We have been warning that the budget deficit being pushed through by this administration and Democratic-led Congress is unfathomable. But words don’t quite do it justice.
Thankfully, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which is charged with estimating the economic impact of all budget-related legislation, has given us a picture of future deficits under the Obama administration.
We take the point that the President inherited some of the financial challenges. But it’s how he’s addressing those challenges that’s the problem.
When President Ronald Reagan was first inaugurated in January 1981, he too was handed a weakened economy—weakened by four years of Carter policies.
But President Reagan didn’t use the economic crisis he was handed as an excuse to expand government and spending—or to attack his predecessor. Indeed, he did just the opposite. He said in his first inaugural address, “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem.” And he proceeded to cut spending, taxes and regulations.
The result was a historic economic expansion and we wish President Obama had taken the same route.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But in this case, a picture is worth $2 trillion.