In his new budget, Obama kicks the can one more time

Democracy and Power: 104 Future Debt Burden

Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt. – Herbert Hoover

All democracies provide benefits for current voters and shift the debt to future workers, even the unborn.  Social Security, Medicare, prescriptions drug benefits for seniors are prime examples in America.

In his new budget, Obama kicks the can one more time

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post chides Democrats, Republicans and DC elites for “kicking the can” of deficits and debt to future generations.  This is an inherent defect of all democracies.  Elected politicians buy votes today and affix the burden on future generations.

Milbank harshly condemns President Obama’s proposed budget:

Obama’s budget proposal is a remarkably weak and timid document. He proposes to cut only $1.1 trillion from federal deficits over the next decade – a pittance when you consider that the deficit this year alone is in the neighborhood of $1.5 trillion. The president makes no serious attempt at cutting entitlement programs that threaten to drive the government into insolvency.

Milbank was contemptuous of the proclamations by Obama’s cabinet officials:

As administration officials came out to defend the indefensible budget Monday, they had little to work with beyond cliches.

Jack Lew, the White House budget director, obfuscated by saying nothing of substance:

“The budget that we sent to Congress today is a responsible plan that shows that we can live within our means and we can also invest in the future.”

Tragically, Obama and his administration are playing politics as usual and heaping gigantic debt burdens on future generations, which is an unpaid tax.

Obviously, politicians – Democrats and Republicans – will not make the essential cuts in spending without a strong and consistent demand from the voting public. As stated in The Right Way to Balance the Budget, featuring an American Enterprise Institute report, we must cut government payroll and restructure government entitlements, e.g., Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security:

“Fiscal consolidation that concentrates on the expenditure side, and especially on transfers and government wages, is more likely to succeed in reducing the public debt ratio than tax-based consolidation.”