Today in Washington, D.C. - Feb 2, 2010 - Obama Budget; "More Spending, More Taxes and More Debt"
Senate resumed post-cloture consideration of the nomination of Patricia Smith to be solicitor for the Labor Department. Majority Leader Harry Reid has also filed cloture on the nomination of Martha Johnson to head the General Services Administration. The Senate is expected to turn to her nomination next.
President Obama’s big-spending $3.8 trillion budget debuted yesterday and was greeted with nearly universal criticism in major news outlets today. In fact, there’s little that needs to be said about the president’s latest budget today that wasn’t said by the press.
Rep. John Boehner, House Republican Leader expresses that "Working families and small business owners understand that making government live within its means is essential to building confidence in our economy both at home and abroad. That’s why the American people have been saying to Washington: “stop spending money we don’t have.” Democrats still haven’t gotten the message and President Obama has proposed another budget that spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much." He put out a paper identifying 10 Things Every American Should Know About President Obama’s Budget
In a sobering editorial, The Washington Post writes, “‘We can no longer afford to leave the hard choices for the next budget, the next administration or the next generation,’ President Obama declared as he unveiled the budget. That was true. It was also last year. The fiscal 2011 budget, unveiled yesterday, falls similarly short.”
The Wall Street Journal editorializes, “One rule of budget reporting is to watch what the politicians are spending this year, not the frugality they promise down the road. By that measure, the budget that President Obama released yesterday for fiscal 2011 is one of the greatest spend-while-you-can documents in American history.”
The Journal notes, “All of this spending must be financed, and so deficits and taxes are both scheduled to rise to record levels. The deficit will hit 10.6% of GDP this year, far more than Ronald Reagan ever dreamed of. The deficits are then predicted to fall but still to only a tad below 4% of GDP on average for the rest of the decade.” And The Washington Post editors add, “Under the path laid out by the president . . . the national debt is set to rise to a staggering 77 percent of the economy by 2020. That year, interest payments on the debt alone will be $840 billion; by way of comparison, all nonsecurity discretionary spending in 2020 is estimated to be $537 billion. And these terrifying numbers reflect the optimistic scenario. They assume that Congress accedes to all of the president's suggested cuts and savings . . . .”
This vision of a tsunami of red ink is enough even to unsettle The New York Times. In an analysis piece today, the NYT writes, “By President Obama’s own optimistic projections, American deficits will not return to what are widely considered sustainable levels over the next 10 years. In fact, in 2019 and 2020 . . . they start rising again sharply, to more than 5 percent of gross domestic product.” The Times worries, “Unless miraculous growth, or miraculous political compromises, creates some unforeseen change over the next decade, there is virtually no room for new domestic initiatives for Mr. Obama or his successors. Beyond that lies the possibility that the United States could begin to suffer the same disease that has afflicted Japan over the past decade. As debt grew more rapidly than income, that country’s influence around the world eroded.”
Taken aback by these estimates, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor yesterday, “This budget provides a startling figure that should stop us all in our tracks. According to the administration’s budget, the interest on the federal debt is expected to be nearly 6 trillion dollars over the next decade. We’ve all heard about interest-only loans, but this is the equivalent of an average of $600 billion dollars in interest every year. That’s an astonishing number. . . . [I]t’s now crystal clear that this budget is more spending, more taxes and more debt. Anyone listening to the American people knows this isn’t what they support. It’s not what our country needs.”
While focus still is on the Obama budget, the importance of addressing terrorism, its threat and the present Obama administration confusion in terrorist detainee policy needs to be addressed. Tomorrow morning, at 11:00 AM EST, Leader McConnell will deliver a key address on terrorism and detainee policies at the Heritage Foundation, titled, “The War on Terror: An Assessment of the Obama Administration's First Year.” You may view his speech online via UStream or if you used FaceBook it will be run via UStream at The Heritage Foundation’s Facebook page
Tags: federal budget, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
President Obama’s big-spending $3.8 trillion budget debuted yesterday and was greeted with nearly universal criticism in major news outlets today. In fact, there’s little that needs to be said about the president’s latest budget today that wasn’t said by the press.
