Obama positive feedback loop fiscal plan

Oh, this is a great idea. [Link]

Called a “debt failsafe trigger,” Obama’s scheme would automatically raise taxes if politicians spend too much. According to the talking points distributed by the White House, the automatic tax increase would take effect “if, by 2014, the projected ratio of debt-to-GDP is not stabilized and declining toward the end of the decade.”

Let’s ponder what this means. If politicians in Washington spend too much and cause more red ink, which happens on a routine basis, Obama wants a provision that automatically would raise taxes on the American people.

In other words, they play and we pay. The last thing we need is a perverse incentive for even more reckless spending from Washington.

Government always increases in size, a bit less generally under Republicans, more under Democrats. This will not slow spending and get our financial house in order. This is a call for binge spending before mommy and daddy cut up the credit cards.


A negative feedback loop of a failsafe trigger should resist more spending, not encourage it.