On Monday, President Obama is scheduled to release his
proposed budget for the coming year. If his past three budgets are any
indication, it is unlikely anyone outside of the White House will take
this budget seriously.
That's because past Obama budgets have been long on empty promises and short on real solutions. This president has consistently ignored Washington's crushing debt and passed the real costs on to future generations.
The administration has already signaled that this year's spending plan will offer more of the same: a budget that spends too much, borrows too much and taxes too much.
For starters, this budget will not be balanced. Despite his frequent rhetoric about spending restraint and the dangers of debt, Obama has never submitted a balanced budget in his life.
In last year's budget, he wrote: "The fiscal realities we face require hard choices." That was true. His budget, however, failed to make any hard choices.
At a time when Washington needed to cut spending, the president actually proposed broad spending increases and a deficit of more than $1.1 trillion. He tried to increase spending for the next 10 years by a massive 55%. How exactly does a 55% increase in spending equal "hard choices?"
Even the Democratic co-chair of his own fiscal commission, Erskine Bowles, said the president's budget last year went "nowhere near where they will have to go to resolve our fiscal nightmare."
The president's plan was so tone deaf that not a single Democrat (or Republican) in the Senate would support it. It was rejected 97 to 0.
When it became clear that people found his budget inadequate, the president gave a speech in which he called vaguely for tweaking spending and increasing taxes. His new plan had so few details that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office was unable even to guess at whether it would save money or cost more.
Now the administration intends to ask again for tax increases on American families and small businesses. It also plans to keep up its deficit spending and out-of-control borrowing.
On top of that, Obama's budget will continue his steadfast refusal to propose serious entitlement reforms. Spending on entitlements is unsustainable, accounting for 57% of Washington's budget. By failing to act, Obama is making it worse.
The president's failure will be compounded by the do-nothing Senate Democrats. Majority Leader Harry Reid has not passed a regular budget in three years. And he has already said he has no intention of doing anything with the budget this year either. That is no way to run a lemonade stand, let alone a government.
It's time Washington learned something about fiscal responsibility by looking outside the Beltway.
In my home state of Wyoming, Monday is the day our legislature opens its session to set a two-year budget for 2013 and 2014. That session will last only 20 days, and at the end of it we will have a balanced budget.
Like most states, Wyoming first calculates how much money it expects to take in, then sets its spending to match its income — not the other way around.
That's the way families across America do it. They look at how much money they've got coming in and decide whether they can afford a new car, a vacation or even a trip to the movies. They don't schedule a vacation and then tell their boss they need a raise to pay for it.
When a new forecast predicted Wyoming would get less revenue in the future because of lower natural gas prices, the governor did not look for ways to raise taxes. He did not ignore the forecast and hope for the best. He looked for ways to rein in the spending to fit the new revenue prediction. Then he worked out a backup plan in case things get worse.
Our prudent budgeting, along with low taxes and reasonable regulations, has earned Wyoming a reputation as one of the best states for business. It is rooted in the simple truth understood by responsible states and families everywhere — you don't spend money you don't have. This philosophy should be a model for Washington.
With this budget, President Obama has the opportunity to submit a plan that controls Washington's spending. He could take this moment to finally embrace common-sense fiscal policies that will help our economy grow and give our children and grandchildren a chance for prosperity.
The record shows that Obama has never been serious about responsible budgeting in the past. American voters will have an opportunity in November to replace him with someone committed to getting our fiscal house in order.
• Barrasso, a Republican, is the junior senator from Wyoming.
That's because past Obama budgets have been long on empty promises and short on real solutions. This president has consistently ignored Washington's crushing debt and passed the real costs on to future generations.
The administration has already signaled that this year's spending plan will offer more of the same: a budget that spends too much, borrows too much and taxes too much.
For starters, this budget will not be balanced. Despite his frequent rhetoric about spending restraint and the dangers of debt, Obama has never submitted a balanced budget in his life.
In last year's budget, he wrote: "The fiscal realities we face require hard choices." That was true. His budget, however, failed to make any hard choices.
At a time when Washington needed to cut spending, the president actually proposed broad spending increases and a deficit of more than $1.1 trillion. He tried to increase spending for the next 10 years by a massive 55%. How exactly does a 55% increase in spending equal "hard choices?"
Even the Democratic co-chair of his own fiscal commission, Erskine Bowles, said the president's budget last year went "nowhere near where they will have to go to resolve our fiscal nightmare."
The president's plan was so tone deaf that not a single Democrat (or Republican) in the Senate would support it. It was rejected 97 to 0.
When it became clear that people found his budget inadequate, the president gave a speech in which he called vaguely for tweaking spending and increasing taxes. His new plan had so few details that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office was unable even to guess at whether it would save money or cost more.
Now the administration intends to ask again for tax increases on American families and small businesses. It also plans to keep up its deficit spending and out-of-control borrowing.
On top of that, Obama's budget will continue his steadfast refusal to propose serious entitlement reforms. Spending on entitlements is unsustainable, accounting for 57% of Washington's budget. By failing to act, Obama is making it worse.
The president's failure will be compounded by the do-nothing Senate Democrats. Majority Leader Harry Reid has not passed a regular budget in three years. And he has already said he has no intention of doing anything with the budget this year either. That is no way to run a lemonade stand, let alone a government.
It's time Washington learned something about fiscal responsibility by looking outside the Beltway.
In my home state of Wyoming, Monday is the day our legislature opens its session to set a two-year budget for 2013 and 2014. That session will last only 20 days, and at the end of it we will have a balanced budget.
Like most states, Wyoming first calculates how much money it expects to take in, then sets its spending to match its income — not the other way around.
That's the way families across America do it. They look at how much money they've got coming in and decide whether they can afford a new car, a vacation or even a trip to the movies. They don't schedule a vacation and then tell their boss they need a raise to pay for it.
When a new forecast predicted Wyoming would get less revenue in the future because of lower natural gas prices, the governor did not look for ways to raise taxes. He did not ignore the forecast and hope for the best. He looked for ways to rein in the spending to fit the new revenue prediction. Then he worked out a backup plan in case things get worse.
Our prudent budgeting, along with low taxes and reasonable regulations, has earned Wyoming a reputation as one of the best states for business. It is rooted in the simple truth understood by responsible states and families everywhere — you don't spend money you don't have. This philosophy should be a model for Washington.
With this budget, President Obama has the opportunity to submit a plan that controls Washington's spending. He could take this moment to finally embrace common-sense fiscal policies that will help our economy grow and give our children and grandchildren a chance for prosperity.
The record shows that Obama has never been serious about responsible budgeting in the past. American voters will have an opportunity in November to replace him with someone committed to getting our fiscal house in order.
• Barrasso, a Republican, is the junior senator from Wyoming.
1 comment:
thanks for this post I agreed with you "The record shows that Obama has never been serious about responsible budgeting in the past. American voters will have an opportunity in November to replace him with someone committed to getting our fiscal house in order". but now what we can do?
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