Here's hoping we can discuss the Obama budget

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama_budget_individual_impact


His environmental people will be pissed with the dirtier water, but the trashing of the clean diesel program while pushing for more clean air measures seem to contradict each other.

Just once I'd like to see a budget that lays off his own personnel, some of them. And asks congress to cut. Why is it fair to not do it when every other business is cutting?

 

From what I can tell, this is a pretty standard bit of budget bluff.

Cities and counties do this all the time. Faced with the need to make cuts, the first thing they say is "We'll have to close the parks and libraries," when in fact that's probably pretty low down the list of actual significant expenses.

Here, they have proposed a budget "blueprint" with things like cuts to clean water programs and heating oil assistance for the poor. If Republicans go along, of course, they'll be blamed for supporting cuts in those programs. Object to these cuts, and the president can say "I tried to work a deal with these people but they're impossible."

Clever in its way, but it feels a lot like 1995 budget chess. There are other a lot of other moves on the board.

 

It's nice to see Obama acknowledge that we need drastic deficit reduction. I've still heard "we need to keep spending even more to keep the economy going" from some corners. There's proactive economic policy and then there's economic suicide, and the debt levels are reaching the latter.

 

The deficit won't be fixed until the big-ticket items are cut, which includes defense and Medicaid. No one in Congress or the Obama administration is serious about cutting the deficit unless everything is on the table.

 

It's amazing how many people involved in the budgeting process, on both sides of the aisle, can say with a straight face that this budget, or any budget, will reduce the deficit.
How many have they helped pass that jacked it up?

 

Does anyone think Bush could have submitted a budget with $1.6 TRILLION deficit and not had NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN and the NYT, WaPo, Newsweek, Time, LATimes, etc. not devote nearly 24/7 coverage to how reckless it is? Just curious.

 

Despite all the good audio clips and what appear to be honorable intentions, the decision-makers still aren't serious about this. Send a dozen semi-intelligent people to D.C. and it would be a snap to find wasteful billions to cut before lunch.

 

Pawnee, Indiana calls your bluff, Henry. They shut down government for a shortfall. Even outsourced their work to India.

 

I thought the exact same thing.

 

This place is filled with political threads and you hope we can discuss the Obama budget.

 

Within the next few years, after the economy has strengthened, a national sales tax or VAT is the only way to reduce the national debt. I think most developed countries have already instituted one or the other. Here in Canada the VAT was hated when first introduced but most of us agree it's needed.

If the money is pissed away, everyone will despise the tax but if it can reduce debt and/or balance the budget then it's a useful tool. Selling the idea and actually following through with a well conceived debt reduction strategy would take a concerted effort by government and citizenry alike, but it is doable.

 

Only raising or adding taxes isn't the answer. So VAT isn't going to reduce anything but spending, much less the debt.

Just like my personal budget, I have to increase revenue AND cut spending to pay off bills. Just working more isn't the answer.

I know that's an oversimplification but that's the idea.