Dems Feel the Need to Feed Their Spending Addiction

April 16, 2012

Unable to Abandon Their Three-Year Spending Spree, Democrats Want Tax Hikes to Keep the Party Going

Washington Democrats are openly calling for tax increases and vowing even more if they win in November.
Democrats are desperate for new tax hikes that will pay for their spending addiction. The Democrats have taken every opportunity possible to double down on their failed stimulus by spending more money we don’t have.
Apparently the Democrats have learned nothing from the spectacular failure of their spending sprees. If Democrats still haven’t figured out that they can’t spend their way out of the nation’s debt problem, will they ever?

Washington Democrats are openly calling for tax increases and vowing even more if they win in November:

OBAMA SPENT LAST WEEK PUSHING FOR NEW GIMMICKS TO INCREASE TAXES FOR “CLOSING OUR DEFICITS”: “This is not just about fairness. This is also about growth, this is also about being able to make the investments we need to succeed, and it’s about we as a country being willing to pay for those investments and closing our deficits. That’s what this is about.” (“Obama: We Could Call the Buffett Rule ‘the Reagan Rule’,” CBS News, 4/11/2012)

WSJ: OBAMA’S “BUFFETT RULE” GIMMICK “YIELDS A PITTANCE”: (Editorial, “The Bottom 0.1%,” The Wall Street Journal, 3/22/2012)

BUFFETT GIMMICK WOULD INCREASE REVENUE BY “LESS THAN ONE-TENTH OF ONE PERCENT OF THE $1.2 TRILLION BUDGET DEFICIT” (0.1%):“This year, the Buffett rule would increase federal revenues by all of $1.1 billion. That’s less than one-tenth of one percent of the $1.2 trillion budget deficit Mr. Obama is scheduled to run this year. Through 2022 Joint Tax expects less than $47 billion in total new revenues from the Buffett rule while the government will be adding trillions of dollars to the national debt. Joint Tax even concedes, as it is rarely wont to do, that the rule will affect taxpayer behavior: By raising the effective tax rate on capital gains, the rule will encourage people to realize fewer capital gains.” (Editorial, “The Bottom 0.1%,” The Wall Street Journal, 3/22/2012)

OOPS: WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN FORCED TO BACKTRACK, CLAIMS RULE IS ABOUT “TAX FAIRNESS”: “When asked about those revenue projections, White House aide Jason Furman backpedaled from Mr. Obama’s rationale by explaining that the tax was never intended ‘to bring the deficit down and the debt under control.’ Okay. So what is the point? The goal, Mr. Furman explained, is to establish a ‘a basic issue of tax fairness.’” (Editorial, “The Obama Rule,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/10/2012)

TAX EXPERTS: “SEEMS JUST POOR TAX POLICY”: “Most disturbing to tax experts, however, is that the Buffett Rule — which would raise $47 billion over 10 years — seems just poor tax policy.” (Kevin G. Hall, “Exaggerations Abound on Both Sides of ‘Buffett Rule’ Debate,” McClatchy DC, 4/13/2012)

EMPHASIS ON NEW TAX HIKES TO PAY FOR DEMOCRATS’ SPENDING ADDICTION COULD BACKFIRE ON DEMOCRATS: “Among voters without a strongly held opinion of either Mr. Romney or Obama, 80 percent said they’d be more likely to support a candidate focused on economic growth and opportunity, while 15 percent said they would choose one emphasizing income inequality, according to a poll released Monday by the centrist Democratic group Third Way.” (David Grant, “Buffett Rule: Could it Backfire on Democrats?”, The Christian Science Monitor, 4/9/2012)

Democrats are desperate for new tax hikes that will pay for their spending addiction. The Democrats have taken every opportunity possible to double down on their failed stimulus by spending more money we don’t have:

“CBO: EXPLODING DEBT UNDER OBAMA POLICIES”: (David Rogers, “CBO: Exploding Debt Under Obama Policies,” Politico, 3/16/2012)

“OBAMA’S TAX AND SPENDING POLICIES WILL YIELD $6.4 TRILLION OVER THE NEXT DECADE”: “The Congressional Budget Office said Friday that President Barack Obama’s tax and spending policies will yield $6.4 trillion in deficits over the next decade, more than double the shortfall in CBO’s own fiscal baseline — even after taking credit for reduced war costs.” (David Rogers, “CBO: Exploding Debt Under Obama Policies,” Politico, 3/16/2012)

