Obama exaggerates the effect of modest spending cuts

Michael Goodwin:

Planes crash, schools close, houses burn, criminals run free.

Welcome to the “Mad Max” world that President Obama envisions if the federal budget is reduced by 2.3 percent. It’s a scenario designed to provoke rage and hopelessness, and it certainly does, though not for the reasons Obama intends.

Instead, his claim that the $3.6 trillion budget can’t be trimmed by $85 billion without the country collapsing reveals the utter futility of believing he will ever save America from financial disaster. The nation is headed for ruin unless it cuts spending, but the president refuses to do anything about it. In fact, he argues we don’t spend enough, that we must “invest” more.


Consider that 40 cents of every dollar Washington already spends is borrowed or printed by the Federal Reserve. But rejecting any and all ways to do with less, Obama resorts to scare tactics and smears.

Republicans, he charged on Al Sharpton’s radio show, believe “nothing is important enough to raise taxes on wealthy individuals or corporations.” It’s a tired, false attack, and you have to wonder how he continues to say it with a straight face. Yet our president is unrestrained by truth or facts.

To believe his scenario on the impacts of the $85 billion in cuts, you have to believe the federal government is 100 percent efficient; that any penny cut from spending would damage the daily life of every American.

To see how preposterous the claim is, imagine a smaller example — a family with a weekly budget of $100. Under Obama’s math, cutting $2.30 a week would mean the family would have to give up its home, car and food.

It sounds crazy because it is, especially because Obama proposed these cuts in the first place. He knows he’s blowing smoke, so why does he do it?

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Well exaggeration and deceit helped to get him reelected so perhaps he thinks it will work again.  What he really wants is a tax increase and he is hoping the Republicans can be stampeded into one.  That is not happening so his backup plan is to hope they will be blamed for any economic downturn his policies cause.  But Republicans can also balme any downturn on his tax increases on job creators.