President Barack Obama announced today his budget plan for the next 10 years to erase the national debt and fight income inequality. But as usual, the president has some disturbing and misguided ideas on how to rectify the situation, starting with uplifting the middle class by penalizing the wealthy through increased taxes.
Let's be perfectly clear about something: I as much as anyone would love to see everyone in America prosper and achieve the American dream. Being rich gives you freedom and opportunities that aren't available to everyone else. But, punishing the ultra-successful to pick up the slack of everyone else is not the solution. How does it make sense to punish the people who have made it big, the job creators and those who already pay more in taxes in a year than most people pay in a lifetime? The president is sending a message that says if you're going to be successful, you're going to pay for it. Nobody will want to be successful if you make it sound unattractive like that.
Income inequality is bad whether you identify as poor, middle class or wealthy. The sustained rise in inequality is years in the making, and at its highest level in the past hundred years according to some estimates. Most people focus on lack and limitation so they would rather just complain about how bad it is, instead of doing something to claim their fair share.
More Wasteful Spending
What's worse is that the president completely contradicts himself. He says, "I want to make sure that we have not only recovered, but that the administration has built a strong foundation that will prevent the country from ever getting mired in another economic meltdown."
How can he really believe that when at the same time the president wants to increase spending on the military and national defense? Did we not learn our lesson from the past? Thanks to wars we didn't need to fight and money we didn't have to spend, the government has so mismanaged our wealth that we are struggling for our very survival. Critical thinking say's it's time to bring all our troops home, secure our borders like Fort Knox and reduce our foreign policy to negotiation, trade embargoes and other fiscal restrictions. No country is foolish enough to attempt to invade the United States using traditional military tactics. And with our borders probably secured and heavily guarded, we could all sleep better at night. This strategy would cost a fraction of what we're spending overseas, not to mention the goodwill it would create by allowing other countries to live their own way without U.S. interference.
The president's budget allocates resources for training of Iraqi security forces and humanitarian efforts in the region. Do we not have enough of our own problems here at home that could so desperately use these resources instead?
Then there's a host of other so called 'free' plans that the president rolled out in his State of The Union address. For example, 'America's College Promise,' which proposes free community college. Where is the money going to come from?
The Takeaway
The national debt now exceeds $18 trillion and continues to spiral out of control. The president likes to talk a good game. He continues to propose these new plans that he claims will strengthen the American economy, reduce our debt and give the middle class a boost. But what he fails to do is consider the fiscal consequences these plans carry. With less than two years left in office, I'd say he's trying to leave a lasting legacy and improve his tarnished reputation that his presidency has endured. Of course by now, more and more people are able to see through the smoke and mirrors. And luckily for America, the fiscally conservative GOP will stand in the way of our president who is like a reckless teenager with a credit card.