It is clear from the way President Obama has been talking about the federal budget recently, and about taxation since he came to office, that all the money that Americans earn belongs to the federal government. The key words in this conversation are “tax expenditures.” Obama has lost a lot in tax expenditures, and he wants more of those tax expenditures back. He can spend that money, he believes, more wisely than the citizenry — that is to say, you and me.

He has wiggled and wobbled on the nation’s finances over the years. First, he spent money that he did not have. Then he threatened to raise taxes on the rich to pay for it.