Rep. John Boehner, House Republican Leader expresses that "Working families and small business owners understand that making government live within its means is essential to building confidence in our economy both at home and abroad. That’s why the American people have been saying to Washington: “stop spending money we don’t have.” Democrats still haven’t gotten the message and President Obama has proposed another budget that spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much." He put out a paper identifying 10 Things Every American Should Know About President Obama’s Budget
In a sobering editorial, The Washington Post writes, “‘We can no longer afford to leave the hard choices for the next budget, the next administration or the next generation,’ President Obama declared as he unveiled the budget. That was true. It was also last year. The fiscal 2011 budget, unveiled yesterday, falls similarly short.”
The Wall Street Journal editorializes, “One rule of budget reporting is to watch what the politicians are spending this year, not the frugality they promise down the road. By that measure, the budget that President Obama released yesterday for fiscal 2011 is one of the greatest spend-while-you-can documents in American history.”
The Journal notes, “All of this spending must be financed, and so deficits and taxes are both scheduled to rise to record levels. The deficit will hit 10.6% of GDP this year, far more than Ronald Reagan ever dreamed of. The deficits are then predicted to fall but still to only a tad below 4% of GDP on average for the rest of the decade.” And The Washington Post editors add, “Under the path laid out by the president . . . the national debt is set to rise to a staggering 77 percent of the economy by 2020. That year, interest payments on the debt alone will be $840 billion; by way of comparison, all nonsecurity discretionary spending in 2020 is estimated to be $537 billion. And these terrifying numbers reflect the optimistic scenario. They assume that Congress accedes to all of the president's suggested cuts and savings . . . .”
This vision of a tsunami of red ink is enough even to unsettle The New York Times. In an analysis piece today, the NYT writes, “By President Obama’s own optimistic projections, American deficits will not return to what are widely considered sustainable levels over the next 10 years. In fact, in 2019 and 2020 . . . they start rising again sharply, to more than 5 percent of gross domestic product.” The Times worries, “Unless miraculous growth, or miraculous political compromises, creates some unforeseen change over the next decade, there is virtually no room for new domestic initiatives for Mr. Obama or his successors. Beyond that lies the possibility that the United States could begin to suffer the same disease that has afflicted Japan over the past decade. As debt grew more rapidly than income, that country’s influence around the world eroded.”
Taken aback by these estimates, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor yesterday, “This budget provides a startling figure that should stop us all in our tracks. According to the administration’s budget, the interest on the federal debt is expected to be nearly 6 trillion dollars over the next decade. We’ve all heard about interest-only loans, but this is the equivalent of an average of $600 billion dollars in interest every year. That’s an astonishing number. . . . [I]t’s now crystal clear that this budget is more spending, more taxes and more debt. Anyone listening to the American people knows this isn’t what they support. It’s not what our country needs.”
While focus still is on the Obama budget, the importance of addressing terrorism, its threat and the present Obama administration confusion in terrorist detainee policy needs to be addressed. Tomorrow morning, at 11:00 AM EST, Leader McConnell will deliver a key address on terrorism and detainee policies at the Heritage Foundation, titled, “The War on Terror: An Assessment of the Obama Administration's First Year.” You may view his speech online via UStream or if you used FaceBook it will be run via UStream at The Heritage Foundation’s Facebook page
Tags: federal budget, US Congress, US House, US Senate, Washington D.C. To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
Posted by Bill Smith at 12:45 PM - Post Link
1 Comments:
Some people are beginning to take note of this run-a-way spending and their voices are growing louder, but those in Washington are turning a deaf ear to the crys of restraint and reason. Things must change now or change will be forced on us in the near future and be very painful to the masses and to the nation as a whole.
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