WASHINGTON — President Obama yesterday told the National Prayer Breakfast that God serves as his top adviser for pushing higher taxes on wealthy Americans and other lofty policy goals.
“For me, as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’ teaching that ‘for unto whom much is given, much shall be required,’ ” the president preached to the 3,000 people at the annual spiritual gathering.
Like Moses descending from Mount Sinai, Obama had a list of policies that God himself would endorse.
Obama extolled the virtues of his Wall Street reforms, ObamaCare laws that stop insurance companies from “discriminating against those who are already sick,” and proposed rules to crack down on mortgage lenders.
He made sure to explain how “shared sacrifice” equates with tax hikes for rich people — such as himself.
“If I’m willing to give something up — as somebody who’s been extraordinarily blessed — and give up some of the tax breaks that I enjoy, I actually think that’s going to make economic sense,” declared Obama.
The political spirit of the speech raised eyebrows at the annual prayer breakfast.
“In his mind, God is a leftist,” said Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa).
“He just can’t give a nonpolitical speech. He tried but he can’t help himself,” said King. “If you hang a pork chop in front of a dog, you know what he is going to do. He’ll snap at it.”
Obama said that he wakes up “each morning, and I say a brief prayer, and I spend a little time in scripture and devotion.”
He said sometimes friends “come by the Oval Office or they’ll call on the phone or they’ll send me an e-mail, and we’ll pray together.”
Obama recounted how he made a pilgrimage last year to meet and pray with the Rev. Billy Graham, the evangelist who has counseled presidents since Dwight Eisenhower.
He said that he has “fallen on my knees with great regularity since that moment — asking God for guidance not just in my personal life and my Christian walk, but in the life of this nation and in the values that hold us together and keep us strong.”