"We shouldn't worry about the deficit next year or even the year after," Obama said in an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes." "The most important thing is that we avoid a deepening recession."
Amazingly these comments have merited little discussion so far. To say the least his references to the deficit are reckless. It is now glaringly obvious that he has no real intention of attempting to balance the budget during his tenure as president. Any president with even a rudimentary level of economic knowledge would attempt to wrestle with borrowing and wasteful spending. An expenditure freeze is a sine qua non. Such a policy would engender economic confidence. There is no easy way out of the economic crisis. Harsh measures are necessary. A recession is unavoidable. Some cold turkey is necessary.
If Obama fails to tackle the problem in the first two years of his presidency, he most certainly will not attempt major corrective action in the last two years of office. He will then be on the run in to the next presidential election. Re election will be a major priority. It seems safe to assume that excessive government borrowing is likely to continue over the next four years. Borrowing is deferred taxation. The private sector and taxpayers will carry an increasingly heavy burden.
With a Democrat controlled Congress the portents are not good. It is likely that money will be thrown at most problems. The dollar is likely to decline in value and the US will gradually lose its pre eminence as the worlds major economic super power. Increasingly it is in hock to the rest of the world. China will gradually supplant the US.
Amazingly these comments have merited little discussion so far. To say the least his references to the deficit are reckless. It is now glaringly obvious that he has no real intention of attempting to balance the budget during his tenure as president. Any president with even a rudimentary level of economic knowledge would attempt to wrestle with borrowing and wasteful spending. An expenditure freeze is a sine qua non. Such a policy would engender economic confidence. There is no easy way out of the economic crisis. Harsh measures are necessary. A recession is unavoidable. Some cold turkey is necessary.
If Obama fails to tackle the problem in the first two years of his presidency, he most certainly will not attempt major corrective action in the last two years of office. He will then be on the run in to the next presidential election. Re election will be a major priority. It seems safe to assume that excessive government borrowing is likely to continue over the next four years. Borrowing is deferred taxation. The private sector and taxpayers will carry an increasingly heavy burden.
With a Democrat controlled Congress the portents are not good. It is likely that money will be thrown at most problems. The dollar is likely to decline in value and the US will gradually lose its pre eminence as the worlds major economic super power. Increasingly it is in hock to the rest of the world. China will gradually supplant the US.
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