The Obama Budget

Well ladies and gentlemen, no surprises there. Our President's new budget mirrors his priorities, and once again, he's being bold about going after them. He is basically daring Republicans to oppose him. He's saying, "yes, I will do what I said. I will tax the rich at a higher rate, I will create a carbon cap and trade (read---tax) market and I will move the country down the road to comprehensive health care (whatever that means).". That we are in the midst of a financial melt-down seems to matter little. The President is moving forward with his liberal agenda (you remember, the one that won the election), irrespective of how bad the economy is.

No one in this country has had his or her income taxes raised in 16 years. I assure you, this will be a shock to the system. I'll be surprised if he's able to raise the revenue he wants to fund his health care initiative from households making $250K or more...I think that figure will come down over time, exposing more and more people to higher and higher income taxes.

Cap and trade is a neat way to say "pass the costs on to consumers". Much of Mr. Obama's heralded "tax cuts for 95% of American workers" will get eaten up in higher costs for energy and other commodities.

This President is boldly looking to remake America in a breathtakingly rapid way. I honestly believe that is part of the strategy...get as much done as early as possible, so that the ripples of uncertainty are smoothed out by the time he's up for re-election again. By that time, we'll have a new normal, a slowly growing economy and a new relationship between the state and the governed. One more step along the Road to Serfdom.