CBO Report on President Obama's Budget | President Obama Bows Leftwing Billionaire And Delays Keystone XL For Politics Again
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| Editorial Cartoon by Gary Varvel - his FB Page |
Today in Washington, D.C. - April 21, 2014 The Senate and House are still not in session and will return for legislative business on April 28th.
When the Senate returns, a series of votes is scheduled: on confirmation of Michelle Friedland to be a United States Circuit Judge for the 9th Circuit, on cloture on the controversial nomination of David Weil to be the administrator of the wage and hour division at the Department of Labor, on confirmation of the Weil nomination if cloture is invoked, and on confirmation of the nomination of Katherine O’Regan to be an Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Since Congress is not in session, and Public Notice has taken a "snapshot" of the government affected economy:
Current Deficit: $413 billion
Current National Debt: $17.51 trillion
Debt Per Household: $143,006
Debt Per Individual: $55,086
Unemployment Rate: 6.7%
The CBO Report on President Obama's Budget indicates the President's Budget Fails To Make Any Of The Reforms Necessary To Avert A Long-Term Fiscal Crisis And Will Bury The Nation Under A Mountain Of Debt In The Next Ten Years.
- A Budget That Never Balances: President Obama's vision of America is a nation buried deeper and deeper in debt, year after year. The CBO confirmed today that the president's budget makes no attempt to balance now or a decade from now. Instead, he continues to pile more debt onto future generations to pay for the same big government programs that have been a weight around the neck of taxpayers, our healthcare system and our economy.
- The Budget adds More Than $7 Trillion To The National Debt: According to the CBO, the cumulative deficit over the 2015-2024 period in the president's budget would be $7.6 trillion, and bring the total debt held by the public to nearly $20 trillion by 2024 and equal to about 74 percent of GDP. This is a far cry from the candidate who once said adding $4 trillion to the debt was "unpatriotic" and a troubling glimpse into the future for the generations who will have to pay for it.
- Does Nothing To Address The Biggest Drivers Of Our Debt: Despite all the promises to make the tough decisions on entitlement programs, the president's budget does nothing to reform Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security – the biggest drivers of our debt - for future generations. Over the next decade these programs will be ten years closer to insolvency and the American people will be ten years deeper in debt paying for them.
- Discretionary Spending Increases: The only so-called 'reductions' in spending are derived from a projected drawback in future war funding – a budgeting gimmick that has been routinely used by this administration to hide the true spending increases in the president's budgets. The reality is that discretionary spending will increase for all other activities aside from overseas contingency operations and surface transportation programs.
- Nothing To Celebrate. The long-term outlook has not changed—our deficits are still historically high and poised to grow even more. We already have $17 trillion in debt, which, according to the CBO, will grow to $27 trillion in debt by 2024. Only in Washington could the president try to sell this massive debt spike as a positive. After five years of near-record highs, President Obama is patting himself on the back for a temporary slowdown instead of working to address the drivers of the problem.
- Spending Is Still The Issue. America’s out-of-control debt is driven by unsustainable automatic spending programs. When President Obama took office, he said it was time to get serious about entitlement reform, but he has failed to take any meaningful action. Within a decade, the CBO predicts Social Security and the federal health care programs will account for more than half of all federal spending. Time is running out to do something about it.
- Crisis Is Coming. The CBO confirms what common sense tells us: Spending at this level cannot go on forever. According to the report, interest rates are expected to increase dramatically within the next ten years. This means that servicing the national debt alone will cost taxpayers $876 billion in 2024. As a percent of GDP, that is a level that has never before been reached in the post-World War II era. Unless something is done to get our spending under control, an even bigger financial crisis could be on the way.
- Tax Day A Reminder Of Overspending. As Americans file their taxes, today's report is another reminder of Washington's inability to set priorities and budget responsibly. The next time politicians claim they need to raise taxes to fund their spending addiction, taxpayers should point to this CBO report as evidence that the last thing Washington needs is more money for more spending.
- Nearly Two Trillion In New Spending And What Will We Get For It? The CBO report projects that over the next ten years, the federal government will spend $1.84 trillion on Obamacare insurance coverage provisions. Meanwhile, many Americans across the country are already facing higher prices, less personal choice and the confusion and chaos of dealing with new plans and changing networks.
- Taxpayers Continue To Be On The Hook. Taxpayers continue to foot the bill for increasing subsidies, while those who can't afford a plan – or choose not to get covered - will be punished with a penalty or fee. How does it make sense to penalize individuals who may not be able to afford healthcare in the first place with higher taxes?
