Paying Socialism Forward

By Roger Hedgecock

President Obama has proposed massive increases in federal government spending and trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see. But last week, he said such deficit spending was "unsustainable." He's right. Not four months into his term of office, President Obama has:

• doubled the fiscal year deficit by adding $460 billion to the Bush budget he inherited;


• proposed an astounding $1.8 trillion deficit for FY 2010, and


• projected adding $9 trillion over 10 years to the existing accumulated U.S. debt of $8 trillion.

Obama's pledge to "cut the deficit in half" by the fourth year of his term is to be achieved first by tripling the deficit this year, then cutting that amount in half three years later - still leaving a deficit in FY 2012 bigger than any year since 1945. And that's if Congress doesn't spend more than the president asks for - which is what Congress does every year. Finding lenders for this record amount of debt looks problematic. Recent Treasury debt auctions featured discounted prices and higher than expected interest rates, fueling speculation that the AAA-rated U.S. debt may already be losing its luster. [more...]