'We are gutting government'

The intelligent Robert Samuelson writes cogent articles about government, business and the economy.

The 'We are gutting government' opening line from his Washington Post column grabbed me, but another phrase later in the article really struck me.

Samuelson wrote that a 'proud liberal - someone who believes in government's constructive role' is gutting government.   He is describing the president and his administration.

Proud liberal?

But, there is no disconnect between Obama and the gutting of government.

The president is not a 'proud liberal.' President Obama is a left wing ideologue who fully knows the impact and intent of the actions of his presidency.

Samuelson correctly calls the president 'an agent of gutted government.' 

Liberals for decades have been little more than enablers for the subtle, poisonous ideology of the left. 

The left wing President knows how to play liberals whose youngest grandchildren about mid-century will begin waking into anger.  PB 
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Twisted Priorities of a Graying Nation


From Robert Samuelson at the Washington Post:

We are gutting government.

It is an extreme irony of the Obama presidency that a proud liberal — someone who believes in government’s constructive role — is presiding over the harshest squeeze on government since World War II.

What’s happening is simple: Spending on the elderly and health care is slowly overwhelming the rest of the federal government.

Spending on other vital activities (from defense to financial regulation) is being sacrificed to cover the growing costs of a graying nation.

This is the central budget issue of our time...

We are allowing demographics to determine national priorities.

Nowhere is this more apparent than defense, which is scaling back (the Army alone is cutting an estimated 120,000 active-duty troops from its wartime peak) just when foreign threats seem to be rising.

So demographics even shape global strategy...

Ideally, we would eliminate nonessential and ineffective programs (farm subsidies, Amtrak), begin to trim Social Security and Medicare benefits (gradual increases in eligibility ages and lower benefits for wealthier recipients), and pay for the rest of government with higher taxes.

But both Obama and Republicans evade this unpopular exercise...

We all ought to want effective and efficient government.

But government is being strangled as the rising costs of baby-boomer retirees reduce the capacity of other programs to fulfill their missions. Obama would worsen the problem.

Unable to pay for existing programs, he would add more (for “free” community college and more preschool programs, among other things) that would intensify the competition for scarce funds.

Obama imagines himself a champion of better government.  In reality, he is an agent of gutted government. 
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Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-twisted-priorities-of-a-graying-nation/2015/02/08/