Lincoln Legacy
“You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.”
What did he/she say?
“Mr. Obama’s problems are not political management, but policy. They won’t be solved by faux fiscal restraint, mini-ball proposals for the middle class, and angry pretensions to populism.
By his own Office of Management and Budget numbers, Mr. Obama has raised the baseline of discretionary domestic spending by a total of $115 billion since his inauguration, bumping it up midway through the 2009 fiscal year budget and then increasing it again for the 2010 fiscal year.
Mr. Obama is now calling for a spending freeze to save $15 billion for fiscal year 2011. That’s nice, but it freezes in place a 24% increase in discretionary, nonsecurity domestic spending. The president would also exempt from a freeze the $512 billion that has yet to be spent from last year’s stimulus package. To present such a proposal as a serious attempt at restraining spending is to reveal a low opinion of the intelligence of ordinary Americans.
Mr. Obama has squandered the “sense of common cause” he talked about on Sunday that many felt at his inauguration. In the week leading up to his State of the Union, he did little to rekindle that spirit or reverse his sinking fortunes.”
Karl Rove, The State of the Union is No ‘Reset’ Button
