Obama's WTF Budget

Obama today sent to Congress his leviathan $3.73 trillion dollar budget request for 2011. In hyping the release, he noted that his proposed freeze to the discretionary spending that has exploded under his watch, plus draconian cuts to defense spending not mentioned above, would save $1.1 trillion over ten years. He further stated that, under his budget, discretionary spending as a percentage of the entire budget would be at its lowest in decades. As to his promise to cut our budget deficit in half by the end of his first term, . . .

Let's put the spin in perspective. Our budget shortfall last year was $1.3 trillion. In 2009, it was $1.4 trillion and, in 2011, it is forecast to hit $1.5 trillion. So when Obama hypes saving $1.1 trillion OVER TEN YEARS, he isn't even matching the shortfall of one of those years. It's like putting a band-aid over a severed carotid artery. More responsible savings like that and we will be bankrupt in the foreseeable future.

As to the percentage that discretionary spending is to the entire budget, it is hard to think of a more cynical expression of spin. The only reason discretionary spending will be lowered in the future as a percentage of total spending is because entitlement spending is set to rise exponentially with the retirement of baby boomers. It has us on a course to fiscal Armageddon. And Obama is not proposing a damn thing to reign in entitlements in his 2011 budget. Instead, he is using it as a positive in his spin of the 2011 budget. What an utterly worthless s.o.b.

As to his claim to be on track to cut our budget deficit in half by the end of his first term, good lord, that is so patently false I can't believe he raised it in a speech days ago. I heard him say it. I can't believe he said it. Nor can I wait to see what numbers he is going to use to try and show that he is making good on his promise. I don't think its even possible to torture the CBO numbers to the point where they will support his statement.

I don't know about you, but I really am pining for the good ole' days of fiscal responsibility under the Carter administration.