President Obama insists on a "balanced" approach to tax increases and spending cuts.

He makes it sound so sensible, reasonable, and fair. The difficulty is he doesn't really mean it.

The president loves higher taxes, especially if they target the "rich," but he despises spending cuts the same way Dracula hates sunshine. Obama embraces cuts only if he can postpone them ("kicking the can down the road"), when they never happen.

James G. Ellis III

Fredericksburg