Obama Springs $900 Billion Trap

And the party of smaller government takes the bait. Pretty masterful stuff when you examine it. Let’s give credit where credit is due. Here’s what he, Obama, did and here is what the republicans let him do to them:

• Obama gets a huge and costly extension of unemployment benefits on top of an already huge and costly long term extended period of unemployment benefits. In case you don’t know, unemployment benefits are high on his “redistribution” list. 2+ years of unemployment benefits is just plain crazy.

• Obama gets a continuation of the “Bush” tax rates for all the middle class and the low income gang; he will get credit for that, and all he pays for it is….

• …the best campaign issue (tax cuts for the rich) anyone could possibly ask for in two years when he runs for reelection, because…

• …in two years he can force the republicans to either support a continuation of tax cuts for the high wage earners which is a guaranteed win for him with both his base and the many moderates who are sick of the lower tax rates on the high earners or the republicans can abandon that position and, in the process give Obama a big political win right during his reelection campaign.

• And, as hard as it is to believe, in this entire process there is not one penny of spending cuts or government agency cutbacks or government employment reductions or a reasonable facsimile thereof. The republicans had a chance to get something real from Obama and the democrats and what did they do?

• They abandoned entirely the spending reduction trading card and played the low tax rates for the high earners card. They completely ignored the message they just received from the voters and demanded a continuation of low tax rates for high earners without even a small spending reduction. And, they say Obama doesn’t get it?

We elect people to these elevated positions and give them high salaries and lots of benefits; rich pensions so that they shall never want. What we ask of them is to spend our money wisely and carefully and frugally. We don’t ask for bailouts and subsidies and unearned benefits. All we ask is that they control spending; balance the budget and pay down the debt.

Here is a brief reminder for the republicans. The reason you got the majority in the house a month ago has nothing to do with low tax rates for the high earners. It has everything to do with too much government; too much spending; too much debt; just plain too much involvement of government in everything we do. This message can’t be that hard to grasp, can it? So, every time the party in power wants your support, you can demand something in return. If that is too difficult to grasp, read and reread these few words – too much spending, too much debt, too many employees, too many agencies, too many bureaucrats and too many laws. And you trade giving Obama votes for his misguided plans for what the people voted for – less government, less spending, less debt, less almost everything. Do you get it? You get reductions in everything or you don’t go along. It is just not that hard to grasp.

We placed our trust in you and you failed us. The other guy outplayed you. When will you grasp that you must cutback to affordable expenditure levels? If he wants even $1 in tax cuts you get $4 in spending reductions. When will you grasp that you must fight Mr. Obama if you wish to even accomplish minor reductions in his expanded spending and redistribution plans? He wanted to keep the tax cuts for all but the high earners. Fine. Make the deal. All you had to do was say, “Okay, cut the department of education 20% (heck, it should be cut 100%) and reduce all other federal discretionary spending by 15% and we will okay the lower tax rates for the middle class. And by the way, get used to it. Government spending reductions are what the people want and will be the price for compromise (our votes) with us.”

Folks, were sorry to have to tell you but that ain’t no city upon a hill on the banks of the Potomac.