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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Obama Budget: Monument to Irresponsibility or Serious Effort?

What do you think of President Obama's proposed 2013 budget? According to Investor's Business Daily, it's a "colossal monument to irresponsibility" because it increases spending $227 billion, adds $329 billion to the deficit and does noting about the "entitlement crisis." While conceding that Obama is breaking his own promise to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term, The Washington Post is more forgiving.
"The president at least offers a serious, if inadequate, effort to put the country on a sustainable path. His budget recognizes, as Republicans will not, that spending cuts and revenue increases will be needed."
The Express Times has a good summary of the sentiments expressed by three area Congressmen, none of whom are happy with President Obama'a proposed $3.8 trillion spending plan for next year. Lehigh Valley Congressman Charlie Dent explains his disappointment in this statement:

"President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget request fails to reflect the severity of our nation’s fiscal challenges. Offering few genuine proposals to reduce spending and encourage economic growth, it is clear the President has abandoned his 2009 promise to cut the deficit in half by the end of his current term. Perhaps more alarming, this request lacks true leadership and reinforces the notion that the President is more concerned with his reelection than tackling the serious issues facing our nation.

“Predictably, the President’s request relies on tax increases, cuts to Medicare and budget gimmicks to convey a sense of budget stability. Rather than implementing tax increases that will hamper economic growth, Congress must identify ways to further restrain federal spending. Rather than impose cuts to important programs like Medicare, which affect the lives of countless American seniors, Congress must protect the benefits of current enrollees and ensure these programs are there for our children and grandchildren. And rather than using obvious budget gimmicks, Congress must be frank and honest with the American people in developing a responsible and realistic budget.

“With the President avoiding the potential political difficulty of submitting a realistic budget request, and Senate Democrats incapable of offering their first budget proposal in over 1,000 days, it is evident the House will again establish the blueprint for setting the United States on a sustainable fiscal path.

“As a member of the House Committee on Appropriations, I am particularly eager to participate in upcoming oversight hearings focusing on the President’s request. These hearings are crucial to identifying areas where tax dollars are not used effectively and prioritizing government spending.”

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe the Express Times will publish our displeasure with Charlie Dent.

The US House of Representatives, "A serious effort to be irresponsible".

Anonymous said...

I'd like to explain my disappointment with Dent, however, you don't have the space.

Anonymous said...

no matter what this president proposed the R's would be against it yet they fail to propose anything substantial on their own. This President saved the Amwerican auto industry with Ford and Crysler as well as GM back on top, stopped the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs every month and not o nly stopped the job loss but has had 23 straight months of increasewd jobs, got the bad terrorist, rescued the american refugee, has a better intrernational policy than anyone in recent past, and the list goes on and on.

Anonymous said...

The Republicans like Dent are scrambling at this point. The American voter has seen through their strategy to "destroy America in order to defeat Obama"

The Republicans have pandered to their lowest common denominator the treabagger flat earth crowd and fortunately America isn't buying.

these guys have shown their willingness to let Americans stew so they can win an election. This November will be a wake up call to Dent and the rest of these politicians and their games when voters reject their defeatist agenda

Bill said...

I think that Obama is correct that we needed a stimulus, although it should have focused on infrastructure, that way the borrowing of money would have paid off in short, medium and long term benefits.

Radical spending and tax cuts would hurt the country right now as he has said. Yet everyone knows we need to make substantive changes across defense and entitlements or suffer a future like Greece, which no one seems really serious about. So it is a mixed bag in my book.

Anonymous said...

The same headline could be used to describe Justin Simmons term in the State House.

And his current spending habits.

Anonymous said...

Incredibly, it continues to increase spending! I thought he was this super intelligent guy? He needs to read a newspaper and catch up on things.

Anonymous said...

Your right!

Jon Geeting said...

Obama is increasing help for the economy in the near term, because he is actually listening to Ben Bernanke and all the other experts who say immediate cuts will hurt the recovery and increase unemployment. Charlie Dent doesn't care about that because he has to please a reactionary political base that doesn't much care about unemployment but wants another shot at Planned Parenthood and food stamps and other political grudges that don't matter to the deficit.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"no matter what this president proposed the R's would be against it yet they fail to propose anything substantial on their own."

I have to agree here, at least insofar as the R presidential candidates are concerned.

Anonymous said...

of course, no one here is calling out B. Hussein for failing to come anywhere near his promise to cut the deficit by half. They'd rather bash Dent.
Is this evidence of what we can expect from his "promises"

Bernie O'Hare said...

I mention his broken promise in my blog.

Anonymous said...

Regardless of who is President, when you have nearly half the residents of the United States not paying taxes and well over half on some sort of dependent program from the government, that won't be sustainable for very long. Too few contributing, too many taking. The back of the government won't bend. It'll snap in two and there won't be a net for anybody.

I wish the government would start weening people off the programs. No abrupt cuts, but a sunset for things like unemployment benefits and welfare. There's got to be a push to get people out working and making a living instead of the government making it for them. You can't be in the safety net for a lifetime.

