President Barack Obama’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year is, to put it mildly, a flop. It spends too much, borrows too much, and passes along too much debt to our children and grandchildren.
With a straight face, at a time when the U.S. government faces its most serious fiscal crisis in decades, Obama proposed almost $9 billion in new spending over and above what the federal treasury is expected to take in. On top of that, he’s adding nearly $1.6 trillion in new taxes and will see the public debt double or even triple. [Take the U.S. News poll: Is Obama right on entitlements?]
This is not reform. It is most certainly not cost cutting, and it does little to put the nation’s fiscal house in order.
Among the highlights, Obama’s proposed budget:
- Includes the 14 highest deficits in U.S. history and never achieves balance.
- Calls for the third and fourth trillion dollar deficits in a row, continuing a pattern that began when he fist came into office.
- Increases federal spending by 28 percent since 2008, pegging it at nearly 25 percent of U.S. Gross Domestic Product, a post-war high.
- Adds $12.2 trillion in new debt, taking it from $14.2 trillion (which is just about one year’s U.S. GDP) to $26.4 trillion in Fiscal Year 2021.
[Check out a roundup of political cartoons on Obama.]
In short, there’s almost nothing to like about it. For all the talk of Obama’s moving to the center, his FY 2012 proposal is a budget buster that arrives DOA—dead on arrival—on Capitol Hill.
- Take the U.S. News poll: Is Obama right on entitlements?
- Check out a roundup of political cartoons on Obama.
- See a slide show of the best cities to find a job.
Reader Comments Read all comments (4)
JD of KS 2:30PM February 27, 2011
Bill Hedges of MO 9:11AM February 16, 2011
Hunter of WI 8:08AM February 16, 2011