Obama out of touch with his spending problem

Chicago Tribune Editorial:

President Barack Obama knows the federal government has a big spending problem, and he is not reluctant to point it out. "The American people deserve to have their leaders come together to make the tough choices necessary to live within our means, just as American families do every day in these tough economic times," the White House said in November.

In his State of the Union address, Obama was not so keen on preaching austerity. As part of his plan to create an economy that is "built to last," he said it's necessary to "pay down our debt and invest in our future."

The phrase "invest in our future," we regret to report, is Washington-speak for "spend money." And in the current fiscal context, that means "spend money we don't have."

His speech to Congress contained a litany of new spending programs, from creating a new "Trade Enforcement Unit" to helping out homeowners who haven't been able to refinance their mortgages. Each one, taken by itself, can be defended. But added together, the National Taxpayers Union Foundation reports, they would require more than $20 billion in new spending.

The president says that doesn't matter because defense spending will be coming down by some $48 billion, for a net saving of about $28 billion. That sounds pretty good — until you consider that next year (according to the fiscal watchdog Concord Coalition), the government will most likely run a deficit of about $1 trillion.

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Obama's spending addiction seems unabated by a lack of money.  He thinks that taxing the rich will pay for his "investments."  But Obama's history of investments is not as good as that of the rich.  the economy would be better off if we let the rich make the investments and crate the jobs.