Fresh New Obamanomics

Just like old stale Obamanomics. Higher taxes. More spending. No prospect of recovery.

In an ambitious speech that focused on manufacturing, clean energy investment and educational training as economic opportunities, the president said he wants to return America to prosperity by eliminating inequalities that he claims favor the rich at the expense of the rest. He prioritized extending a payroll tax cut and suggested raising the rates on wealthy Americans to pay for it. 

"Right now, we're poised to spend nearly $1 trillion more on what was supposed to be a temporary tax break for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans," the president said. "Do we want to keep these tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans? Or do we want to keep our investments in everything else -- like education and medical research; a strong military and care for our veterans? Because if we're serious about paying down our debt, we can't do both."

But with an entitlement system that eats away more than 40 percent of the government's annual spending and a $15.2 trillion debt that is expected to rise this week after a Senate vote to lift the debt ceiling once more, some fiscal watchdogs are wondering whether the president is serious about economic recovery. 

"The president missed an opportunity to throw down the gauntlet to Congress on the debt and demand a large, bipartisan debt reduction plan this year," said Maya MacGuineas, head of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. "We've punted on this issue for far too long, and the longer we wait the more difficult it will be to control rising debt and the closer we get to a potential crisis."

"Where's the guts? Where's the hard stuff? Where's the beef?" Alan Simpson, co-chairman of the president's commission on debt and deficits, asked on Fox Business Network. 

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/25/obama-offers-wish-list-for-recovery-few-answers-for-tackling-debt/#ixzz1kTftWRUj