Budget: President Obamas budget for next year will call for a $68 billion boost in spending. Its just another in a line of fiscally irresponsible plans that have been the hallmark of this administration. Obamas official budget plan wont come out until Feb. 2, but hes already leaked the fact that he wants a 7% boost in discretionary programs above the spending caps he agreed to in exchange for getting his tax hikes. Hed split the money evenly between national security and domestic programs. In Obamas mind, more spending only makes sense, since deficits have been tumbling in recent years — falling from $1.4 trillion in 2009 to less than $500 billion this year. Lets leave aside the fact that when President Bushs last budget forecast a deficit of $482 billion, Democrats decried it as the height of fiscal irresponsibility. The fact is that Obamas plan is a continuation of his pattern of pushing endlessly for more spending. Since taking office, every budget plan Obama has submitted to Congress asked for billions more in spending than Congress ultimately approved. (See the nearby chart.) His very first budget, for example, proposed nearly $4 trillion in total spending in fiscal 2009 — which was already underway when he took office — and $3.6 trillion in 2010. Actual spending for those years was $3.5 trillion and $3.46 trillion, respectively. And that was with Democrats firmly in control of both houses of Congress. In addition, in all but one year, Obamas budget plan called for higher deficits than occurred. Had Obama gotten his way on spending, the government would be $1.8 trillion deeper in debt than it already is. Thats a far cry from the new era of responsibility Obama promised in his first budget, in which he lamented the irresponsibility of the large budget deficits we are inheriting that would, he said, impose burdens on our children and grandchildren. On taking office, Obama chastised the Bush administration for having spent recklessly and for failing to honor the responsibilities we have to future generations. It was, to be sure, in keeping with the image Obama had created for himself as a deficit and spending hawk during his first presidential run. Were going to have fiscal discipline, he promised in early 2008. At one point, Obama claimed that his plan would not continue to drive up deficits or force us to borrow massively from foreign countries. As it turns out, Bush was a model of fiscal responsibility compared with Obama. In all but one of Bushs eight years in office, his budget plan proposed spending levels that were lower than what was spent in those years. Indeed, if Congress had simply adopted Bushs spending proposals over his eight years in office, federal outlays would have been nearly $800 billion less than they were. (Much of that overspending, we are sorry to note, came at a time when Republicans controlled Congress.) Looked at another way, the gross national debt climbed $4.9 trillion under Bush. Under Obama, its gone up $7.5 trillion, and he has no plans to change its upward trajectory. Any way you look at it, on fiscal irresponsibility scale, Obama is in a class all his own. Read More At Investors Business Daily: news.investors/ibd-editorials/011615-735155-obama-wants-to-bust-spending-caps-by-68-billion-dollars.htm#ixzz3P2UT1Hfm Follow us: @IBDinvestors on Twitter | InvestorsBusinessDaily on Facebook
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 01:47:30 +0000
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