“EVEN IF OBAMA WERE TO GET HIS WAY ON ALL FRONTS,” DEBT WOULD “NEARLY DOUBLE AGAIN” TO $18.8 TRILLION IN 2022: “That said, the picture is grim, and even if Obama were to get his way on all fronts, the federal debt held by the public would nearly double again from $10.1 trillion at the end of 2011 to $18.8 trillion at the end of 2022.” (David Rogers, “CBO: Exploding Debt Under Obama Policies,” Politico, 3/16/2012)

OBAMA’S BUDGET ENSURES DEBT “WILL CONTINUE TO RISE AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE”: (Mark Knoller, “National Debt Has Increased More Under Obama than Under Bush,”CBS News, 3/19/2012)

ABC NEWS: OBAMA’S “BROKEN DEFICIT PROMISE”: “The 2013 budget the president submitted today does not come close to meeting this promise of being reduced to $650 billion for fiscal year 2013.

“The president noted in that 2009 speech the Obama administration inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit.

“The deficit was similarly $1.3 trillion in 2011, is projected to be $1.15 trillion in 2012, and the president’s budget claims it will be $901 billion in 2013.” (Jake Tapper, “Obama’s Broken Deficit Promise,” ABC News, 2/13/2012)

DEMOCRATS’ RECORD OF TRILLION-DOLLAR DEFICITS: “The Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday predicted the budget deficit will rise to $1.08 trillion in 2012. … The deficit was $1.4 trillion in 2009, $1.3 trillion in 2010 and $1.3 trillion in 2011. The largest deficit recorded before that was $458 billion in 2008.” (Erik Wasson, “CBO Projects $1.08T Deficit, Higher Unemployment,” The Hill, 1/31/2012)

OBAMA CALLING FOR $350 BILLION IN NEW STIMULUS: “In his final budget request before facing voters in November, Obama called for $350 billion in new stimulus to maintain lower payroll taxes, bolster domestic manufacturing, lure jobs back from overseas, hire teachers, retrain workers and fix the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.” (Lori Montgomery, “Obama Offers Stimulus, But Cuts in State, too,” The Washington Post, 2/15/2012)

REUTERS: “OBAMA UNVEILS BIG SPENDING ELECTION-YEAR BUDGET”:(Alister Bull and Laura MacInnis, “Obama Unveils Big Spending Election-Year Budget,”Reuters, 2/13/2012)

NEW BUDGET “LADEN WITH STIMULUS-STYLE INITIATIVES”: “The president’s plan is laden with stimulus-style initiatives: sharp increases for highway construction and school modernization, and a new tax credit for businesses that add jobs.” (Andrew Taylor, “Obama Budget: New Spending with Recycled Tax Ideas,” Associated Press, 2/11/2012)

Apparently the Democrats have learned nothing from the spectacular failure of their spending sprees. If Democrats still haven’t figured out that they can’t spend their way out of the nation’s debt problem, will they ever?:

A FAILED STIMULUS: UNEMPLOYMENT AT 8.2%, BUT DEMOCRATS PROMISED 5.8%

OBAMA STIMULUS PROJECTION SAID UNEMPLOYMENT AT 5.8% NOW:“Recall that back in 2009, White House economists Jared Bernstein and Christina Romer used their old-fashioned Keynesian model to predict how the $800 billion stimulus would affect employment. According to their model—as displayed in the above chart, updated—unemployment should be around 5.8% today.” (James Pethokoukis, “The Big March Jobs Miss—and Why the Real Unemployment Rate Sure Ain’t 8.2%,” American Enterprise Institute, 4/6/2012)

IN FACT, UNEMPLOYMENT IS AT 8.2%: (“Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4/6/2012)

AN EMBARRASSING RECORD OF WASTEFUL SPENDING

“GSA MADE UP ‘JACKASS AWARD’ TO JUSTIFY DINNERS”: “Officials at the General Services Administration invented fake awards as an excuse to hold taxpayer-funded dinner events at conferences, according to an interview transcript obtained by Roll Call.” (Jonathan Strong, “GSA Made Up ‘Jackass Award’ to Justify Dinners,” Roll Call, 4/12/2012)

