Shocker! President’s Fiscal Plan Wins Endorsement From Foxx
We can all rest easier about the second deficit-reduction proposal President Obama has offered us. Not because his proposal will reduce the debt America is accumulating at a faster clip than anytime else in her history. No, no. The justification for our bliss is that the President’s proposal has won the endorsement of Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx.
Check out the news release today from the White House:
Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx
“President Barack Obama today offered a serious and important framework for long-term deficit reduction. With a steady but fragile recovery underway, deficit reduction is a critical priority but must be balanced with maintaining job creating investments in infrastructure and education. We can neither cut nor spend our way to prosperity. We must do both, reduce our deficit while preparing our country to compete in a global economy.”
Okay … aside from the political-speak that makes this comment a paragon of bromidic rhetoric … has Mayor Foxx heard of the impending debt crisis, devaluation of our currency, and the international community’s move away from the US dollar as the reserve currency? This is because US spending has been out of control. For a long time.
The President’s plan would cut $4 trillion over 12 years – with most of that deficit reduction coming after a decade, naturally. As we run yearly deficits of $1 trillion, does anyone seriously believe cutting $4 trillion after a decade is fiscal prudence? Do the math. It’s still adding to the debt. Especially because Obama’s projections assume current interest rates of near 0% will continue. It’s why his “proposal” is not seen as serious. Again.
This brings me back to our Mayor.
Why would he attach his endorsement to this press release? He is listed (at the very bottom, I might add) of a release titled: “Mayors Back President’s Fiscal Policy Speech.” This is the second time Foxx has been used by the White House in pushing a fiscal issue. The last one touted Foxx’s support of Obama’s tax cut deal with the GOP (“Charlotte Mayor Backs Middle Class Tax Cut Framework”). This was the deal that extended the Bush Tax cuts for those evil “rich” people.
At the time, Foxx “…announced his support of the bipartisan measure to extend unemployment benefits and Bush era tax cuts to promote job creation and economic growth.” Hmmm … but now the President wants to roll back some of those same tax cuts that Foxx previously endorsed. It seems Mr. Foxx has jumped aboard the Doublespeak Express. Why would he hitch his political rhetoric to the actions of a national leader – who has already shown a propensity to take three sides of any issue?
It’s just starting to look a bit unseemly, don’t you think? Almost sycophantic. As if any time the White House wants to claim its fiscal policies are not going to drive the nation off an economic cliff, it grabs a bunch of democratic mayors from around the country to defend the President.
And Charlotte’s is one of those mayors.
First of all, I don’t think anyone should trust a handful of mayors to pass judgment on a federal deficit proposal. So using them as endorsers of a proposal seems a bit gratuitous, at best. Desperate, at worst.
But more importantly for Charlotteans, I’m starting to wonder whether our mayor is being co-opted for these fiscal endorsement announcements, and whether this will undermine his credibility among local business leaders – who don’t agree that adding trillions in debt is truly deficit reduction. Perhaps not, though. Maybe business leaders will just view Foxx’s statements as purely political.
Hmmm … come to think of it… is that much better?
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