Are Deficits Unpatriotic?

Barack Obama used to think so.

by  John Hayward

08/25/2011

On the day before Independence Day 2008, Senator Barack Obama delivered this opinion of deficit spending at a campaign event:

The problem is, is that the way Bush has done it over the last eight years is to take out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children, driving up our national debt from $5 trillion for the first 42 presidents.  Number 43 added $4 trillion by his lonesome, so that we now have over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back — $30,000 for every man, woman and child. That’s irresponsible. It’s unpatriotic.

Emphasis mine.)  President Obama has now added $4 trillion all by his lonesome… in less than half the time it took “Number 43.”  Does he still think deficits are “unpatriotic,” or is that the wrong word?

It’s ironic isn’t it? Barack Obama talking about this a day before July 4th! Anyway, Obama further demonstrates his hypocrisy; His ability to blame almost anyone else if the situation went wrong, and he takes credit when anything goes well. For example, if the number of jobless people goes up or if Barack Obama spends “$4 trillion by his lonesome”, it’s not his fault. It’s all just Bush’s fault. Or, it’s the GOP’s fault, or the Tea Party, or Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, or China. It’s never the Obama administration’s fault. That’s what they do. They also take credit for anything good.  They don’t just let it be. They have to publicize all their good deeds. Did anyone else notice how many times Obama said “I” in his speech when SEALs killed Osama Bin Laden? The Obama administration has to take credit for EVERYTHING. If the Hurricane threatening the eastern seaboard vanished,  Barack Obama would claim he did it.

However, Obama is being a hypocrite. He accuses President Bush of being irresponsible and unpatriotic, but he’s doing what what he accused Bush of doing: spending, spending, spending. While President Bush wasn’t my favorite president, he was and always will be a better one than Barack Obama.

However, Mr. Hayward continues and I like what he has to say:

Deficit spending is tyrannical.  It’s the ultimate form of taxation without representation, presenting children not yet born with bills they never had a chance to vote against.  It establishes programs that become permanent financial obligations for future Congresses.  When the people demand fiscal restraint from big-spending government, they’re told spending cuts are effectively impossible, because too many citizens depend on the deficit-financed programs, and too many government employees would lose their jobs.Deficit spending is a lie.  The people are offered subsidies and benefits paid for with money that doesn’t exist.  When politicians speak of trillion-dollar “stimulus” programs, they’re distorting the free market with false information, and wielding economic influence they don’t really have.  Government attempts to create new markets out of thin air using deficit money, such as the “green jobs” disaster, amount to weaving a mirage with illusionary thread.

Our massive national debt, built through decades of deficit spending, makes America weak.  Increasing individual and corporate dependency on a rapidly growing government drains the vitality of the free market.  Unfriendly creditor nations like China gain unhealthy amounts of economic leverage over us.  Credit agencies like Standard & Poor’s become major players in public policy debates.

Hayward claims deficit spending is tyrannical, a lie, and makes America weak, and I think he’s right. I’m not sure how to say it any better. It is tyrannical. It makes people in Washington decide how to spend my money and money that doesn’t exist, and it’s a lie. Government’s don’t create jobs, people do. Finally, it does make America weak. Government running the US is not good for us.

Next, to wrap up, Mr. Hayward talks about the debt and it’s effect on America:

Very soon, we will feel the consequences from years of deficit spending, as unsustainable entitlement programs collapse… and the resulting social chaos will destroy us.  The day quickly approaches when Washington can’t borrow or print enough money to pretend it can function.  The last generation that might avoid the crash has come dangerously close to accepting sugary lies, peddled by those who seek political benefit from riding the dying system for a little longer.  When their illusions fail, there will be nowhere to register a complaint, and very little to discuss.

He paints a dark picture, but not only does that work in creating action, but sadly, he might very well be right. We need to get a hold of this now before we destroy OURSELVES.

John also leaves us with a nice little tag line that gave me a chuckle:

Does all of that add up to make deficit spending “unpatriotic?”  Barack Obama claimed to think so, four trillion dollars ago.