Big Government Getting Bigger
- Spending, Spending, Spending: President Obama spent
nearly $800 billion on the stimulus bill and then proposed a budget
that would increase spending by another $1 trillion over the next
10 years. Spending in 2009 has increased 25%, which is the largest
non-war government expansion since the New Deal.
- Creating or Saving Jobs?The President set a benchmark of
a 138.6 million jobs in the U.S. economy by the end of 2010. He is
currently 6.4 million jobs short. Yet with rising unemployment, the
White House continues to take credit for jobs "saved" without any
empirical evidence to suggest this is true. The stimulus bill did
create jobs in one sector--the government--by nearly doubling the
size of several federal agencies and creating a huge
bureaucracy.
-
A Second Stimulus? The President stated that the
stimulus would start helping the economy within months if not weeks
of passage, but his advisors are now saying the real effect won't
take place until later this year, maybe. Meanwhile, the White House
is now openly considering a second stimulus spending bill. The
first stimulus already dumped $9,400 of debt into every American's
lap. Why double down?
American Families Paying More,
Choosing Less
- The Public Health Care Plan: Independent analysis
projects that as many as 119 million Americans could lose the
coverage they have today if a government plan is introduced.
Employers would be incentivized to drop private coverage,
regardless of individual preferences in the matter. The end result
would be bureaucrats and politicians, not families, controlling
health care choices and decisions. Even the White House says the
President's rhetoric shouldn't be taken "literally" when he
promises you won't lose your current plan.
- An Economy Killing Energy Tax: The U.S. House of
Representatives narrowly passed the Waxman-Markey cap and trade
bill in June, which will kill millions of jobs, cost American
families over $3,000 a year, cause electricity rates to "skyrocket"
according the President, cause gas and heating oil prices to rise,
outsource jobs to China and India, hurt senior citizens and the
poor the worst, and be highly susceptible to fraud and
corruption--all without making any substantive impact on the
environment.
Better Priorities for
America
- Health Care Reform: Instead of introducing a massive
government-run health care plan, Congress should consider
alternatives that give families control of their health care by
making insurance plans portable, reform the tax system to allow the
same tax incentives for all insurance purchasers, and deliver real
competition through innovative state-based solutions.
- Budget Reform: Instead of higher taxes and a second
stimulus, President Obama should embrace real tax and entitlement
reform by lowering business taxes, permanently repealing the
Alternative Minimum Tax, reducing individual tax rates, and
introducing serious Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security reform
so future generations aren't buried in excessive debt.
- Our Nation's Defense: The world remains a dangerous
place, populated with rogue states and terrorist organizations that
pose an imminent threat to our nation. Instead of cutting defense
spending, the Administration should restore missile defense funding
and maintain a minimum defense budget of 4% of GDP for the next 10
years, not including war funding.
For more information, please visit: http://blog.heritage.org.