More of this please Mr. President.
And on top of being correct in pointing out that the whole “question” was just a talking point for a campaign, he called it for what it was, BS. That’s the guy we elected.
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About Dan
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I live in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Milwaukee, WI with my wife Jen, our daughter Emerson, and sons Carter and Colton.I'm the President of The Park People of Milwaukee County, President-elect of the Washington Heights Neighborhood Association, an elected official of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, a union leader, community organizer and transit advocate who is working to make Milwaukee great again. I've been writing this weblog for nearly ten years ... read more...
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Yup, that was the guy YOU elected. He never even bothered to address the obvious concern about the deficit. No matter how it was worded, Obama knew what the man was asking…. it’s what most sane Americans are asking. How can we afford continued massive deficits… especially ones that provide programs that continue for years after the budget cycle ends. Obama never did answer that…. and neither will you Dan. It’ll be the same old tired Washington partisan blame game. He makes a new deficit, and then blames President Bush. That is what you call constructive debate?
It is astonishing that the same Democrats who howled over President Bush’s enormous budgets now stand mute and approving as we spend two and three times those amounts every year…. and now Obama proposes spending even more, while standing in front of Republicans and denying the whole thing. You folks won’t be satisfied till all the money is spent and the hope for recovery is gone.
How did we get here? Oh yea, I remember. I was president and my Republican party controlled Congress and we were not fiscally responsible! We passed two huge tax cuts and funded two wars on the backs of all our children and grand children! Ha! Now its Obama’s problem and the Democrats and we get to play deal breakers and the ‘blame game’ and no one on our side says a peep. What a beautiful world!
Wow! First Obama takes down the Supreme Court, now he takes down the GOP. Too bad he can’t take down the federal deficit. Wait, it’s all Bush’s fault, it’s always Bush’s fault.
Now, Smitty, it’s not *all* Bush’s fault. Only the first 1.2+ trillion dollars of it. About half of everything over that annually is Obama’s, with the other half being required by already existing law, which can’t be changed until the GOP stops whining and starts working. (Working means compromising, not stamping your feet and saying you won’t play unless we all agree to do it your way.)
It takes a while to work back down from that level of deficit spending without crashing the whole economy. Now I’m as big a budget hawk as anyone here (I was and am against any and all tax cuts until the budget at least starts moving towards being balanced, we need to pay for what we’re spending before we start cutting taxes) but I’m prepared to wait a few years before I give up.
The federal government is like a large ship; it takes time and room to turn it.
Some job creation stats for fellow number crunchers:
Carter: 2.5 million (annual average)
Reagan: 2 million (annual average)
Bush I: 600 Thousand (annual average)
Clinton: 3 million (annual average)
Bush II: 300 thousand (annual average)
We only have one year for Obama, as opposed to at least 4 for the rest, but the trend is steadily up. His first four months were 4 of the worst 6 (the other two coming under Bush II) but since July the numbers haven’t been as bad as the numbers seen under the other presidents. (Numbers from Bureau of Labor Statistics.)
The federal government is like a large ship; it takes time and room to turn it.
The federal budget deficit for FY 2010 is now $1,556,000,000,000 or $129,600,000,000 a month. This on top of the FY 2009 budget deficit of $1,413,000,000,000.
That “large ship” appears to be the Titanic.
As Bush fades in the distance it becomes increasingly difficult to blame everything on him.
which can’t be changed until the GOP stops whining and starts working.
This is the biggest lie the Democrats are telling right now and I wish people would stop saying it. The Dems had a super-majority in the Senate and control of the house .. and oh yeah, the Whitehouse. The Republicans might be whining, but have (well had … read Scott Brown) zero political power right now.
The only thing stopping the Democrats is the infighting within the party. They are far from unified. They have several wings that cannot agree.
Compromising? The Dems have not done any of that either. I’m not saying the Republicans have, I’m just asking you to call it down the middle.
