From the Manchester, N.H. Union Leader — Originally published in print Monday, March 2

President Barack Obama must have been paying a lot of attention to the state budget process when he was campaigning in the New Hampshire primary.

The Democrats who wrote the current state budget intentionally inflated their revenue estimates to make an unbalanced budget appear balanced. President Obama has done the same thing (except for the balancing part).

The President predicts 3.2 percent economic growth in 2010. … The recession will not only be over by then, but the economy will grow at a faster rate than it did under President Bush, Obama wants us to believe.

It’s fine if the President hopes that. But he bases his budget on it. He predicts growth for the next several years at significantly higher rates than most economists predict. And he bases his estimates for higher federal revenues largely on that growth and his tax hikes, assuming no negative economic impact of the tax hikes. …