Obama’s Big Budget

We're spending $3.8 trillion next year ["Breaking Down Obama's Budget," usnews.com]! It seems that Obama's budget proposals are about priorities. He's shifting money away from NASA and toward education and clean energy initiatives. We need to raise taxes and cut some programs, but as soon as you do, many people come out against the cuts.

Comment by Connor of MO

Tax cuts during economic turmoil will not correct the unemployment problem. Why would a business hire employees when no one is buying what they're selling? People don't spend money in economic turmoil. Therefore, the government can spend money via construction of roads or other public projects. These projects create employment, which in turn gets some of the money back via income taxes. It's interesting to point out that every dollar the government spends rather than provides in a tax cut creates more than three times an impact on the GDP. It's funny how everyone is blaming Obama for this mess that he inherited due to the stupid economic policies utilized under Bush. Bush signed a prescription drug bill that will cost (I think) $15 trillion over so many years. He signed this when he knew he couldn't pay for it. He also didn't pay down the debt like Clinton did. The only way to utilize Keynesian economics is to pay down the debt during economic prosperity. Unfortunately Bush only lived for the present and his Republican colleagues followed the same train of thought.

Comment by Matt Kuper of IN

Great article. I like the separation of winners and losers. Taxing charity sounds like a terrible idea. Obama is abusing semantics when he said "a millionaire enjoys a deduction that is twice as generous." As it is, any charitable donations are not taxed, period. It doesn't matter who you are, if you don't keep the money then why should you be taxed on it? When you tax charity, you are creating an incentive to stop doing it. Why we would want to reduce charity is beyond me.

Comment by David of UT

As an American, I am appalled that corporations would even be considered to have the same rights as I do. I have no problem if a CEO or investors uses his or her personal funds to contribute to a politician, but a corporation is a tool of commerce with unlimited funds. How many small business owners have been put out of business by multinational chains as Walmart or Home Depot? Laissez-faire commerce is destroying the American dream of being a small-business owner. As long as the status quo does not change, all this money spent in the name of the American taxpayer will just go straight into corporate wallets. It is my belief we are being swindled into servitude.

Comment by Angel of FL

The proposed increase in taxes on oil and gas producers would simply shift the onus onto the consumer. No one in their right mind believes that these companies will just eat the cost and retain prices to the consumer at existing levels. This is just another way of taxing the consumer.

Comment by Eddo of SC

• Check out our political cartoons.
• Become a political insider: Subscribe to U.S. News Weekly, our digital magazine.