The main reason that Obama is lacking when it comes to budget leadership is that he has never had to deal with one, and thanks to the rudderless ship – or should I say, Reid-erless – being captained by Harry Reid, he likely never will.
I know Dirty Harry thinks the Constitution gives him the right to spend federal money, but doesn’t he also realize that the Constitution requires Congress to draft a budget to guide them in that spending? Actually, that’s a rhetorical question. From Obamacare to unconstitutional appointments, Reid has demonstrated an understanding of the Constitution, he just chooses to ignore it.
Of course, Obama is no slacker when it comes to ignoring the Constitution, but I digress.
When it comes to the budget, Obama has had so little experience in dealing with it, that he couldn’t be anything but confused.
Since 2010, the Republican-led House of Representatives has presented a budget – remember that pesky Constitution? – only to have it die in the Senate due to inaction. America has been using band-aids (“continuing resolutions”) to keep the Reid-erless ship from sinking; but without a rudder, it just drifts aimlessly, following the ebb and flow of Washington, D.C. politics.
Today, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) led the way for FY 2013 when he presented a budget that will reduce the nation’s deficit, slow spending, reform taxes and fix our broken entitlements system. Even before Harry Reid gets the opportunity to take inaction, Obama’s mouthpiece White House Press Secretary Jay Carney expressed the President’s confusion when it comes to budgets by labeling it a violation of Obama’s wealth redistribution policies.
The House budget once again fails the test of balance, fairness, and shared responsibility. It would shower the wealthiest few Americans with an average tax cut of at least $150,000, while preserving taxpayer giveaways to oil companies and breaks for Wall Street hedge fund managers. What’s worse is that all of these tax breaks would be paid for by undermining Medicare and the very things we need to grow our economy and the middle class – things like education, basic research, and new sources of energy. And instead of strengthening Medicare, the House budget would end Medicare as we know it, turning the guarantee of retirement security into a voucher that will shift higher and higher costs to seniors over time.
The House economic plan draws on the same wrong-headed theory that led to the worst recession of our lifetimes and contributed to the erosion of middle-class security over the last decade. And the President believes we cannot return to a failed theory that didn’t lead to the growth of jobs, incomes, or the economy. That’s why he put forward a balanced approach that reduces the deficit by over $4 trillion. It’s an approach that asks the wealthiest to pay their fair share, makes tough cuts to programs we can’t afford, and strengthens Medicare with reforms that would reduce overpayments to drug companies, improve the quality of care, and protect Medicare’s commitment to America’s seniors.
Further evidence of Obama’s confusion when it comes to budgets is reflected in the claim that Ryan’s budget “ends Medicare as we know it.” That’s ridiculous because Obamacare – unless it’s overturned by the Supremes – already ensured the end to Medicare as we know it.
In addition, their own trustees have reported that Medicare as we know it is going down no matter what. The choice is whether to save it on our own terms, or just let it burn and leave future seniors to twist in the wind.
Obama has submitted something he calls budget, but it’s really just another version of his redistribution experimentation. It raises taxes on families and small businesses by nearly $2 trillion over ten years, yet still adds $11 Trillion to the gross debt over that time horizon. Under Obama’s plan, our grand total of national debt at the end of 2022 would be roughly $26 Trillion. In fact, his own Treasury Secretary, Timothy “the Tax Dodger” Geithner admits as much:
Speaking on behalf of the Obama White House, to Rep. Paul Ryan: “You are right to say we’re not coming before you today to say ‘we have a definitive solution to that long term problem.’ What we do know is, we don’t like yours.”
By the way, if you need further evidence of Obama’s confusion about budgets, it became official today. Obama has run up more deficit spending in his first three years as President than George W. Bush did in his entire eight years. The Debt rose $4.899 trillion during the two terms of the Bush presidency. It has now gone up $4.939 trillion since President Obama took office.
Considering everything that’s happened since Obama became President, it’s easy to see why he’s confused about the Republican budget.
What others had to say:
1 comment for “This Is Budget Leadership?”