Speak Out: Mr. Obama Submits A Budget Request

Posted by Shapley Hunter on Mon, Feb 14, 2011, at 8:05 AM:

$3.7 trillion. That's down about $150 billion from his request of last year, which did not pass the Congressional vote (even though his own party was in charge). The current deficit projection for this year is $1.65 trillion. Mr. Obama proposes another $1.1 trillion for 2012.

Even so, some are saying the budget contains 'drastic' cuts. Most of the cuts aren't cuts, but rather failures to increase. That's governmentspeak, of course. If you plan to increase spending by 10%, and only increase it by 5%, you've 'cut the budget', in the parlance of Washington.

Ain't 'fiscal restraint' a wonderful thing?

http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133742630/obama-unveils-3-7-trillion-budget-for-20...

Replies (23)

  • Don't worry that you're not good with money. Your government is in the very best of hands, as they sing in Li'l Abner...

    "Them city folks and we-uns are pretty much alike,

    Though they ain't used to living in the sticks.

    We don't like stone or cement, but we is in agreement

    When we gets down to talkin' politics:

    "The country's in the very best of hands,

    the best of hands, the best of hands.

    "The Treasury says the national debt is climbing to the sky

    And govermnent expenditures have never been so high.

    It makes a feller get a gleam of pride within his eye,

    to see how our economy expands,

    The country's in the very best of hands.

    "You ought to see the congress when it's drawing up a bill,

    "Where as"'s and "to wit"'s are crowded in each codicil.

    Such legal terminology would give your heart a thrill.

    There's phrases there that no one understands.

    The country's in the very best of hands.

    "The building boom, they say, is getting bigger every day.

    And when I asked a feller "How could everybody pay?"

    He come up with an answer that made everything OK,

    "Supplies are getting bigger than demands."

    The country's in the very best of hands.

    "Don't you believe them congressmen and senators are dumb.

    When they run into problems that are tough to overcome,

    They just declare a thing they calls a moritorium.

    The upper and the lower house disbands.

    The country's in the very best of hands.

    "The voters are connected to the nominee,

    the nominee's connected to the treasury.

    When they ain't connected to the treasury,

    They sits around on their thigh bones.

    "They sits around in this place they got,

    This big congressional parking lot.

    Just sits around on their you know what.

    Up there they call them their thigh bones.

    "Them bones, them bones gonna rise again,

    Gonna exercise a franchise again,

    Gonna tax us up to our eyes again,

    If we gets them off of their thigh bones.

    "The farm bill should be 89 percent of parity,

    Another feller recommends it should be 93.

    But 80, 95 percent, who cares about degree?

    It's parity that no one understands.

    The country's in the very best of hands.

    "Them GOP's and Democrats each hates the other one.

    They's always criticizing how the country should be run.

    But neither tells the public what the other's gone and done.

    As long as no one knows where no one stands,

    The country's in the very best of hands.

    "They sits around in this place they're at,

    Where folks in congress have always sat.

    Just sits around on their excess fat,

    Up there they call them their thigh bones.

    "They sits around 'til they start to snore,

    Jumps up and hollers "I has the floor!"

    Then sits right down where they sat before,

    Up there they call them their thigh bones.

    "Them bones, them bones gonna rise again

    So dignified and so wise again

    While the budget doubles in size again,

    If we gets them off of their thigh bones.

    "The money that they taxes us, that's known as revenues,

    They compound up collaterals, subtracts the residues.

    Don't worry 'bout the principle and interest that accrues,

    They're shipping all that stuff to foreign lands,

    The country's in the very best of hands."

    - Gene DePaul and Johnny Mercer -

    -- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Mon, Feb 14, 2011, at 8:24 AM
  • What a joke. Increase taxes and cut spending to the tune of $100 billion per year for the next ten years when the deficits each year are ten times that size. Freeze spending at a level which has record deficits for the next five years. This is what happens when a community organizer is elected as a President. Wake up people!

    -- Posted by erv on Mon, Feb 14, 2011, at 9:27 AM
  • Why not Donald Trump for President 2012? Seriously!

    -- Posted by voyager on Mon, Feb 14, 2011, at 12:45 PM
  • Voyager,

    What are you drinking this morning?

    -- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Mon, Feb 14, 2011, at 1:08 PM
  • Unfortunatly, the so called fiscal conservatives of the republican party and tea party will do no more than propose minor, insignificant cuts to obama's budget request. It will be hailed as a major deficiet ruducing victory by all partys.

