2012 Budget: A Deficit of Change
Angry Left, deficit, Nation, obama, POTUS 8:00 AM
by Nick Stone of Drawnlines Politics.
Hold all praise and cheer for this week's White House budget proposal.
President Obama said many times during his 2008 campaign that he would rise above partisanship and political games. He promised through his election that he would make the tough decisions. Yet the can keeps getting kicked down the road and the games continue. For many Americans, the 2012 Obama budget proposal might be the end of our patience with a presidency in disarray.
The Obama 2012 Budget is $3.73 Trillion. Let's call it what it is: massive.
The 2011 budget proposal was $3.69 Trillion. Budget 2010 was $3.55 Trillion. Get the picture? Obama budgets have been one spending tsunami after the other. This budget continues sharp emergency spending increases that must be reversed as the economy returns to normal. Did anyone think the government was being run on a shoestring at Bush era levels? Obama's proposals have invariably increased the national debt, raised taxes, and worsened our long-range projections. For these reasons, freezing at or near current spending levels is a complete nonstarter. Yet that is exactly what the White House proposes to do.
While making the Pro-Growth Case for Spending Cuts, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan R-WI said,
"In these debates, we started with a simple goal: reduce the budgets for most government agencies back to where they were before the bailouts, before the stimulus package, and before the spending binge. Over the last two years, many federal bureaucracies received budget increases of 30 percent, 40 percent, or - in one case -100 percent. The numbers grow even larger when the failed stimulus is added in."
Clinton White House strategist Dick Morris went into further detail. According to Morris, "Obama and the Democrats are playing a game (the same one they played in the 1990s before Bill Clinton called their bluff). By pretending that the most politically popular programs – Social Security and Medicare — cause the deficit, they insulate the whole array of less popular government programs from cuts. They hide appropriations for EPA, PBS, highway construction, the Department of Education and like behind Social Security and Medicare reform." He offers this chart to illustrate the point:
INCREASES IN SPENDING UNDER OBAMA
Category 2008 2010 % Incr
Welfare $260 $400 54%
Domestic $485 $682 41%
Medicare $456 $528 16%
S. Security $612 $700 14%
Defense $612 $690 11%
Source: US Government
According to the BBC, The US is one of only two G20 countries which expects its deficit to rise, not fall, this year. The New York Times accepts as gospel that the Obama budget will reduce our budget deficit by $1.1 Trillion over the next decade. But Reuters admits that figure relies on budget gimmicks and a rosy economic growth forecast. The Atlanta Journal Constitution, which has historically been... let's say... pretty good to Obama, says outright that the budget will "increase the debt by trillions." Specifically, AJC points out that Jake Tapper of ABC called it most frankly of all: “a 10-year budget plan that would increase the national debt by $7.2 trillion over 10 years.”
The Obama budget plan is a disaster, not a cure. It rapidly expands our national debt, increases spending over already insane levels, and increases taxes. It completely ignores recommendations from the president's own Deficit Commission. For this we are to cheer? Senator McConnell R-Ky said in a floor speech, “It’s unserious and it’s irresponsible.” He is right, and Republicans absolutely must not take the proposal seriously.
History shows us that a Republican Congress and a Democratic president can reduce spending, reform government programs, and grow the economy at the same time. But President Obama's budget proposal is a clear sign that he is not interested in repeating that part of history on his watch.
Become an insider today
Check us out on FACEBOOK
Hold all praise and cheer for this week's White House budget proposal.
President Obama said many times during his 2008 campaign that he would rise above partisanship and political games. He promised through his election that he would make the tough decisions. Yet the can keeps getting kicked down the road and the games continue. For many Americans, the 2012 Obama budget proposal might be the end of our patience with a presidency in disarray.
Federal spending reaches unprecedented levels in Obama Era.
The Obama 2012 Budget is $3.73 Trillion. Let's call it what it is: massive.
The 2011 budget proposal was $3.69 Trillion. Budget 2010 was $3.55 Trillion. Get the picture? Obama budgets have been one spending tsunami after the other. This budget continues sharp emergency spending increases that must be reversed as the economy returns to normal. Did anyone think the government was being run on a shoestring at Bush era levels? Obama's proposals have invariably increased the national debt, raised taxes, and worsened our long-range projections. For these reasons, freezing at or near current spending levels is a complete nonstarter. Yet that is exactly what the White House proposes to do.
Heritage: Obama 2009-2010 Spending Tsunami Worsens Debt Load
While making the Pro-Growth Case for Spending Cuts, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan R-WI said,
"In these debates, we started with a simple goal: reduce the budgets for most government agencies back to where they were before the bailouts, before the stimulus package, and before the spending binge. Over the last two years, many federal bureaucracies received budget increases of 30 percent, 40 percent, or - in one case -100 percent. The numbers grow even larger when the failed stimulus is added in."
Clinton White House strategist Dick Morris went into further detail. According to Morris, "Obama and the Democrats are playing a game (the same one they played in the 1990s before Bill Clinton called their bluff). By pretending that the most politically popular programs – Social Security and Medicare — cause the deficit, they insulate the whole array of less popular government programs from cuts. They hide appropriations for EPA, PBS, highway construction, the Department of Education and like behind Social Security and Medicare reform." He offers this chart to illustrate the point:
INCREASES IN SPENDING UNDER OBAMA
Category 2008 2010 % Incr
Welfare $260 $400 54%
Domestic $485 $682 41%
Medicare $456 $528 16%
S. Security $612 $700 14%
Defense $612 $690 11%
Source: US Government
According to the BBC, The US is one of only two G20 countries which expects its deficit to rise, not fall, this year. The New York Times accepts as gospel that the Obama budget will reduce our budget deficit by $1.1 Trillion over the next decade. But Reuters admits that figure relies on budget gimmicks and a rosy economic growth forecast. The Atlanta Journal Constitution, which has historically been... let's say... pretty good to Obama, says outright that the budget will "increase the debt by trillions." Specifically, AJC points out that Jake Tapper of ABC called it most frankly of all: “a 10-year budget plan that would increase the national debt by $7.2 trillion over 10 years.”
The Obama budget plan is a disaster, not a cure. It rapidly expands our national debt, increases spending over already insane levels, and increases taxes. It completely ignores recommendations from the president's own Deficit Commission. For this we are to cheer? Senator McConnell R-Ky said in a floor speech, “It’s unserious and it’s irresponsible.” He is right, and Republicans absolutely must not take the proposal seriously.
History shows us that a Republican Congress and a Democratic president can reduce spending, reform government programs, and grow the economy at the same time. But President Obama's budget proposal is a clear sign that he is not interested in repeating that part of history on his watch.
Become an insider today
Check us out on FACEBOOK
Posted by Nick Stone
on 8:00 AM.
Filed under
Posts
