The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

The Bottom Line is the Punchline in Obama’s Laughable Joke of a Budget

Posted on | February 14, 2011 | 29 Comments

Journalism is a profession woefully infested by math-impaired liberals, which may explain why the media have badly misconstrued the Obama administration’s federal budget plan. Here’s the Washington Post‘s spin:

President Obama will respond to a Republican push for a drastic reduction in government spending by proposing sharp cuts of his own in a fiscal 2012 budget blueprint that aims to trim record federal deficits by $1.1 trillion over the next decade.

In what alternative universe can a reduction of $110 billion per year (the simple math of $1.1 trillion divided by 10) in an annual projected deficit of more than $1.3 trillion be called “sharp cuts”?

Reacting to similarly nonsensical “reporting,” my friend Jim Lakely offers this suggested re-write:

President Barack Obama’s 2012 budget proposal, which the White House described as a “down payment” on fiscal austerity, proposes reducing the deficit over 10 years by less than what the deficit is projected to be in 2011 alone.
Obama’s budget does nothing to rein in entitlements — which represent by far the greatest obligation of the federal budget — and also leaves in place the administration’s cost projections for “Obamacare,” which independent actuaries say are greatly underestimated.

Much more at the Heartland Institute.

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Category: Barack Obama, Budget

Comments

  • Anonymous

    Yep, we’re boned.

    It’s going to get a lot worse when FedGov starts bailing out the Dumbass Coalition, i.e. California, Illinois and New York.

  • Joe

    Hence the reason we have to win the White House in 2012.

    And it is not like the GOP is promoting such great cuts either. They are around 100 billion too.

    I support across the board cuts, including entitlements and defense. Dramatic cuts or elmination of whole departments in the discretionary spending area (I suspect elminating some agency budgets would actually help the country).

    Let Democratically controlled states like California declare bankruptcy so they can discharge those unsustainable pensions. Sorry State of California workers, you can join the rest of us who have to work till we are eighty.

  • Jonathan0815

    The House GOP is planning to make actual sharp cuts in one area tho… border security. 25% or more reductions in funds for fencing, E-verify, etc.

    As yet, not a single conservative blogger has even reported on this.

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  • hmt

    The Republican budget proposal to cut funding for PBS is really unfortunate.

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  • Joe

    I hope you mean because it should be entirely eliminated instead.

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  • Joe

    Hispanics work harder than Blacks or Whites. A Democrat said it so it is not raaaaacist to say so.

  • RG

    I think it’s probably too late to fix it in 2012. The pain of the correction when it comes is going to be colossal. The hole’s so deep at this point that they’ve decided to keep digging and pretend it’s a tunnel.

  • Joe

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  • hmt

    I can’t even imagine that man. I love PBS. I grew up watching many a PBS documentary.

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  • Anonymous

    The 100 Billion cuts to the CR for the rest of 2011 are less than than the theoretical cuts in the O’Sputnik budget and yet Harry Reid and his Manic Progressives are shrieking that this years cuts lead to the end of life as we know it.

    As for entitlements we need a two year moratorium on discussing Medicare and Social Security. I’ve never understood why Medicaid was in the same category.

  • Anonymous

    When was the last time you watched one?

  • hmt

    @Adobe

    When i was in the US for a few years, a few years ago (during the Bush Jr. era.) My all time favorites are Carl Sagan’s ‘Cosmos’ and Jared Diamond’s ‘Guns, Germs and Steel’.

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  • http://travelah.blogspot.com/ A.M. Mallett

    Lets not forget that the Republicans are not doing much better. Weepy Boner had to be forced to go $100B which is not even close to what is needed to stem the red ink. We need to cut $1Trillion THIS YEAR

  • http://travelah.blogspot.com/ A.M. Mallett

    Well, maybe you need to pay for it just like you pay for everything else.

  • http://thatmrgguy.wordpress.com/ Mike

    Yeah, I posted an article on this a few days ago. Unfortunately, it happened in my state.

  • Anonymous

    I’m not sure “Weepy Boner” is exerting any leadership on this one way or the other. He made much of doing things the correct way letting legislation go through the committee process etc.. And to a point he’s correct as the committees exist for a reason but he has got to keep things on track and keep the promises made. Committees are or can be an efficient way to divide labor but it’s Boehner’s job everyone including committee Chairmen are all pulling in the same direction.

    You are quite right, if 100 billion isn’t a drop dead take it or leave it deal but instead is a beginning negotiating (what an ugly thing to do with dems) position then 1 trillion should have been the starting point.

  • Joe

    You should pay for it hmt. I know that concept may be difficult to understand, but perhaps it is time for you to read “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.”

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  • George in New York

    Lets all grow up! The people of this country have to be weened off the Freebe for Me mentally. So you go without PBS and maybe have to steer around some pot holes for a couple of years. If we dont stop all spending now then we will have to go without alot more. I have just a 8th grade education and even I know we can’t go on liveing on borrowed money. The President must say no to everything from so called entitlement programs to social welfare programs and anything else he is say we can’t live without. We can and must live without any and all programs that cost money and causes this country to go deeper into the hole we now find our selfs in. Sure the people are going to suffer but lets get ti done now while we still have a country to get it done in. Just today it was anounced that a company in Germany has aquired Wall Street. Most of the Companies that supplied jobs to Americans have left . Who will be left to pay the Taxes for all the FreeBe entitlement the Non Thinking people think they are entilted to. The people who used to pay incometax are now not employed and not paying the IncomeTax that used to pay for most if not all these programs. Yes, close the door on spending before China or someother country closes it for us. Some say They are going to make it a ONE WORLD Economy but if that happens, we will be at the bottom of that World and takeing orders from another Country or Overseere. Remember old Ross Perot said back in 1992 when he was Running for President. That sucking sound will get louder and louder as the country gets farther and farther from being the World Leader Ecom. Well Folks, it is so loud now I can see and hear the END comming fast. NO MORE SPENDING , PERIOD.

  • George in New York

    There is a good reason why the Republicans have an Elephant for a mascott and the Democrats have a Donkey( otherwise knowen as a jack–) for a mascott. Republicans know how to go through anything, they never forget. A Jackass won’t go anywhere and can’t even remember how to backup let alone go up a hill to climb out of a hole.

  • George in New York

    Just think what it would be like if the US Goverment stoped all Spending. The banner in Times Square that has been showing the National dept round the clock for decades would Stop for a breif few seconds and start to Run Backwards. Now that would be really something to broadcast on CNN. I bet that would be declared reason for a Ticker Tape Parade down Fifth Ave. if Wall Street is still the World Traed Center for Finance and even still in America.

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