Many business owners have been too worried about tax rates in the future to make the investments needed to create new jobs now. That uncertainty is holding our economy back. President Barack Obama was to reveal a deficit reduction proposal that would end the uncertainty - in exactly the wrong way.
Obama's long-term deficit reduction plan reportedly calls for $1.5 trillion in new tax revenue. If Congress goes along - and we cannot imagine lawmakers doing so - that would represent $1.5 trillion removed from the private sector's ability to create new jobs.
But that isn't all. Obama also plans to claim another $1 trillion in deficit reduction by withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.
As was pointed out this summer when the same scheme was suggested in Congress, that is absurd. Withdrawal dates for the troops already have been set. Money saved by that action already had been factored into many deficit projections.
Obama's "plan" cannot be taken seriously. It is so ridiculous we wonder what political purpose the president had in proposing it. Clearly, his intent was not to recommend a workable method of reducing deficit spending.
