Washington, Feb 26 - As the Obama Administration released its FY 2010 budget today, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) warned taxpayers that “the era of big government is back, and Democrats want you to pay for it.” In 2009, federal spending will approach $4 trillion, or 28 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) – a one-third increase in the size of government in a single year. The budget released by the White House today is loaded with job-killing tax hikes and a slate of even more government spending. Overall, the blueprint projects a record $1.75 trillion deficit this year while doubling the national debt over the next ten years. Following are just 10 fast facts about the Administration’s budget, which our children and grandchildren will be paying for far into the future:
1. The Administration’s projected budget deficit of $1.75 trillion is higher than the last five years of deficits combined, and under this plan, we will see three consecutive trillion dollar deficits between now and FY 2012.
2. While it was purported to cut the budget deficit in half – from $1.75 trillion in 2009 to $533 billion by 2013 – this budget projects higher deficits in 2014 ($570 billion), 2015 ($583 billion), and 2016 ($637 billion). In 2019, the final year in the budget, the deficit is projected to be $712 billion.
3. Including the recently-enacted trillion-dollar “stimulus” spending bill, discretionary spending will soar by 24 percent this year under this budget.
4. The budget projects that the national debt will increase from $8.4 trillion in 2009 to $15.4 trillion in 2019.
5. The Administration’s budget contains $1.4 trillion in tax increases – tax hikes that will impact everyone, from small businesses, charities, and seniors to everyone who owns a 401(k) and anyone who flips on a light switch.
6. After promising that he will reduce taxes on 95 percent of Americans, the Administration’s budget establishes a $646 billion energy tax hike that will impact anyone who uses electricity, drives a car, or relies on energy in any way.
7. This budget forecasts more than $1.5 trillion in new health care spending, including a 10-year, $634 billion health care “reserve fund.” The budget also calls for seven percent annual growth in Medicare and more than six percent annual growth in Medicaid over the next 10 years.
8. The budget includes a $750 billion placeholder for a second round of spending under the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), even though the first round of TARP spending is not yet finished, nor is there a clear explanation of how funds under the initial round was spent.
9. The Administration’s budget claims that reducing the number of troops in Iraq over the next 10 years will cut the deficit by $1.6 trillion; however, that is only because the budget allocates the same amount of funds for the Iraq war each year over the next decade, even though most combat troops may be withdrawn during the next 19 months. The savings are, at best, deceptive.
10. The budget provides a scant 2.9 percent pay raise for military personnel as required by law, less than a week after Democrats in Congress provided the necessary funding to implement District of Columbia locality pay for overseas Foreign Service officers, which would constitute an 18 percent pay increase.
Source HERE.
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3 comments:
I happen agree with Paul Krugman. This is a very very good budget. Even the conservative David Brooks had this to say
"Obama’s budget is far more honest than the ones that preceded it. It imposes real pay-as-you-go rules on future outlays. Intellectually serious efforts are made to pay for at least half of the cost of health care reform."
The material posted here slamming the budget is not a very good portrayal of what the budget is and isn't (selective use of facts, lots of distortion).
All in all, I've never been more pleased with BHO as President. He's really come through with a real plan following many clever words. I was afraid it would just be clever words...
I couldn't disagree more. While he may be "honest" with the delivery of such a ridiculous budget, the expenditures he proposes move us closer to socialism than we've ever been. One example - Healthcare is NOT a right. Healthcare is a priviledge. A "right" is not a right when other people pay for it.
We are currently a nation with an unserviceable debt. This nation cannot further tax it's citizens to get out of debt, yet increase spending on such an astronomical scale. Especially when money is as tight as it is. This Obama guy is fast tracking us into a situation we will not be able to get out of. He is using scare tactics to create a mindset across this country that the only way to get back on our feet is to follow his plan toward socialism.
3:43 I recognize your concerns, but I think you're not looking at the big picture.
Regarding health care: NO nation spends more and gets less for its money than the USA. The whole system is badly in need of reform since so many people have been left out, and the ones who remain are paying through the nose. Not only will BHO's policies provide health care to many more people, they promise to greatly reduce what we all pay for health care. I think of it as cutting out the middleman, and reducing the stranglehold the AMA has on the licensing of new doctors and the HMOs have on the cost of healthcare
The health care system is just plain old busted, and BHO is just the man to fix it. Even if it has shades of socialism, that's far better than what we have now. It's BROKEN and it's making ALL of us poorer.
As for many of BHO'd budget "increases", such as the HUGE increase in the Iraq war budget. It's really no increase at all. It's just a return to honest accounting practices. Bush hid all sorts of corporate pork and hidden "gift" to his friends. Let's not punish BHO for honest accounting.
Finally, BHO's most brave attack is on entrenched pork going to the mega-agribusiness. We're talking about many $$$billions going to rich people who do not need it and do not deserve it. I'm hoping that BHO succeeds, but he's got a real uphill fight. There are many Democrats in congress who are wholly complicit in this ongoing scam system. They smile and say they support the President, but in the back room they're working like mad to undo what BHO is doing to save the economy.
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