Obama & King Louis XIV: Separated at Birth?

President Obama's press conference Monday was an Imperial Presidency writ large. Apart from the issue of gun control about which I posted yesterday, two subjects dominated: the debt ceiling and spending.

"I won re-election. I have a mandate. Get over it."

Obama's chutzpah on these matters boggles the mind (pass the duct tape, please!). He is adamant that he will not negotiate with Republicans on the debt ceiling - that is, tying any curbs on spending to a rise in the ceiling. In fact, he would prefer not to have Congress involved with having to approve an increase in America's debt at, ceding to him the unilateral right to rise it whenever and however much he wants.

On the second subject, spending, the President was petulant; he has no intention to cut spending whatsoever. Or, let me restate that: he won't cut a dime of spending without Republican agreement to raising taxes first - and then only maybe. (In his Orwellian-speak, Pres Obama refers to taxes as "investment" - a laughable and patently false cover for more spending.)  As The Wall Street Journal points out in an editorial today:

The big fiscal news here is that Mr. Obama and the Democrats are all but conceding that the recent tax hike is little more than a token reduction in the deficit. The tax hike, while the biggest in 20 years, will raise only $620 billion at most over 10 years, and probably less. Yet Mr. Obama conceded in passing Monday that the debt ceiling will have to rise by something like $1.25 trillion to accommodate this year's deficit alone.

If you happen notice that your take-home pay was a bit less in your first 2013 paycheck, get ready for more. Tax and spend Democrats are lining up to grab more of your wallet:

Irrepressible Nancy Pelosi declared on January 6 on CBS's "Face the Nation" that the fiscal-cliff deal was "not enough." While declaring herself "fairly agnostic" on where the money will come from, she suggested closing tax loopholes and raising $38 billion by ending "special subsidies for big oil" that are merely the same as all manufacturing companies receive.

Michigan's Sandy Levin, the ranking House Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, recently reassured his liberal colleagues that "additional revenues" are sure to come in future budget deals and that "this [tax hike] sets that important precedent."

Richard Durbin of Illinois, the number two Senate Democrat, was asked on January 6 on CNN whether there should be more taxes on the wealthy; he responded: "Absolutely." He explained that tax loopholes should be closed because "We forgo about $1.2 trillion a year in the tax code, money that otherwise would go to the government," as if it all belongs to Uncle Sam in the first place.

Now remember, even if Obama taxed 100% of every dollar earned by every American who earned more than $500,000 in 2010, the feds would take in $1.29 trillion - not much more than the 2012 deficit. You've got to go where the money is, and that is the middle class. (Of course, we're talking about income and capital gains taxes; layer on increased taxes from Obamacare and other direct and indirect taxes and we're talking about a major fleecing of Americans.)

In the President's mind l'etat, cest moi! This was the motto attributed to King Louis XIV who established an  absolute monarchy in France.