Moody's Downgrades Greece; Rivals Papandreou, Samaras Hold Nation's Debt-Laden Fate in Balance - WSJ.com

HOW PAPANDREOU AND OBAMA ARE JUST ALIKE: Moody's Downgrades Greece; Rivals Papandreou, Samaras Hold Nation's Debt-Laden Fate in Balance - WSJ.com

It's still the story of the farmer under two scenarios.

Papandreou and Obama are cut from the same cloth. They both believe in more government and no support for the private sector or encouragement of individual initiative with commensurate rewards.

The story of the farmer is that he/she knows that to plant the next season's crop, 10% of the last harvest needs to be saved.

If less than 10% is saved, the new harvest will be smaller than the last; likewise, if more is saved, planting can be expanded and the new harvest will be greater.

Both Papandreou and Obama believe taxing the farmer has no impact on that 10% or the farmer's decisions that go along with it.

Of course, Samaras is right that incentives matter. If the farmer knows he will be able to keep most of the gains of saving seed for an expanded harvest, he/she will be encouraged to do so. Maybe to feed a bigger family, have more to sell to buy something the family might want, etc.

Instead, both Papandreou and Obama believe in taxing the farmer and borrowing against future tax receipts from the farmer to fund handouts and pursue their own policy objectives (with Obama it could be high speed rail, union wage rates for construction, the failed drug war, anti-business policies, over regulation, etc., etc.).

It's hard not to want to look to a future with growth. But government has to make sacrifices and those not part of a growth agenda, but feeding off of it, should be forced to do with less. After all, they didn't earn what they are getting. It is being taken from others to be handed out as a government benefit (even if that government benefit is a job that isn't critically necessary, early or rich retirement benefits, etc.).