- Insurers Already Warning About "Rate Shock" In the Fall. Recent reports note that insurance companies are already bracing for higher prices in the fall and some are preparing their customers for "rate shock." Obamacare was supposed to make healthcare more affordable – instead, it's making it less affordable.
- Millions To Remain Uninsured Through The Next Decade. Even with punishing mandates and a more than $600 million marketing campaign, the CBO predicts 31 million Americans will still be uninsured at the end of the decade.
- Healthcare Is About People, Not Politics. This administration has been focused more on a carefully crafted public relations campaign for Obamacare than actually improving the healthcare system. Healthcare reform should be about providing Americans with the best quality care at the most affordable price. This law has failed to achieve either of those things.
- Obamacare Isn't Working.
Some Key Polling Data from the past week:
Taxes - Just in time for Tax Day, Gallup reported that 52% of Americans think the amount they pay in federal income tax is too high, while 42% said it is about right and 3% said it was too low. Since 2003, the percentage of too high has remained around 50%. Also, 49% of Americans also believe middle income people pay too much in taxes. This is the highest percentage since 1999.
YouGov’s Tax Day poll showed that 54% of Americans would place a higher priority on reducing the budget deficit compared to the 30% would prioritize cutting taxes. Nearly half (48%) thought the nation’s long-term debt problem can be solved without have to raise any taxes and 31% thought it could be solved only if some taxes go up. Forty-three percent thought raising taxes on those who make more than $250,00 a year would help the economy while 20% thought it would hurt it. 24% thought it wouldn’t make much of a difference either way.
Heath Care - Gallup reported that 4% of Americans were newly insured this year; 2.1% purchased their new insurance through the exchanges, while 1.9% did not. The polling firm also released a survey showing that higher fines compel uninsured Americans to sign up for health insurance. At the lowest $95 fine level, uninsured were almost equally likely to favor paying the fine (46%) or getting insurance (47%). At the $500 fine level, those who would get insurance jumps to 60%, and at the $1,000 fine level, this increases slightly more to 62%.
On Friday, the Obama administration continued one of its longstanding traditions of releasing controversial or politically damaging news on holiday weekends. Politico wrote, “The Obama administration says it is indefinitely extending its long-awaited review of the Keystone XL pipeline — providing a Good Friday jolt to one of the president’s most wrenching environmental decisions. The move could easily push President Barack Obama’s final decision past the November election. The State Department declined to specify how long the delay will last, saying only that it needs to extend its review because of an ongoing dispute in front of the Nebraska Supreme Court that could affect the project’s route inside the state. Green activists mostly welcomed the news, with climate activist and billionaire Tom Steyer greeting it as ‘rotten eggs’ for pipeline builder TransCanada and ‘good news on Good Friday for those who oppose Keystone as not being in our nation’s best interest.’ But the delay drew immediate scorn from pipeline supporters on both sides of the aisle in Congress.”
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell blasted the administration for another inexcusable delay: “It is crystal clear that the Obama administration is simply not serious about American energy and American jobs. I guess he wasn’t serious about having a pen and a phone, either. At a time of high unemployment in the Obama economy, it’s a shame that the administration has delayed the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline for years. Here’s the single greatest shovel-ready project in America - one that could create thousands of jobs right away - but the President simply isn’t interested. Apparently radical activists carry more weight than Americans desperate to get back on the job. More jobs left behind in the Obama economy.”
A corollary to Leader McConnell’s point that the endless delays of Keystone XL showing the Obama administration isn’t serious about creating jobs or supporting American energy is that the only thing this administration has demonstrated its seriousness on is politics. Indeed, most observers agree that political considerations continue to come first for the Obama administration on this issue.
Reuters notes, “The latest delay to a final decision on the Keystone XL oil pipeline will reinforce a White House strategy to energize President Barack Obama's liberal-leaning base before fall elections in which Democrats risk losing control of the U.S. Senate. Environmentalists, worried about the project's effect on climate change, have put enormous pressure on the president to reject the pipeline from Canada's oil sands, staging demonstrations outside the White House and protests in states where he travels. A decision to approve it now could have prompted that vocal group, which was instrumental in electing Obama in 2008 and 2012, to sit out the November 4 congressional elections. The State Department's announcement on Friday that it would give government agencies more time to study the project was seen by strategists from both parties as a move to prevent that and boost Obama in the eyes of his supporters. . . . Approval of the pipeline would also have risked dampening the enthusiasm of wealthy donors such as billionaire investor Tom Steyer, who is spending tens of millions of dollars to boost environmentally-friendly candidates. ‘This is rotten eggs for TransCanada and good news on Good Friday for those who oppose Keystone as not being in our nation's best interest,’ Steyer said in a statement. . . . Defeating Keystone XL remains a top priority for Obama's base, and delays on the decision have become a common occurrence. In 2011 the administration said it would study a new route for the pipeline, pushing the process past the 2012 presidential election. The following year further delays were announced.”
