Cutting Through The Spin:  What Obama’s Budget Reveals — Charles Kadlec, Forbes.com

A focus on President Barack Obama’s “Proposed Budget” and comparing all projects to 2011 actual data led to  four observations.

1)  The President’s budget calls for increasing federal spending by a total of $11 trillion over the next 11 years.

2)  The future has arrived. Entitlements and interest expense on the debt are putting the squeeze on all other functions of government.

3)  The Obama Administration’s failed economic policies are at the heart of today’s fiscal imbalance.

4)  The alternative to austerity, self-defeating tax increases and cuts to Social Security and Medicare programs is a bold program for economic growth.

The key elements of such a program would be monetary reform, tax reform, regulatory reform and free trade.

More than any other single document, the Obama Budget reveals that nothing short of such a bold growth platform designed to generate substantial additional revenue by freeing the private sector to rapidly create jobs and increase incomes will be capable of restoring balance to the federal government’s financial affairs.

The only catch: more than a handful of individuals may get rich in the process.

Categories:     Tags: Charles Kadlec, Federal Budget, Federal Spending, Monetary Policy, Regulatory Burden, Tax policy, Trade Policy

President Obama’s Blueprint for Expanding Government Power — Charles Kadlec, Forbes.com

In his State of the Union Speech, President Obama articulated his vision of the path forward for America.  We are to imagine ourselves as members of a military organization selflessly following the orders of our superior officers no matter the personal cost up through the chain of command to the President as Commander in Chief.   This is the metaphor President Obama chose to explain the relationship between government and the American people.

The President’s conclusion, that “This nation is great because we built it together.  This nation is great because we worked as a (emphasis added) team,” is exactly wrong.  This country was not built by “a” team or “The A Team.”  The American people built our country by taking care of their families, their customers, and their communities through millions of voluntary organizations and the generous giving of their time and money.  The President’s grandiose claim to the contrary is an affront to our history and a threat to our liberty.

Categories:     Tags: Charles Kadlec, Economic Liberty, Power Motive, Tax policy, Trade Policy

Mitt Romney’s Glaring Economic Achilles Heel — Charles Kadlec, Forbes.com

Governor Mitt Romney’s greatest economic policy weakness is not the timidity of his tax plan, as limited as it is. His Achilles’ heel has been ignored by the media and gone largely unchallenged by those vying for the Republican nomination. And, it is the one part of his economic platform that is virtually identical to a failed Obama Administration policy.

What is it? His support for a weak dollar policy — especially relative to the Chinese yuan — as a way to improve U.S. competitiveness.

Categories:     Tags: Charles Kadlec, China, Monetary Policy, Romney, Trade Policy