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Home Front: Culture Wars

Obama's Budget Proves He Should Not Be Reelected

2012-02-14

President Obama does not deserve to be reelected. By refusing to address the greatest challenge this nation faces -- our financial security -- Mr. Obama has failed the American people. Despite warnings from the IMF, the credit ratings agencies, China -- our principal foreign creditor -- and the American people, the president continues to offer up budgets and programs that ignore the dire trajectory of Medicare and Social Security spending, putting the future of this nation at risk.

Let's get specific. This week Mr. Obama set forth a budget calling for yet another trillion-dollar deficit, the fourth in four years. Through certain spending cuts, some gimmickry (counting not spending on two wars as deficit reduction) and $1.5 trillion in tax hikes, the budget gap is projected to shrink to $575 billion in 2018, comfortably beyond the range of the country's political telescope.
I'm projecting myself to be handsome and muscular by 2018...
Each of the proposal's major provisions scratches a partison itch: raising taxes on the wealthy, imposing new fees on banks, eliminating tax cuts on oil companies, spending $476 billion on transportation projects (mollifying construction crews teed off at the Keystone veto), allotting $30 billion for (guaranteed voting blocks) police, teachers and fire department workers, and so on. As the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget summarizes, the president's budget stabilizes our debt at 76 percent of GDP -- "roughly double historical debt levels." This is not acceptable.
Amen!

Posted by:DarthVader

#13 If readers of Rantburg cannot agree that government use of resources is costly, the country is doomed. We in economics call it the "budget constraint.". But heck, most economists don't seem to believe in budget constraints anymore, so I guess we are all in good company.

Posted by: Perfesser 2012-02-14 21:56

#12 >Government does not "produce" anything but more government. Government jobs and workers are a net negative on the true economy.

Wrong. Government produces Land Rights, Patent defence and copyright-defence and police. The economy would also work a lot better if it charged for them based on their value, rather than on harming comparative advantage taxes (sales, income, employment).

Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2012-02-14 21:41

#11 and Harry Reid is deathly afraid of his Democrat minions having to take a position on this piece of shit budget. Hence, Mitch McConnell will force it to a vote so they have to go on record before the election

Posted by: Frank G 2012-02-14 21:01

#10 "There is pretty much nothing the government can do that will grow the economy at even a middling rate."

I don't know about that. Removing bans on offshore oil exploration and pipeline building would drop the price of oil which would help the economy a lot.

Posted by: rjschwarz 2012-02-14 20:45

#9 "their expenditures will immediately drop, and this will show up in the national economy very quickly."
Then it should behoove the Government to allow the economy to recover outside of "stimulus". It matters. The Military and road building is not what the government is spending money on, it's crap like bad mortgages and bailouts and unions and fake companies.

It's still temporary economy and one that does not pay for itself.

Posted by: newc 2012-02-14 20:40

#8 His budget covers TWO years, ambitious little shit, isn't he.
Covering the time he's NOT in office.

Posted by: Redneck Jim 2012-02-14 19:15

#7 Fallacy.

Government does not "produce" anything but more government. Government jobs and workers are a net negative on the true economy.
You're just not thinking. The true economy is what it is, and is not constrained by your ideology-driven distortion. A government produces a few things, like military security than private industry can't (thank God). Production and expenditure are not the same. Economic growth by increased production has only the barest superficial resemblance to economic growth produced by borrowing from abroad. By those standards the US has had little or no 'true' economic growth for many years.
A decent cut in government spending will immediately take money out of circulation. It will immediately render a few thousand government employees unemployed, their expenditures will immediately drop, and this will show up in the national economy very quickly.
The way out is through this conundrum, and people will suffer until the economy is re-engineered. That may not happen. But something will happen, always has.

Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2012-02-14 16:43

#6 Choices : Ron Paul With : Occupation Party Support and Second Gadfly Republican Ticket Against : Mitch : Or Other Mainstramer ! Choices : Ron Jeremy Thuh : Hedgehog / Wanna Fuck Party : And Occupation Party ! Roseanne Barr / Roseanne : Green Party And Occupation Party ! Mason : The Bell Jar Party And Vice Pissee : dr.susanblock.com : too !

Posted by: Jairt Turkeyneck6702 2012-02-14 16:33

#5 "Cutting spending will increase the recession."

Fallacy.

Government does not "produce" anything but more government. Government jobs and workers are a net negative on the true economy.
For every dollar tied up in the government is a dollar that is not working in the economy.

Posted by: newc 2012-02-14 16:22

#4 Analysis of the budget effect over the next 5 years: Cuts in uniformed personnel proposed eliminating eight Army brigades, five Marine infantry battalions and four of the Corpss tactical air squadrons. The Air Force would lose 303 aircraft and six fighter squadrons, while the Navy jettisons seven cruisers and 2 dock landing ships.

Posted by: Tamir Pardo 2012-02-14 14:31

#3 Cutting government spending will also collapse the economy. A spike in interest rates will collapse the economy. There is pretty much nothing the government can do that will grow the economy at even a middling rate. Saying this to the electorate will guarantee a loss at the next election.
The electorate with its profound economic and arithmetical ignorance is its own worst enemy.
So meanwhile, it's business as usual and kicking the can down the road. At least a politician can get half the votes in a election by robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2012-02-14 14:25

#2 Raising taxes will increase the recession. Cutting spending will increase the recession. Failure to do both, and substantially more than proposed, will collapse the economy completely. We've been kicking this hand grenade down the road for quite a while; got a graphic example of what comes next from an Iranian in Siam.

Posted by: Glenmore 2012-02-14 12:35

#1 We don't need no stinkin' budget.

Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2012-02-14 12:11

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