The Obama budget - the road to ruin or prosperity?
April 1, 10:29 AM
Whatever your political affiliation, you have to admit that Barack Obama is our most media savvy president ever. His campaign took full advantage of the internet to build a grassroots organization and turn that into an electoral victory. Now that he’s in the White House, he apparently plans to continue to use the internet and his vast support base to push his agenda.
Most recently, his focus has been on his budget for this coming fiscal year and getting it passed through Congress. This effort has seen mass emails to his campaign list urging supporters to have house parties and go “door to door” talking about it. Additionally, this past Thursday, he held an “online Townhall meeting” in which he took questions both from people on the internet and those in attendance at the White House. The online meeting was the culmination of an effort to pitch the budget which saw Obama make appearances on the Jay Leno show and a national press conference.
But even with all the effort, soaring rhetoric and promises, the details of the budget were few and far between. It is those, not a slick public relations campaign, which should be our primary focus. And when you get into them, they’re not pretty. Sen. Tom Coburn has provided some details which should be disturbing to anyone who considers themselves fiscally responsible and has difficulty understanding how going into more debt is the path to economic recovery.
First, some basic budget facts first:
Total Spending:
Total spending under this budget is $3.9 trillion in 2009, or 28% of GDP, the highest level as a share of GDP since World War II.
Discretionary Spending:
This budget provides $1.2 trillion in discretionary budget authority for FY 2010 and increases discretionary spending by $490 billion over 5 years. Total spending in 2009 is 28 percent of GDP.
Mandatory Spending:
The Democrat budget includes $2.2 trillion in mandatory spending for FY 2010, which includes Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid spending.
Key points to note include the highest percentage of GDP since WWII and a total budget request of $3.9 trillion.
There’s also the Obama pledge to cut the deficit in half by 2012. Of course, when you look at the budget number here, cutting a trillion plus dollar deficit in half leaves you with over $500 billion in debt per year, much more than we’ve seen in the past.
But let’s not forget, deficit is one thing, debt is another. The deficit is debt we pile up each year. It is the difference between what is spent and the revenue taken in. Our nation has been on deficit funding for decades.
But the public debt is the accumulation of all of that deficit spending. And, as you’ll see, that is going to increase dramatically under the Obama budget (and the future spending it plans):
Total National Debt Today:
$11.055 trillion
Under the Democrat Budget:
FY 2010: $12.2 trillion
FY 2011: $14.3 trillion
FY 2012: $15.3 trillion
FY 2013: $16.1 trillion
FY 2014: $17.0 trillion
These are the numbers which rarely see the light of day, and certainly not in any presidential pitches for the budget.
FY 2011 is significant because that budget and the deficit it piles on to the national debt ($2.1 trillion dollars) will finally see our national debt higher than our total GDP ($13.8 trillion dollars). That is a significant fiscal milestone on the road to ruin.
Also note that between FY 2010 and FY 2014, almost $5 trillion more dollars will be added to the deficit.
So as you watch this slick and well run campaign to generate support for this budget – a budget that will affect everyone in the US – keep in mind that at sometime in the future there has to be a fiscal reckoning. Someone has to pay for this. And that someone is going to be the taxpayer. Included in this budget bill is a proviso for $361 billion in increased taxes and a mechanism to allow for $1.3 trillion more.
It is estimated that this budget adds about $16,000 in debt to every man, woman and child in America. If anyone can explain how incurring debt is the road to prosperity, there’s most likely a spot waiting from them among the team trying to sell this budget monstrosity.
examiner.com
Welcome to “hope and change”. More debt, more spending, bigger deficit, and no end in sight.
Someone will end up paying for all of this mess, and my guess is it will be all of us - for generations.
~McQ
qando.net |
