Cheney Sounds Off on Obama's Economic Programs

May 27, 2009 — -- Last Wednesday, former Vice President Dick Cheney took aim at President Obama on national security.

Today, Cheney turned his ire to the new administration's economic programs, denouncing the government's increased involvement in the private sector, from bankrupt automakers to bailed-out banks.

"I think the recession we've been through is being used by the administration in ways that fundamentally change the relationship between government and the private sector," Cheney told CNBC's Larry Kudlow in an interview airing Wednesday night on "The Kudlow Report." "That's what worries me most."

So, is Obama a socialist, as some Republicans have alleged in recent weeks?

"I agree with the criticism without using the labels," Cheney noted. "I don't want to get into trying to label President Obama.

"We're seeing a vast expansion -- not only the power of the federal government over the private sector, but also in terms of spending," he continued. "Massive, massive amounts of new spending and presumably new taxes to pay for it that I think will do fundamental, long-term damage to the country."

Cheney said the Bush administration never even anticipated the present extent of government control, such as the influence Congress now wields over the nation's banks after the implementation of the $700 billion bailout program implemented by former Bush Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.

"I don't recall any debate within the administration," Cheney said. "There may have been some over at Treasury or someplace that focused on the extent of which government would try to control these institutions once they provided financing for them."

The government involvement that the Troubled Asset Relief Program has caused, he added, brings back bad memories.

"I've got experiences going back to the wage price controls in the Nixon administration," he said, "where, in effect, we had what I think was a terrible mistake -- in that case, [under] a Republican administration -- where [government] moved in and tried to control the wages, prices and profits of every enterprise in America. It was a huge mistake. We finally got out of it, but it took a long time to do it, and it does a lot of damage.