Last night’s press conference provided another teachable moment
as to why the focus should not be on “the deficit” but rather
total government spending as a percentage of GDP.
When Obama was challenged on the massive size of his budget and
the burden placed on future generations, he immediately pivoted
to a discussion of deficits rather than the total dead weight
cost of the government as a percentage of GDP:
CNN’s Ed Henry: “You keep saying that you’ve inherited a
big fiscal mess. Do you worry, though, that your daughters, not
to mention the next president, will be inheriting an even bigger
fiscal mess if the spending goes out of control?”
OBAMA: “Of course I do, Ed, which is why we’re doing everything
we can to reduce that deficit.”
By repeatedly trumpeting the claim his budget will cut the
deficit in half in five years, Obama distracts from the most
meaningful metric: Total government spending as a
percentage of GDP will rise to a crushing 24.5 percent in
2019. The average of the past 40 years is 20.7
percent.
Obama’s predecessor George W. Bush did not help matters by ceding
the deficits-are-the-problem frame to those wishing to increase
the role of government in our lives.
Focusing on the deficit is like focusing on the visible tip of an
iceberg rather than the unseen (and in this case, growing) danger
beneath. Obama’s maritime metaphor in his concluding
statement —”This is a big ocean liner. It’s not a
speedboat” - reminds us the Titanic was sunk by the iceberg
itself, not the visible tip.
Pingback| 3.25.09 @ 5:40PM
Why Obama focuses on the deficit rather than total spending — But As For Me links to this page. Here’s an excerpt: