April 15, 2011
President Obama’s remarks at George Washington University on Wednesday was a political campaign speech, not a serious proposal for reducing the gap between government income and spending.
It was the boilerplate liberal agenda: more taxes on the wealthy to subsidize the poor and needy and a pittance in spending cuts, mostly on defense. There was talk of “shared sacrifice,” but nothing about building wealth, even for the poor. It is as if being needy and poor are permanent conditions from which no one can, or should, be expected to escape.
As Ronald Reagan noted, we have a deficit not because our people are taxed too little, but because their government spends too much. Every dollar government spends is viewed as necessary. But what you earn is an unending pot of gold for politicians, who tell you how much they will allow you to keep.
Happy tax day. Go see the movie “Atlas Shrugged,” which is out today, for a depiction of the problem.
Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.
