Tonight, in his State of the Union, President Obama will announce what? A spending freeze?
What is he thinking? It has to be the dumbest idea in governance. And Obama knows it. After all, he ridiculed the idea of a spending freeze when John McCain proposed it during the 2008 campaign – and with good reason.
The White House defends the freeze by saying that what President Obama is proposing for the nation is the same thing families do when times are tough.
No, it’s not. When they run short of cash, families sit down and make tough decisions. We’ll spend less on gas, but more on kids’ clothing; or less on eating out and more on groceries. They don’t just say we’re going to freeze all spending just the way it is.
And neither should government. Calling for an across-the-board spending freeze is nothing more than a dumb excuse for refusing to make tough decisions.
As candidate Barack Obama told John McCain, it’s like using a blunt meat-axe when a fine scalpel is needed.
On a spending freeze: Candidate Obama was right; President Obama is wrong.
That’s my parting shot for today.
