June 19, 2012 3:12PM # What Does It Mean When Obama and His Former Top Economist both Reject Obamanomics? By [Daniel J. Mitchell](https://www.cato.org/people/daniel-mitchell) --- SHARE To answer the question in the title, it means you need to read the fine print. This is because we have a president who thinks the government shouldn’t confiscate more than 20 percent of a company’s income, but he only [gives that advice when he’s in Ghana](http://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/obama-says-20-percent-for-government-is-too-much/). And the same president says it’s time to “let the market work on its own,” but he only says that [when talking about China’s economy](http://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/when-obama-rejects-government-intervention-and-says-it-is-better-to-let-the-market-work-on-its-own-you-need-to-read-the-fine-print/). Now we have more evidence that the president understands the dangers of [class-warfare taxation](http://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/obamas-tax-policy-threatens-americas-economy/) and [burdensome government spending](http://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/a-fiscal-policy-tutorial-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-economics-of-government-spending/). At least when he’s not talking about American fiscal policy. After the Greek elections, which saw the defeat of the pro-big government Syriza coalition and a victory for the supposedly conservative New Democracy Party, here’s [some of what *Politico* reported](http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/06/obama-greek-results-positive-prospect-126474.html). > President Barack Obama on Monday called the results of Greece’s election a “positive prospect” with the potential to form a government willing to cooperate with Europe. “I think the election in Greece yesterday indicates a positive prospect for not only them forming a government, but also them working constructively with their international partners in order that they can continue on the path of reform and do so in a way that also offers the prospects for the Greek people to succeed and prosper,” Obama said after a meeting with the G‑20 Summit’s host, Mexican President Felipe Calderon. In other words, it’s “positive” when other nations reject big government and vote for right-of-center parties, but Heaven forbid that this advice apply to the United States. Interestingly, it’s not just Obama who is rejecting (when talking about other nations) the welfare-state vision of bigger government and higher taxes. Check out this remarkable [excerpt from a *Washington Post* column](http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/lawrence-summers-avoiding-a-global-catastrophe/2012/06/18/gJQACsBklV_story.html) by Larry Summers, the former chairman of the president’s National Economic Council. > … it is far from clear, especially after the French election, that there is any kind of majority or even plurality support for responsible policies. Remarkable. Larry Summers is dissing French president Francois Hollande and the French people by implying they want irresponsible policies, even though the Hollande’s views about [Keynesian economics](http://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/keynesian-economics-is-wrong/) and [soak-the-rich taxation](http://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/clowns-of-a-feather-stick-together-french-presidential-candidate-echoes-biden-says-higher-tax-rates-are-patriotic/) are basically identical to the nonsense Summers was peddling while in the White House. It’s almost enough to make you cynical about America’s political elite. Perish the thought! ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).