Obama's Budget: Spends Too Much, Taxes Too Much & Borrows Too Much
Obama's nominations are often more examples of how President Obama feels free to ignore the majority of the American people . Another was evidenced today by his effort to and push his liberal agenda via his proposed budget for the 2012 fiscal year. And it appears most people are not going to allow his budget to go very far. Before providing the reaction from various sources, here in thumbnail form are the Key facts from President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2012 Budget:
- Spends Too Much
o $3.8 trillion in spending this year; 25.3% of GDP (highest since WWII)
o $46 trillion in spending over the decade; $8.7 trillion in new spending
- Taxes Too Much
o $1.6 trillion tax hike on families, small businesses, and job creators
o Revenues as a percent of GDP climb to 20%
- Borrows Too Much
o $1.6 trillion deficit for FY2012; a record third straight trillion dollar deficit
o Doubles and then triples debt held by the public since President took office
o $13 trillion added to the debt over the decade
ABC’s Jake Tapper quickly pointed out the bottom line on Obama’s $3.7 trillion proposal this morning: “The plan shows that Obama will not take the lead on any aggressive measure to eliminate the nation’s $14 trillion debt. This sets up the Obama administration on a collision course with Republicans, who are calling for serious deficit reduction and spending cuts. . . . At no point in the president’s 10-year projection would the U.S. government spend less than it's taking in.”
The New York Times writes, “With the budget he is to unveil Monday, President Obama has not opted for the bold, comprehensive approach to reining in the fast-growing federal debt that his own fiscal commission has said is needed, now.” Over the weekend, The Times noted, “The budget confirms that Mr. Obama is not taking the lead in embracing the kind of far-reaching deficit-reduction plan recommended in December by a bipartisan majority of his fiscal commission.”
The Washington Post points out, “Still, $1.1 trillion in savings would barely dent deficits that congressional budget analysts say could approach $12 trillion through 2021. The deficit is projected to approach $1.5 trillion this year and will remain above $1 trillion in 2012 under Obama's new spending plan, [Democrat Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent] Conrad said.” And according to the USA Today, “The spending plan will still result in a 2012 deficit of $1.1 trillion. Annual deficits would not drop below $600 billion, and over the decade they would add an additional $7.2 trillion in red ink to the national debt.”
The Wall Street Journal adds, “Mr. Obama's plan to reduce the deficit by $1.1 trillion over 10 years is short of the $4 trillion in reductions the White House's bipartisan deficit-reduction commission proposed in December. It would bring the country's deficit to around 3% of the country's GDP by 2017, an administration official said. That is higher than the 2.3% threshold the deficit-reduction commission proposed. The White House would fail to meet a promise made a year ago to balance the budget outside of interest payments on the federal debt by 2015, which would mean a deficit of 3% of GDP.”
Even worse, at a time when unemployment is still around 9%, even the AP headlined, “Obama budget resurrects rejected tax increases” and reported, “The plan unveiled Monday includes tax increases for oil, gas and coal producers, investment managers and U.S.-based multinational corporations. The plan would allow Bush-era tax cuts to expire at the end of 2012 for individuals making more than $200,000 and married couples making more than $250,000.”
Meanwhile, USA Today notes, “budget experts blasted the [president’s] budget.” “‘The entitlement and tax reform agenda will apparently be deferred yet again,’ said Robert Bixby, director of the Concord Coalition, a fiscal watchdog group. ‘It makes you wonder what the point was of having a commission in the first place.’” And the Democrat co-chair of President Obama’s fiscal commission, Erskine Bowles, “said the White House budget request goes ‘nowhere near where they will have to go to resolve our fiscal nightmare,’” according to The Washington Post.
Freshman Representative Tim Griffin (R-AR) responded, “The President is asking us to spend more money next year than we did last year and his budget proposal expands the deficit to a record $1.65 trillion while adding trillions of dollars to the national debt over the next ten years. The national debt is the greatest challenge of our lifetime and the head of the President’s own fiscal commission — President Clinton’s Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles — says this budget goes ‘nowhere near where they will have to go to resolve our fiscal nightmare.’ I am committed to working together in a bipartisan manner in Congress to pass a budget that will start to get our fiscal house in order.”
Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson warned, "By 2021, under the Obama budget, the national debt will balloon to $26.3 trillion from its current level of $14.1 trillion, an 86.5 percent increase. In fact, this year, in 2011, the national debt will grow to $15.4 trillion, larger than the entire economy. Thereafter, the debt-to-GDP levels will stay above 100 percent, growing every single year.
"In fact, under the Obama budget, the national debt will never be repaid. It will continue to grow into perpetuity. Even under the rosiest of scenarios projected by the Obama Administration, the debt will be growing faster than the economy and be larger than the economy — forever. If spending is not cut drastically and the debt paid down at fixed intervals like a mortgage payment, one day the debt will become too large to service, let alone be paid down. Net interest alone will be $844 billion annually by 2021, a number that will easily double by 2030 if not triple."
Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement reported in the The Washington Post’s, “The president talks like someone who recognizes that spending is out of control, but so far it hasn't been matched with action. And his only solution to one of the most significant problems facing our country is to lock in spending at levels we all know are completely unsustainable. Americans don't want a spending freeze at unsustainable levels. They want cuts, dramatic cuts.”
As presidential candidate hopeful Herman Cain might say, President Obama’s budget has "side stepped" the serious fiscal problems our nation faces, has "ignored" the facts and we will see him soon see him "name calling" the House Republicans for standing in his way. Instead he has presented a budget that “will not take the lead on any aggressive measure to eliminate the nation’s $14 trillion debt” and continues deficit spending for the next decade which cannot be allowed to continue unchecked.
We conclude with the words of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) who stands in the People's House leading the effort to stop the President's proposed runaway spending: “The President’s budget spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much – stifling job growth today and leaving our children with a diminished future. In this critical test of leadership, the President has failed to tackle the urgent fiscal and economic threats before us.”
“Failing to heed the warnings of economists and the demands of the American people, the President’s budget accelerates our country down the path to bankruptcy. Far from ‘living within its means,’ the President’s budget puts the government on track to nearly double in size since the day he took office – a direct result of his party’s reckless spending spree. His budget destroys jobs by imposing a $1.6 trillion tax hike, adding $13 trillion to the national debt and fueling uncertainty in the private sector.
“We cannot tax, spend and borrow our way to prosperity. Where the President has fallen short, Republicans will work to chart a new course – advancing a path to prosperity by cutting spending, keeping taxes low, reforming government, and rising to meet the challenges of our time.” Go Ryan Go!
Tags: Washington, D.C., US Senate, US House, President Obama, budget, More Taxes, More Spending, More debt, Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, news, To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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