Columnist: President Obama’s “Tax Cuts” Grow Government

In today’s Washington Examiner, Timothy Carney sums up why the “tax cuts” touted by President Obama in his State of the Union address this week will tend to expand government power:

President Obama, in his State of the Union address, again pledged to “end the outsized influence of lobbyists,” but by dangling out new subsidies and targeted tax credits, the president showed once more why K Street will continue to grow in size and clout in the era of Change.

Obama’s speech was emblematic of his overall economic mind-set: Government should be the rudder that steers industry.[…]

Obama also asked Congress to “give rebates to Americans who make their homes more energy-efficient, which supports clean energy jobs.” Again, he’s picking winners and losers.

If Washington can afford to cut taxes, why should it be so targeted? Driving people toward buying windows and doors drags them away from buying cars, beds or a vacation. Some businesses win at the expense of others.[…]

Obama and Congress get to pick the winners and losers. If you don’t have a good lobbyist, you can guess which side you’ll end up on.

Read the whole column here. For a list of tax proposals in President Obama’s State of the Union address, click here.

Update: Tim Carney wrote us to emphasize that his argument is that such “tax cuts” grow government control, which is separate from growing its revenues. I agree.