Buchanan: give Obama a fight on his radicalistic budget

Patrick Buchanan, though seeming the expert talking head without a cause most days on MSNBC, weighs in most firmly on the monster budget and taxation hit coming from the White House liberal rebel with a questionable cause.

The headline lays it out: "Obama Has No Mandate For Radicalism." That is, Obama may have an elected mandate for change -- since he won, duh -- but not a mandate for radical (read: dangerous) economic and systemic upheaval.

RealClearPolitics - Articles - Obama Has No Mandate For Radicalism
In his campaign and inaugural address, Barack Obama cast himself as a moderate man seeking common ground with conservatives.

Yet, his budget calls for the radical restructuring of the U.S. economy, a sweeping redistribution of power and wealth to government and Democratic constituencies. It is a declaration of war on the Right.

...

Buchanan writes, of the timing of the economic problems and the election: Obama "was behind McCain [in the polls] when the decisive event that gave him the presidency occurred -- the September collapse of Lehman Brothers and the market crash.

Republicans are under no obligation to render bipartisan support to this statist coup d'etat. For what is going down is a leftist power grab that is anathema to their principles and philosophy.

...

Who is going to pay for all this?

The top 2 percent, the filthy rich who got all those Bush tax breaks, say Democrats. But the top 5 percent of income earners already pay 60 percent of U.S. income taxes, while the bottom 40 percent pays nothing. [While these numbers are likely accurate, what exactly do they give us in details? Not much. But then...]

Those paying a federal tax rate of 35 percent will see it rise to near 40 percent and will lose a fifth of the value of their deductions for taxes, mortgage interest and charitable contributions. [Sad. Painful! And very ill-timed!]

...

Markets are not infallible. But the stock market has long been a "lead indicator" of where the economy will be six months from now. What are the markets, the collective decisions of millions of investors, saying?

Having fallen every month since Obama's election, with January and February the worst two months in history, they are telling us the stimulus package will not work, that Tim Geithner is clueless about how to save the banks, that the Obama budget portends disaster for the republic.

The president says he is gearing up for a fight on his budget.

Good. Let's give him one.

A bit heavy on the numbers, read the whole piece -- after all, for a budget, all that matters are the numbers, and where those numbers will go.

I find it a bit late coming from Mr. Buchanan at this moment, since he seemed half a fan of Obama during the campaign. He did few favors for fiscal conservatism during the 2008 presidential campaign (from what I saw or read, at least), least of all on MSNBC. But, like many, he is now deeply disappointed in the pro-government, pro-welfare, anti-business, anti-free-market moves that Obama and his shameless cheerleaders in Congress are shoving down our throats.

It always comes down to this for me: How does it get anyone a job? If you want to work for government, perhaps you have it made. Otherwise, what do you have out of it, but more trepidation for investors, business leaders and entrepreneurs?


- jR



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