    -- Posted by FreedomFadingFast on Mon, Feb 14, 2011, at 1:34 PM
  • Ron Paul wont the Cpac poll. I hope the idiot followers that ruined him last time find someone else.

    -- Posted by We Regret To Inform U on Mon, Feb 14, 2011, at 1:53 PM
  • It seems to me we are hearing of some cut proposals as % and others as $. Quite confusing.

    -- Posted by Old John on Mon, Feb 14, 2011, at 5:11 PM
  • -- Posted by We Regret To Inform U on Mon, Feb 14, 2011, at 7:34 PM
  • Just to show what a trillion is. BO acts like it is nothing.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNFb6qe7Tmg&feature=related

    -- Posted by We Regret To Inform U on Mon, Feb 14, 2011, at 8:08 PM
  • Drastic reduction in federal employees sounds pretty good to me ... plus making all our politicians (excepting the president, maybe) half-time, with half-time pay and half-time benefits.

    But then ... gee, unemployment would go up as those 1000's of fed employees found themselves out on the streets with little or no skills to find employment on the 'outside.'

    Funny that it always seems to boil down to "Ask not ... but what you can do for your government." ... asking 'the people' to sacrifice, to cut back ... while our employees are not expected to do so.

    -- Posted by gurusmom on Mon, Feb 14, 2011, at 8:16 PM
  • BO is just chasing money AKA stealing from Peter to pay Paul. When a business or people start using the charge card to pay another charge card the end is near. The Only way to end the cycle is cut all spending on such things as the high speed rail.

    This idea they are saving money is a fools game. Anyone that has a elementary knowledge of finance knows they are flat out lying.

    They are giving away our country a million at a time. Look at California a state that has been giving it all away. You can count on the power of Washington to intervene and make Missouri citizens come up with money pay it. Our punishment for being fiscally responsible.

    -- Posted by We Regret To Inform U on Mon, Feb 14, 2011, at 10:31 PM
  • Obama just said in his news conference this morning that we need new dept to pull us out and first and deal with the debt with tax increases later. He says once his health care system gets started we will be saving money. Do people really think he has a handle on anything? His budget isn't going anywhere.

    The federal debt will top $15 trillion this year, matching the size of the U.S. economy and will jump to almost $21 trillion in five years.

    I think I need to cash in and hide the money from the leeches who have nothing to lose. I see nothing but more pain the next two years.

    -- Posted by We Regret To Inform U on Tue, Feb 15, 2011, at 10:30 AM
  • Regret, Know of anything inflation proof that they can't get there hands on?

    -- Posted by Old John on Tue, Feb 15, 2011, at 10:47 AM
  • Gold and ammunition are probably your best investments...

    -- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Tue, Feb 15, 2011, at 11:09 AM
  • The gold and ammo is a good one. Gold is easy to hide. Silver was the thing six months ago and could still be. I have a friend that has canned tobacco, whiskey, and guns. He said if need be he can trade it for food and supplies when paper money goes bad. The only coin that will be good will be pennies, pre-"64" silver, and gold.

    -- Posted by We Regret To Inform U on Tue, Feb 15, 2011, at 2:37 PM
  • The president is ready to cut what is dear to him in the amount of 61 billion.

    Republicans propose just as a start 100 billion from Americore, PBS funding, Planned Parenhood, the Endowment for Arts and paring down several federal bureaus that are duplicated by state agencies.

    The only thing the Speaker and President agree on is that social security can be fixed without touching benefits.

    I don't think cutting out the tax cuts for the rich is going to cut it.

    A 100 billion is a drop in the bucket when talking trillions.

    -- Posted by Old John on Tue, Feb 15, 2011, at 7:27 PM
  • yeh Rick, and I have not seen a Republician cut entitlements either... especially in their own districts. Look at the stats; more entitlement funds go to republician districts than democrat districts.

    Unfortunatly, the so called fiscal conservatives of the republican party and tea party will do no more than propose minor, insignificant cuts to obama's budget request. It will be hailed as a major deficiet ruducing victory by all partys.

    -- Posted by DTower on Mon, Feb 14, 2011, at 1:34 PM

    You are correct DTower; Boehner (R) said on all the sunday morning shows that the R promise to Americans is to cut only $100,000 of the budget-that is spitting in the ocean compare out $14 trillion dollar dept... once again, blue smoke in mirrors.

