Budget hawks
Those of you worried about the nation's financial security and well-being can rest easy: The Obama administration promised Tuesday to begin tackling the mammoth budget deficit ... sometime next year.
Oh, joy!
In a speech blaming George W. Bush for the massive spending that defines Democratic fiscal policy, Budget Director Peter Orszag admitted the country faces a "serious" and "unsustainable" deficit problem. He said the White House will concoct a plan to slash the current $1.5 trillion deficit -- triple anything Mr. Bush ever ran up -- in half by 2013.
Predictably, Mr. Orszag was vague about the details. But rest assured it will involve unprecedented tax increases -- some of which inevitably will hammer the middle class.
Nor was there any explanation about how this administration can expect to control spending when everything it proposes -- from taking over health care; radically revamping the economy under the guise of environmental concern; and handing out checks to failing banks and manufacturers, seniors, first-time homeowners and car buyers -- belies any talk of fiscal responsibility.
No doubt, a robust economic recovery would at least improve federal budget prospects. But even that prospect will be in jeopardy if the president's prescription for controlling the current spending spree involves looting billions more from the struggling private sector and turning it over to beltway bureaucrats.
If the president were truly serious about staunching the flow of red ink, he'd have a tourniquet in hand right now -- not next year, when it may be too late.