Politico adds, “The Obama administration pulled a classic campaign-year move Friday: It punted on the Keystone XL pipeline. Politically, it seems like a great idea, since kicking Keystone down the road — probably long past November — is better than an outright rejection for vulnerable oil-state Democrats, whose voters love the proposed project. And it keeps environmentalists at bay, boosting hopes that President Barack Obama might still swing their way. But the non-decision decision also makes life a little harder for several groups of Democratic senators and Senate candidates fighting for their lives. Some, like Colorado Sen. Mark Udall, have yet to take a firm stance on the Alberta-to-Texas oil pipeline — and the State Department’s announcement Friday that it’s extending its review of the project removes the possibility that Obama could resolve the issue one way or another next month. Meanwhile, pro-Keystone Democrats like Senate energy Chairwoman Mary Landrieu will face heightened pressure to take actions to match their rhetoric.”
The Wall Street Journal editors put all the pieces in perspective: “The Koch brothers may get the media attention, but the billionaire getting the most political bang for his buck is Tom Steyer. The hedge-fund politico has pledged to raise $100 million to help Democrats keep the Senate, and on Friday he received a major return on his investment when the State Department again delayed its decision on the Keystone XL pipeline. State's excuse is that it wants to wait on the outcome of a legal challenge in Nebraska, but that's no reason for the federal government not to declare itself. Earlier this year State's latest environmental review found no net climate harm from the pipeline, which would take oil from Alberta to refineries on the Gulf Coast. State found that the oil sands will be developed even if the Keystone XL isn't built.
“The real reason for the delay is Democratic politics. Mr. Steyer and the party's liberal financiers are climate-change absolutists who have made killing Keystone a non-negotiable demand. But the White House doesn't want to reject the pipeline before November because several Senate Democrats running for re-election claim to favor it. We say ‘claim’ because Louisiana's Mary Landrieu and others can't even get Majority Leader Harry Reid to give them a vote on the floor. So Senate Democrats get to have it both ways. They can benefit this year from the riches of Mr. Steyer, who pronounced himself well pleased by the delay. But they can also run in support of the XL pipeline and the thousands of new jobs it would create. Then President Obama can formally nix it next year.”
Gary Bauer, President, Campaign for Working Families identified Tom Steyer as "The Leftwing Billionaire Who “Owns” Obama." Bauer, a contributor to the ARRA News Service, explained, "Building the pipeline is overwhelmingly popular with the public, in part because it will create tens of thousands of jobs for Americans. But here’s the biggest outrage in the process: the power broker behind the decision is Tom Steyer, a San Francisco billionaire former hedge fund manager and radical environmentalist.
"Steyer has reportedly threatened the Obama administration with severe consequences if it dares allow the pipeline to be constructed. Steyer says he will throw $100 million into key congressional races this fall to help the left so long as Obama doesn’t move forward on the pipeline. So, faced with the choice of creating blue-collar jobs in the heartland or following the orders of a San Francisco environmental extremist, Obama chose the billionaire.
"Steyer is an advocate for the deindustrialization of America. But even he should realize that Canada’s oil is going to be extracted from the ground regardless of how the Obama Administration rules on Keystone. The only question is whether that oil is sent to America or China.
"There’s an opportunity here for conservatives. Obama and his allies are trying to turn the Koch brothers into a liability for Republicans. New York Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer has called them “un-American” and said that by Election Day he wants every voter to know who the Koch brothers (or, more accurately, a liberal caricature of the Koch brothers) are. The GOP should be doing something similar with Steyer.
"I bet not one in a million voters knows who Steyer is. But they should. He’s bankrolling many Democrat campaigns and leftwing causes. He spent $11 million to support the election of Terry McAuliffe as governor of Virginia in 2013. He’s using his fortune to advocate for policies that will prevent the creation of thousands of jobs, while arguably doing little to nothing for the environment. There is a television ad just waiting to be produced about Steyer and his radical agenda. The American people deserve to know that the Obama administration’s environmental agenda is being directed by a billionaire hedge-fund manager and friend of Al Gore "
Tags: CBO Report, President Obama's Budget, Keystone XL Pipeline, delayed again, Tom Steyer, editorial cartoon, Gary Varvel To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
Posted by Bill Smith at 1:08 PM - Post Link
1 Comments:
And the Labor Unions keep voting for Democrats, why?
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