    -- Posted by D49F11 on Tue, Feb 15, 2011, at 7:41 PM
  • Maybe we will be faced with a shutdown of federal government if no agreement is reached. Imagine all non essential services being stopped and all non essential employees being laid off until an agreement is reached and the president and congress agree to pay all laid off non essential employees for the time they were out of work.

    I know that couldn't happen but for some reason I imagine it. Or do I?

    -- Posted by Old John on Tue, Feb 15, 2011, at 8:23 PM
  • Both Democrats and Republicans, are exerting extreme pressure for significant reductions in the federal budget for both this year and upcoming years. The problem with both parties is that they seem to be tinkering around the edges in considering their reductions are limited to the 13% of discretionary non-defense spending which amounts to $481 billion.

    What is being ignored is the $851 billion in Defense/Security spending, $629 billion in other entitlements and $1,517 billion in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. For example a simple 5% across the board reduction on these expenditures would yield another $150 billion in savings.

    The defense budget could easily be reduced by more than 5%, since there is not a single country, or group of countries that can threaten the US with any degree of credibility.

    Reductions in Social Security could be accomplished by a combination of a reduction in payment amounts, increase in retirement age for full benefits, and increases in amounts that deductions are applied to. Medicare and Medicaid expenditures could be reduced by requiring all participants to pay a $20 to $50 fee for each doctor appointment or hospital visit.

    The other major action that must be taken is on the revenue side. Projected income tax receipts are $1,118 billion and a 10% increase would reduce the deficit by another $112 billion.

    If anyone wants to be serious about reducing the deficit, both reductions in spending and increases in revenue have to be implemented.

    -- Posted by commonsensematters on Tue, Feb 15, 2011, at 8:26 PM
  • Common, I think most of the American public that pays attention knows that entitlement and something for nothing will have to be cut if we are to get spending under control.

    Cutting defense is always hard to sell. I think the case could be made for letting some of our buddies overseas be less dependent on the US for keeping the wolves away.

    My thinking is we could save a lot too by letting states run states and reducing the waste of having central government involved.

    -- Posted by Old John on Tue, Feb 15, 2011, at 9:15 PM
  • Social Security is paying out more than it takes in now. The only way to 'fix it' without touching benefits is to raise taxes.

    For the past two years, Social Security's own formulation showed that no increase was due, yet the Democrats demanded a $250 'gift' for recipients, because they did not want their president to be the first in decades not to give Social Security recipients a raise.

    It is true the Republicans like to talk the talk but usually fail to walk the walk, but I would point out that Welfare reform, which drastically changed the shape of that which we know of as 'welfare', was enacted under a Republican Congress, over the objection (and doomsaying) of the majority of congressional Democrats, even though it was signed by a Democrat President. It was not going to happen under a Democrat congress, although it would likely not have happened with a Republican president, either. Even so, the Republicans have, on rare occassions, 'walked the walk'.

    I'm not buying into the statistics that more entitlements go to Republican districts, even though there are more Republican districts currently. The definition of 'entitlement' becomes fluid when being used for statistics. It is true that farm subsidies tend to go to Republican districts, because rural districts tend to be Republican, and that is where the farms are located. However, the main population base is found in cities, and cities tend to lean Democrat. That is also where the major medical centers are found, in which most Medicare and Medicaid monies are spent.

    I tried to find evidence for the claim that most entitlement monies goes to Republican districts, but could only find it on leftist blogs. Might I inquire where those 'stats' can be found?

    -- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Wed, Feb 16, 2011, at 8:11 AM
  • -- Posted by Old John on Tue, Feb 15, 2011, at 8:23 PM

    OJ

    One thing you learn is in a slowdown is the fat that had collected on the operating costs during the good times. You realize you can run just as well without the unnecessary expenses that were more of a luxury or just bad decisions

    I myself would like to see them tighten their belt the same way the private sector has. The number one way to quickly cut expenses is cutting labor. I wonder how many people in Washington or in the federal bureaucracy do or produce nothing but are hidden from prying eyes.

    -- Posted by We Regret To Inform U on Wed, Feb 16, 2011, at 9:50 AM
  • In good times, you can afford to have a few freeloaders on the train, but when times get tough, everybody has to shovel some coal.

    -- Posted by Shapley Hunter on Wed, Feb 16, 2011, at 10:11 AM

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