Last week we talked about Obama's scary budget proposal. But why is it scary? Why is having more government spending and programs a bad idea?

William Easterly, in his book The Elusive Quest for Growth, paints a clear picture:

"In an economy with many government interventions, skilled people opt for activities that redistribute income rather than activities that create growth."

You might have noticed a funny little thing happening lately: everyone thinks they have a legitimate claim to government money. Lobbyists have never been happier as their phones are ringing off the hook. But what are the long term consequences of this?

This redistribution of wealth can't go on forever... not if we hope to see America remain an economic powerhouse. If our sharpest people realize their best opportunity for an easy buck is lobbying government to give them taxpayer money, then we'll be left with a shrinking economy.

And the dollars they're lobbying to get are young voters' future tax dollars; our government doesn't even have the money they're currently spending. As you might recall, we're now on track for each and every American to owe the government $46,000 by 2019. This will be past the point when many Baby Boomers are paying taxes, and it will be us young voters left footing the bill.