ALREADY UNDER MAJOR SCRUTINY FOR VIOLATING “SCORES OF RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING SPENDING” TAX DOLLARS: “GSA is under fire because the inspector general revealed in an April 2 report that the agency spent almost $823,000 on an October 2010 Las Vegas conference for about 300 people. The inspector general also said officials violated scores of rules and regulations governing spending of taxpayer dollars.” (Jonathan Strong, “GSA Made Up ‘Jackass Award’ to Justify Dinners,” Roll Call, 4/12/2012)

GSA SPENT $330,000 FOR RELOCATION ON A SINGLE EMPLOYEE, “LIKELY ‘MILLIONS’ ON OTHERS OVER A TWO YEAR PERIOD”: (Dana Bash, “Employee Says GSA Spent ‘Millions’ on Relocation,” CNN, 4/12/2012)

OBAMA’S GSA ALSO TREATED INTERNS TO A CONFERENCE AT A RESORT:(Larry Margasak, “GSA Interns Treated to Conference at Resort,” Associated Press, 4/12/2012)

“SOLYNDRA FACTORY HAD DISNEY-SINGING ROBOTS, SPAS”: “Former employees told the San Francisco Chronicle that the $733 million, 300,000-square-foot factory built in 2009 had spa-like showers, robots that whistled Disney tunes and glass-walled conference rooms.” (Sajid Farooq, “Solyndra Factory Had Disney-Singing Robots, Spas,” NBC Bay Area, 9/29/2011)

SOLYNDRA FACTORY WAS COMPARED TO “THE TAJ MAHAL” BY STAFF: “‘The new building is like the Taj Mahal,’ John Pierce, a facilities manager at Solyndra, told the paper.” (Sajid Farooq, “Solyndra Factory Had Disney-Singing Robots, Spas,” NBC Bay Area, 9/29/2011)

SOLYNDRA CAUGHT ON TAPE DESTROYING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF ASSETS AFTER BANKRUPTCY: “After filing for bankruptcy last year, Fremont solar company Solyndra still owes American taxpayers half a billion dollars. But CBS 5 caught them destroying millions of dollars worth of parts. At Solyndra’s sprawling complex in Fremont, workers in white jumpsuits were unwrapping brand new glass tubes used in solar panels last week. They are the latest, most cutting-edge solar technology, and they are being thrown into dumpsters.” (“Bankrupt Solyndra Caught Destroying Brand New Parts,” CBS San Francisco, 1/19/2012)

OBAMA’S DOE “TURNED A BLIND EYE TO THE RISKS THAT HAVE BEEN GLARINGLY APPARENT,” LENT $14.5 BILLION OVER 27 PROJECTS: “By the expiration of § 1705 program in September 2011, the DOE had approved 27 projects totaling more than $14.5 billion in guaranteed loans. Inexplicably, DOE management has turned a blind eye to the risks that have been glaringly apparent since the inception of the program.” (“The Department of Energy’s Disastrous Management of Loan Guarantee Program,” U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 3/20/2012)

DESPITE A RECORD OF FAILURE: “REPORT: ENERGY LOANS COULD COST $3B” FROM “HIGH-RISK” GREEN PROGRAMS: (“Report: Energy Loans Could Cost $3B,” Associated Press, 2/10/2012)

SPENDING SPREE REWARDS OBAMA DONORS AND STAFF? WASHINGTON POST AUDIT FINDS $3.9 BILLION IN TAXPAYER MONEY WENT TO “21 COMPANIES WITH CONNECTIONS TO FIVE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION STAFFERS AND ADVISERS”: “During the next three years, the department provided $2.4 billion in public funding to clean-energy companies in which Wagle’s former firm, Vantage Point Venture Partners, had invested, a Washington Post analysis found. Overall, the Post found that $3.9 billion in federal grants and financing flowed to 21 companies backed by firms with connections to five Obama administration staffers and advisers.” (Carol Leonnig and Joe Stephens, “Venture Capitalists Play Key Role in Obama’s Energy Department,” The Washington Post, 2/14/2012)