (a) his track record shows him to
be an inveterate tax-raiser, (b) he's a Democrat and that's what Democrats do, and (c)
both he and his party will be loth to slash their coveted entitlements to create savings
substantial enough to impact the deficit going forward. The so-called Deficit Reduction
Commission was created to give him cover so that he could raise taxes citing their
recommendation. Capital gains taxes will skyrocket, and here comes the VAT!
To balance the tax increases, he will almost certainly propose spending cuts. But
they will not be those favored by the majority of Americans. They will begin with
defense spending, which is always popular with Democrats. Bill Clinton virtually
emasculated the American military in order to provide budget surpluses. Jimmy
Carter was unspeakably worse. Obama will propose the deepest cuts in military
and intelligence spending on record. Take it to the bank. Also on the block will
be border security, farm subsidies, Medicare and the intelligence apparatus (CIA,
NSA, DNI, FBI, etc.). Untouched will be healthcare reform and any programs
perceived by Obama to specifically benefit minorities.
Republicans will, of course, resist. And by then, they'll likely have the numbers
in congress to do so effectively. They will resist not because they are irresponsible,
but because they fundamentally disagree with Obama's priorities, both in taxing
and in spending. The result will most likely be more gridlock, and Obama will
use that to accuse Republicans of hypocrisy, painting himself as the deficit-cutting
Messiah and Republicans as partisan dogs in the manger.
Lost in the Potomac two-step will be the fact that Obama has, by his wasteful
and extravagant spending and his "redistribution of wealth" programs not only
grown the deficit, but provided the fuel for its exponential acceleration. Also lost
will be the voices of ordinary Americans who will likely have nothing whatsoever
to say about what tax rates are established and which progams are cut. Obama and
his people will do everything in their power to spin the polls and keep their plan
out of a popular referendum.
But Obama has let slip his strategy. Now it is up to Republicans to read the tea
leaves of Toronoto and craft their own clear and forceful strategy for putting
America back on a firm financial footing. People like Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan,
Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (OMB
Director under Reagan), Senator Judd Gregg of Vermont and Governors Tim
Pawlenty of Minnesota and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana comprise their party's
best financial minds, and bring rich experience in public administration in which
budgets have actually been slashed and balanced. What a great think tank they
would comprise. It would be best if they could upstage Obama by designing and
putting forth their proposal within a few months, so that sign-on could be a litmus
test for those seeking conservative votes in November.
Despite Obama's enormously powerful bully pulpit, seemingly unlimited
executive authority (and ambition to match) and basic control of the mainstream
media, the fact remains that those calling themselves "conservative" in this
country still outnumber those calling themselves "liberal" by a 2-1 margin. In
the long haul, Americans are their own leaders. They just need someone to really
represent them. And they need it before Obama destroys what's left of America.