Anonymous said...

Yeah really Charlie. It's Congress that is an impediment to growth, not the President.

Anonymous said...

suffer a future like Greece

Enough with these preposterous claims. The United States is the largest economy in the world. Greece's economy is primarily funded by TOURISM. To make the comparison is simply ridiculous.

not so casual observer said...

The house has submitted budgets and the Senate has refused to vote on them. EVERY media outlet left and right alike have called BO's budget a campaign plan and not a serious effort. They all believe it will be DOA in the Senate and with just cause.

The one investment BO has made that is working is the Kool Aid funding here in the LV

ironpigpen said...

So much for the famous promise to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term.

So much for closing Gitmo ...

So much for this campaign promise, that campaign promise and the other campaign promise ... talk about not enough space!

Whatever, everybody knows how Obama rolls --- they clearly just want the FREE STUFF!

Anonymous said...

Please. Little did Obama know that your boy Bush was about to hand him a big bag of dogshit and run out the door.

Anonymous said...

Obama keeps promises.

Sincerely,
Gitmo

Anonymous said...

Obama keeps promises.

Sincerely,
+8% Unemployment

Anonymous said...

Obama is a hero to African Americans

Sincerely,
Highest Black Unemployment In US History

Anonymous said...

Obama saved GM.

Sincerely,
Taxpayer TARP Funds That Were Used To Repay Loans

Anonymous said...

I know, Anon 10:00...once Hussein is out, we can cut rich people's taxes even further...yeah...and then start a couple of wars - probably with Iran and Syria...then we can take ALL regulations off of Wall Street...because all of these things, under Dumbya, worked SO well.

You wack jobs kill me...let's do the same stuff that got us into the mess in the first place - but MORE!

ironpigpen said...

Bush spent like a drunken sailor ... and certainly was not "my boy".

YOU want some more of Obama, Anon 9:54, then, by all means, go for it!

There can be NO QUESTION, however, that 0-bama promised to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term and did not do it as he bragged over and over again.

If you can live with this major Obama failure and all the rest of the broken campaign promises, then, more power to YOU, Anon 9:54!

Anonymous said...

Curious, then.

How might history have worked out had Obama's promiscuous Mother had access to publically-funded Contraceptives, Morning After Pills and, of course, Abortion ...

All these (now free) products and services save women's lives, did you not know?

Anonymous said...

Absolutely no chance of the United States going the way of Greece with riots in the streets, destruction of historic icons, etc.

We have too many smart people in this country like What-Am-I-Gettings-From-Big-Government? who already know that we have to keep spending recklessly and out of control, or surely we will go bankrupt.

Fortunately, enough Americans are smart enough to know that the Republicans just want to poison the water and kill everyone as soon as possible.

Re-elect Obama in 2012.

Anonymous said...

This proposed budget is a politcal platform intended to fire up Obama's base.

It has no chance of being passed in any thing like the proposal.

However, it is a great politcal tool. The GOP, I'm sfraid is in for a rude awakening!

Obame has too much going for his election; huge funding sources,massive boots on the ground, a slightly improving economy,GOP candidates in fratricide mode,and the swing states are not usually alligned with the GOP.

The real sad part is the probale loss of about 12 House seats (if that luckey) and a low chance of gaining more than one net Senate seat.

The US is moving to be a Greek tragedy.

Anonymous said...

The Golfer-In-Chief had two years with veto-proof majorities in Congress and made no attempt to pass a budget. He was too preoccupied with exploiting crisis and passing a hugely unpopular health care scheme. Anything that emerges from his lying hole is not worth a piece of shit exploding Volt.

Anonymous said...

Enough with these preposterous claims. The United States is the largest economy in the world. Greece's economy is primarily funded by TOURISM. To make the comparison is simply ridiculous.

Simplistic statement

Fruit Flys anyone?

Charles Darwin

Anonymous said...

"Simplistic Statement", the motto of the teabags. Really, you guys live on this stuff.

Comparing Greece and the US is like comparing Bernie and Abe Lincoln, stop the insipid insanity get help!

Bill said...

"suffer a future like Greece

Enough with these preposterous claims. The United States is the largest economy in the world. Greece's economy is primarily funded by TOURISM. To make the comparison is simply ridiculous."

Not a preposterous claim. It does not matter how big our economy or what it is based on. Borrow from the future long enough and as heavy as we are and the result is the day, a horrible day of reckoning.

Look, I am a moderate and see both sides on this, yes we need to get people working and agree it is a bad time to cut, bu we need to get our economic house in order, I think the day of reckoning is less than a decade away unless we make some fundamental changes.

Anonymous said...

Corbet and Simmons Budget:

Hurts the school children,Senior citizens and working families.

While they drive around in new vehicles and are paid mileage to go to work.

All on the taxpayer dime.

Anonymous said...

The Republicans, screwing things up for over fifty years and proud of it.