Red Ink Forever

Red Ink Forever

It’s official.   The proposed Obama Federal budget will generate red ink and the US Government deficit will increase every year during the new President’s term.   In fact the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicts US Federal deficits of $1 Trillion per year over the next decade.     The complete CBO report is linked here

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/100xx/doc10014/03-20-PresidentBudget.pdf

The national debt is now $11 Trillion and counting.   With another decade of spend and tax being proposed by Obama Administration and being supported by the majority Democrats in the Congress, the colossal national debt could double in 10 years to over $20,000,000,000,000!       Here is a direct link for more on the deficit:

http://www.federalbudget.com/

According to the CBO, as report by the Associated Press www.ap.org  President Barack Obama's budget would generate deficits averaging almost $1 trillion a year over the next decade, according to the latest congressional estimates, significantly worse than predicted by the White House just last month.   The Congressional Budget Office figures, obtained by The Associated Press Friday, predict Obama's budget will produce $9.3 trillion worth of red ink over 2010-2019. That's $2.3 trillion worse than the White House predicted in its budget.  Worst of all, CBO says the deficit under Obama's policies would never go below 4 percent of the size of the economy; figures that economists agree are unsustainable. By the end of the decade, the deficit would exceed 5 percent of gross domestic product, a dangerously high level.

The AP also reports that conservative “Blue Dog Democrats” are questioning the larger that life spending proposed by President Obama:

WASHINGTON (www.ap.org ) — “Conservative and moderate Democrats are flexing their muscles on Capitol Hill, demanding significantly lower spending for domestic programs as well as automatic budget cuts if tax cuts and new programs would increase the deficit.

A group of 51 so-called "Blue Dog" House Democrats released their roster of budget demands Thursday, calling for cutting more than $40 billion from domestic programs funded by Congress each year.”

In the Hill on-line version  www.thehill.com  concerns about the ballooning deficit all even alarming the Democrat majority, “The deficit level, which Obama expected to be 12 percent of gross domestic product this year, would fall to approximately 3 percent of GDP in 2013 and beyond under the president's policies. But the CBO estimated deficits in those years to be much larger, between 4 percent and 6 percent of economic growth.  The Office of Management & Budget (OMB) director Orszag said that a deficit that amounted to 5 percent of GDP would be "unsustainable."

The top Republican on the House budget committee Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.), said that the new projections show that Obama's budget "will lead our nation into a far worse fiscal catastrophe" than the White House's own numbers suggested.

Janet Hook, in the March 20^th LA Times www.latimes.com reports:  “That bad (deficit) news, combined with other recent developments, portends a rocky road for the Obama budget, which was initially hailed by congressional Democrats for promoting such liberal priorities as expanded access to health insurance and curbs on global warming.

 

In the three weeks since the budget was unveiled, fiscally conservative Democrats have raised concerns about proposed spending increases. Leaders of the House and Senate tax-writing committees have criticized some of Obama's proposed tax increases on wealthier Americans. And influential Democrats are backing away from using a legislative shortcut that may be Obama's best hope for passing his far-reaching health and energy policies.

 

An additional multibillion-dollar bailout for banks and other financial institutions, which the administration will soon propose, is expected to add more pressure to the federal government's finances.  Into that tinderbox, a lit match has come from new deficit estimates.  Where Obama's budget foresees rolling up $7 trillion in cumulative deficits over the next 10 years, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) on Thursday pegged the deficits at $1.6 trillion higher over that period.”   www.latimes.com

As the FY 2010 budget debate begins on Capitol Hill, the majority Democrats in Congress are faced with the reality that the Obama budget is overspending and over committing the Federal government to programs that cannot be sustained, even if taxes on all of Americans are dramatically raised.    And while the President is only beginning his term, a number of US Senators and all the House members face an increasingly skeptical and angry electorate in November 2010.   It is becoming increasingly clear that for the majority in Congress to continue to blaming others, each other and past Administrations,  will not fly with the US taxpayers.    The November 2010 election may be the last chance to vote out the big spenders in Washington.   In the meantime, it is clear that the big spender in the White House, who doesn’t stand for election until 2012, won’t use the Obama veto pen on earmarks, pork, overspending or tax increases.   

For more details on the US Federal budget, click through to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_budget

© 2009, Jasper Welch, Four Corners Media, www.jasperwelch.org

 

The Loyal Opposition

The Loyal Opposition

As a conservative, what is the approach that we should take following the US election in which liberal Democrats picked up more seats in the US House and US Senate?  And what is the conservative response to our newly elected US President, Barack Obama?   We are the loyal opposition:  Loyal to our country, our republic and the US Constitution.    We are supporting the peaceful (and gold standard) process of the transition of power in American, following our national elections.  America is unique in the world in how we elect our leaders and how the change in power occurs peacefully.    The pundits, politicians and press are now debating the demise of conservative principles and the weakened Republican Party.   While that is a debate worth having, as a member of the loyal opposition, I both support the newly elected President Obama, but I also oppose many of his ideas and policies that have been proposed in the campaign.   Unlike my liberal friends who bashed President Bush (and the office of the President), I will not engage in that disloyal behavior.   Sure, I had some tough words and pointed criticism of Senator Obama as a presidential candidate.    But he is the President Elect now, and that electoral victory and historic accomplishment is to be admired and respected.    This is American.   A country in which a presidential candidate from a diverse background can be elected to the Office of the President with the support of the minority and majority citizens of the United States.  That is the dream of every American.

But I will respectfully disagree with our newly minted President, when he proposes more Federal government spending, not less; when the security of the United States is compromised in the interest of getting along with our enemies or if the hand of the US government becomes heavy through taxes, regulations or limits to personal freedom.   In this case, as a member of the loyal opposition, I’ll express my contrary views.    Fortunately, the days of Bush bashing  are fading away, into the dusty Texas sunset. (Although Bush bashing is still lingering the MSM and in left leaning blogs)  Let our former President George W. quietly retire to his Crawford Ranch.  As for President Elect Obama, he has my loyal support and respect.    He was elected by a majority of the States, with a plurality of the vote of our fellow citizens.    However, his vision for American is still yet to be unfolded in the policy details of 2009.      The Obama campaign platitudes sounded pretty good, but as a member of the loyal opposition, I was suspect as to what will really happen in Washington DC under President Obama and the Democratic Congress. 

Meanwhile, I’m looking at the conservative “Blue Dog” Democrats in Congress http://www.house.gov/ross/BlueDogs/   as a member of the loyal opposition.   These are self selected Democrats that have a moderate to conservative view on budget and fiscal issues that come before the US House of Representatives.   In the 2006 House elections, there were 47 “Blue Dog Democrats”.    Since 1996, 27 Blue Dog Democrats have been elected to the US House, replacing incumbent or retiring Republicans.    In the 2008 election, 20 new Democrats were elected to the Congress, with a likely number of these new Democrats willing to join the Blue Dog coalition as fiscal conservatives.      The question will be: Are the Blue Dog Democrats willing to stand up to President Obama and the liberal Democratic House leadership on overspending and increased government programs that run up the US deficit?   We’ll see in January 2009.    As a member of the loyal opposition, I’m counting on Blue Dog Democrats in the House and the GOP members of the US Senate to provide some fiscal restraint and balance to Presidential initiatives from the Obama administration.

© 2008, Jasper Welch,  Four Corners Media, www.jasperwelch.org