Only the first 1.2+ trillion dollars of it
I am trying to figure this out .. I truly am. Is this 1.2 trillion the deficit accumulated from 2001-2006? What was accrued from 2006-2008, when Congress was controlled by Democrats?
I’m sure I’ll get a ridiculous reply instead of actual analysis, but here goes …
When the Republicans had control of Congress and the White House, the largest deficit they ran was $400 Billion. That was the LARGEST. For FY2007, it was $200 Billion.
When the Democrats took Congress in 2008, the first budget was a little over $400 billion deficit. FY2009 was a $1.8 BILLION deficit.
What I don’t understand is how the current Congress, which created this mess, sits back and listens to Obama talk about the mess he inherited.
We are blaming Bush a lot for this, but don’t the Democrats have greater culpability in this mess? If not, why not?
Under the Republicans, the wars weren’t included in the budget – and so weren’t included in the deficit numbers. A cute little budget trick. Obama stopped that numbers game, so now the deficit numbers are real. But – a pox on both their houses. Both parties are seemingly unable to make the hard decisions that will reduce the deficit = cut spending (including military) and raise taxes on the wealthy.
Keith – do you have a link explaining “the wars were not included in the budget”?
So I understand .. you are saying war spending was not included in a budget from 2001-2006? Or what years?
Also – even if you included the cost for the wars, what does that add to the deficit?
You bring up my exact thoughts, Keith. Here’s a reality – most Americans don’t really mind taxes – we understand they are an necessary evil. The issue that Americans have is the wasted spending!
You seem on the opposite end of the political spectrum than I, but we both see the problem.
Fair questions. There is this article that includes a graph that shows the deficit with all costs (including the wars and tax cuts unfunded) that Obama inherited: http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3036. The projected 10 year deficit (from the last Bush budget) was 8 trillion. Obama’s budget has it now at projected at 8.5 trillion – which includes paying for what he inherited. I think fair minded people would say: give Obama a chance. It would help if the Republicans would cooperate a bit.
Perhaps you could now provide a link to a credible source rather than a group associated with Richard Boone and “social justice”. Perhaps that sort of link is tasty Kool-aid on Kos, but I’d prefer journalism to propaganda. What else ya got keith?
Between 1789 and 2008, the U.S. government borrowed a total of $5.8 trillion. But in the first three years of the Obama adminsitration, the government is set to borrow $4.4 trillion more. If Obama’s budget is adopted, federal borrowing will top $18 tillion by 2020. By 2020 federal government spending is projected to reach $5.7 trillion, up from $3 trillion in 2008. Unsustainable spending that will bankrupt this country and lead to runaway inflation.
Obama did inherit a mess, but he seems determined to turn it into a catastrophe.
That’s the guy we elected.
I don’t understand this statement .. or the point of the post actually.
Obama himself said we need less bickering, not more, but you want him to be MORE confrontational?
Confusing.
Less bickering in liberal obama-speak translates to “Shut up and do what I demand. We won, we run the joint now!”
I suspect that is what many liberals want more of… at least until the cash runs out. That’s the one flaw in Keynesian economics… it only works until all the rich people and businesses have been bled dry. Then you are left with the ruins of reality. On the bright side though, it’s all Bush’s fault no matter what the obamateur does to the economy. Just ask keith.
Since your asking… I would say the knee-jerk “no” is part of the problem that got us into this mess. Let’s see if any Republicans can rise to the occasion and be statesmen for a change and meet Obama half-way – or even any-way. I doubt it, but I can hope.
Keith – now you’re not even being objective.
Republicans were LOCKED OUT of negotiations.
The Democrats have acted completely irresponsibly during this process. Like I stated above, I hate this lie being told that the health reform did not get done because the Republicans were being obstructionists. The Democrats had a filibuster proof majority in the Senate. NOTHING was in the way of them getting this done other than the Dems inability to compromise.
Call it down the middle.