Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was right last week when he wrote in USA Today that “the debt ceiling debate in Washington is a struggle over the kind of government we want. If you want a government that runs everything from the student loan business to car companies, then taxes will have to go up. If you think government is too big already and should start to pull back, then Washington has to change its ways — fast.” As if to punctuate McConnell’s remarks, President Obama made it clear through senior aides Monday that he will veto the “cut, cap and balance” proposal favored by congressional Republicans. Since CCB includes actual spending cuts, caps future federal spending at pre-TARP levels, and requires, via a constitutional amendment, that the federal budget be balanced, Obama has officially put himself on the record against all three. What Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress seek, as McConnell so aptly put it, is government with its hand in everything.
Print subscriber? Click here to login/register your account
Digital subscriber? Click here to login/register your account.