American Elephants

After Four Years, Senate Democrats finally decided to obey the law. They produced a budget, and it’s no surprise that they wanted to keep their ideas hidden for so long. It is revealing. The Democrat’s Budget never balances; it increases spending by 62% over ten years; and it adds $7 trillion to the national debt, in spite of raising your taxes by $1.5 trillion.

The Budget Committee, Chairman Patty Murray (D-WA), unanimously opposed balancing the federal budget. Mrs. Murray was first elected in “the year of the woman” as “the mom in tennis-shoes.” That seemed to be her only qualification at the time, or since. Democrats advance by seniority rather than qualifications. Mrs. Murray will do exactly as she is told, as she has been doing for years.

In an interview with George Stephanopoulus, President Obama explained why he doesn’t need to balance the budget.

And, so, we don’t have an immediate crisis in terms of debt. In fact, for the next ten years, it’s gonna be in a sustainable place.

Look, balancing the budget in part depends on how fast you grow. You remember– you were in the Clinton administration. The reason that you guys balanced it was a combination of some tax hikes, some spending cuts, and the economy grew.

And, so– you know, my goal is not to chase– a balanced budget just for the sake of balance. My goal is how do we grow the economy, put people back to work, and if we do that we’re gonna be bringin’ in more revenue. If we’ve controlled spending and we’ve got a smart entitlement package, then potentially what you have is balance. But it’s not balance on the backs of, you know, the poor, the elderly, students who need student loans, families who’ve got disabled kids. That’s not the right way to balance–

Obama always shifts into folksy talk, droppin’ his gs and saying things like ‘gonna’ when he’s trying to come across as just one of the folks.

Someone seems to have been telling Obama that growth is just around the corner. He speaks of America becoming a magnet for good jobs — apparently meaning new jobs in new careers that aren’t invented yet. (Probably those magical green jobs that are always just ahead). When Republicans worry about spending, and balancing the budget, we might as well be talking in an alien language.

Obama counts only the jobs created each month, neglecting to subtract the growth in the population and the growth in the numbers of people who have dropped out of the labor force, so it looks like there has been real progress in putting people back to work, when that is not the case. He goes to new factories and sees promise of future wonders.  He sees the common core curriculum teaching our kids all to be able to read a complicated instruction manual. He sees government creating new technologies, new opportunities if he just has plenty of government money to “invest”in research and development, with no understanding that government is not good at new ideas.

Obama is a fierce competitor. He does not understand negotiation. He intends to win. Nobody believes in his “charm offensive,” not even his own people. He wants to force Republicans into an untenable position, so that he can win back the House in 2014, and complete his program.

He seems to have a movie running in his head that doesn’t match the reality that Republicans see. In that show, in which he is a hero, ObamaCare is the answer to Progressives’ long held dreams, and it will heal the sick and make everyone dependent on the government which will be much better for them, for the government knows best. Never mind that the cost of health care was slowly and continuously dropping, Obama is convinced that the problem is not excess spending, but the growing cost of health care. Yet ObamaCare will explode the cost, and eliminate many benefits.

The president is intent on weaning America off of nasty fossil fuels, to that end plans a big tax on carbon emissions. Since carbon does not pay taxes, this is a pure tax on the middle class, on whom he promised not to raise taxes. Carbon emissions are not responsible for global warming, for as carbon in the atmosphere has increased, there has been no warming at all for 16 years.

The movie promises to be a big flop at the box office. Lots of extravagant reviews, but it won’t make any money.