Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Beware of what you wish for!

Victor Davis Hanson writes this week that

In his first term, Obama has added more than $5 trillion to the national debt, borrowing more in four years than the “irresponsible” and “unpatriotic” Bush did in eight. In fact, Obama is on schedule to add more total debt by the end of his two terms than all prior presidents combined. What happened to worries about leaving our children with a “debt they cannot repay”? And where did all that borrowed money go, given that the war in Iraq has been over for more than a year, and we are winding down in Afghanistan?

The recession that ended in 2009 cut revenues, and the population continues to get older and draw more on federal entitlements. But all that said, we have spent record trillions of dollars during the last four years increasing the size of government. A vast 2009 stimulus plan; new Obamacare; new federal employees; vast new expansions in food stamps, disability, and unemployment insurance; and spiraling Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security payments all increased government spending in each year of the Obama presidency to a higher percentage of the gross domestic product than at any time since 1946.

But beware of what you wish for. Obama has already gotten his dream of a vastly increased government, federalized health care, near-zero interest rates, and record debt to force higher taxes. The problem now is that there are not enough millionaires and billionaires to make up for the shortfall. And if interest rates rise just a bit, the debt will bury us all — fat cats and thin cats alike.

Found here: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/337299/when-big-deficits-became-good-victor-davis-hanson

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