Obamaspeak for “Tax Increase”

During his second, all-network primetime press conference Tuesday, Barack Obama told us how he plans to spend his way out of bad times:

We invest in the renewable sources of energy that will lead to new jobs, new businesses, and less dependence on foreign oil. We invest in our schools and our teachers, so that our children have the skills they need to compete with any workers in the world. We invest in reform that will bring down the cost of health care for families, businesses and our government.

These things all cost money. “Invest” is Obamaspeak for “spend.” Obama, as I have said, is trying to lift us out of depression using the Roosevelt World War II strategy. His enemy isn’t Nazi Germany, it’s Republicans who would block spending on big government, renewable energy, education, and health care. But the point is to spend, spend, spend. This year, federal spending will top $4 trillion—28.5% of GDP, a level exceeded only at the height of World War II. And Obama plans to sustain this spending throughout his administration. Breathtaking.

“Politico” reporters John Harris and Jonathan Martin, confounded by Obama’s audacity in saying he will fight deficits by enlarging them even more, did a little “he said, he meant” thing to explain Obamaspeak:

What he said: “At the end of the day, the best way to bring our deficit down [isn’t by continuing] policies that have led us to narrow prosperity and massive debt. It’s with a budget that leads to broad economic growth by moving from an era of borrow-and-spend to one where we save and invest.”

What he meant: There is no way I am going to lose the language wars in a budget battle. My budget may borrow more and spend more than any in history. But I am going to frame this plan with appeals that emphasize sobriety and responsibility.

In other words, “I’m going to lie bigtime.”

My take. Obama isn’t lying. He’s just holding back part of the truth. The deficits he will run up to pull us out of recession and to invest in America’s “new deal” could be gigantic, or they could be brought under control through higher taxes. We need higher taxes. Sooner or later, Americans will see the wisdom of raising taxes to close the deficit. One (huge) step at a time, though.