Obama: Why, we can’t cut spending by 2.3 percent!
Today, the Congressional Budget Office projected this year’s deficit to be $845 billion. It would be the first time during Barack Obama’s presidency that the deficit could be measured with only a 12-digit number. Hooray?
CBO expects higher tax revenues, including the tax increases included in the Jan. 1 deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, to contribute $259 billion toward deficit reduction. (Here, I repeat my standard disclaimer that CBO almost always over-estimates the increase in revenues that comes with higher tax rates because it does not even attempt to consider how people will change their behavior to avoid paying higher taxes.)
Yet, also today, Obama said he does not want to see spending cuts of just $85 billion due to the sequester take effect.
For those keeping score at home, the cuts he opposes equal (take your pick):
- just 2.3 percent of all federal spending this year;
- just 10.1 percent of even this year’s deficit;
- a mere $1 for every $3 in deficit reduction due to higher revenues (the bulk of which, according to the CBO report, are related to the fiscal cliff deal) — that is, the reverse of the standard ratio discussed for taxes vs. spending in a deficit deal.
Instead of such paltry cuts, Obama wants smaller cuts, even more tax increases, and yet another punt of the larger deficit issue.
Oh, and he missed yesterday’s deadline for submitting a budget to Congress — the third straight year he’s done so.
And some people wonder why conservatives accuse Obama of not being serious about our deficits and debt.
– By Kyle Wingfield
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
179 comments Add your comment
md
February 5th, 2013
6:28 pm
“Pretty bizarre but it is what it is.”
Or is it?
The polls over there indicate the Brits want out……
http://www.democracymovementsurrey.co.uk/dyk_pollwatch.html
If it were me and knowing how mighty our fed has become, I’d vote to get out too…….
getalife
February 5th, 2013
6:29 pm
” I’ve also said that we need more revenue, through tax reform, by closing loopholes in our tax code for the wealthiest Americans. If we combine a balanced package of savings from spending on health care and revenues from closing loopholes, we can solve the deficit issue without sacrificing our investments in things like education that are going to help us grow.
Turns out the American people agree with me. They listened to an entire year’s debate over this issue, and they made a clear decision about the approach they prefer.” President Obama.
Deficit reduction is part of his agenda.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 5th, 2013
6:33 pm
Listen to the loons over at cnbc -
Germany is in a much better fiscal position to rev up its recessionary economy. With stable prices, balanced budget and a whopping 6 percent of GDP trade surplus, Germany could cut taxes and step up government spending to stimulate domestic demand. That would spur Germany’s buying of foreign goods and services and help its struggling euro zone partners. But Germany does not want to do that. It is killing its domestic demand by fiscal austerity, counting on exports to ride out the cyclical downturn.
How do you think they got the stability, balanced budget and surpluses in the first place? The austerity the libs want them to abandon? Do these kooks even know what they’re talking about?
md
February 5th, 2013
6:34 pm
Well, if we have another negative quarter, ie recession, and the folks get clobbered with Obamacare, it will get interesting as to how the fickle masses react…….it’s a no brainer when voting for someone else to pay more, but when it starts hitting their wallets they get all in a tizzy…..
md
February 5th, 2013
6:37 pm
They want Germany to buy lots and lots of lottery tickets and screw up their balanced budget in the HOPES of bigger growth……
Now, if some guy came into your living room and told you you can possibly win a couple million if you just borrowed 10k to buy some lottery tickets, what would you tell the guy?
getalife
February 5th, 2013
6:39 pm
md,
I think of it as who will pay for the collapse?
There will be pain and they chose to take it too early so their economy is in recession.
Short term pain gor long term gain.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 5th, 2013
6:40 pm
dummycrats have been “investing in education” ever since, oh, when was it, yeah, when the United States was ranked #1 in education.
And now what are we? 28th?
Hey but at least we’ve got a giant teacher’s union.
Sailfish
February 5th, 2013
6:41 pm
kyle
This whole debt fixation is a red herring in our current economics. When the economy is running at full throttle and employment is at 6%, that will be the time to start cutting and bring our fiscal house in order, but not until then. Employment is the hidden statistic for more revenue without raising taxes.
Republicans on the other hand have been in temporal lobe fits ever since obama walked through the door about the deficit. OK, we all agree its too high but there is a proper timing to attack it aggressively. I totally agree with obama’s approach which is both pragmatic and logical. Stop hyperventilating about it and take deep breaths, we can get there.
By the way, very curious to see what “your guy” paul ryan comes up with. He and romney were quite deficient on the specifics of their economic policy. Now, he has to name his cuts. I will be open minded and see if he can really rise to the occasion instead typical hard right ideology – mainly tax cuts, we spent a decade digging that hole…
getalife
February 5th, 2013
6:44 pm
gor is for.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 5th, 2013
6:44 pm
When our little two bit tin pot socialist says he wants to “invest in education,” just remember the marxist translation of that is “I want to give the teacher’s union tons of your children’s future so they can kick it back to the dnc.”
getalife
February 5th, 2013
6:47 pm
Deficit reduction not balance the budget until there is a law to stop the gop or dems from blowing it out again.
CC
February 5th, 2013
7:02 pm
“Turns out the American people agree with me. They listened to an entire year’s debate over this issue, and they made a clear decision about the approach they prefer.” President Obama.
Yeah . . . gimme mo’ o’ the free sh#t!
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 5th, 2013
7:07 pm
Yeah . . . gimme mo’ o’ the free sh#t!
Haliburton says, “What?”
md
February 5th, 2013
7:12 pm
” When the economy is running at full throttle and employment is at 6%, that will be the time to start cutting and bring our fiscal house in order, but not until then.”
You mean “if”, and there in lies the problem. The only guarantee in that scenario is the debt continues to climb…….then what?
Michael H. Smith
February 5th, 2013
7:15 pm
Politico
Don’t let that ODS get out of hand
Mine isn’t, take care of your pathetic own.
Tap Out
February 5th, 2013
7:18 pm
Austerity during a recession or high unemployment has been shown to be wrong. Republicans know this, but then they only talk cuts when they’re not in the White House.
Sailfish
February 5th, 2013
7:18 pm
“You mean “if”, and there in lies the problem. The only guarantee in that scenario is the debt continues to climb…….then what?
There is an old saying about hypotheticals, I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. The real key to recovery is the ending of the housing crisis. Inventory is starting to move, construction has to rebound for any type of recovery, those are good middle class jobs.
I suspect you’ve been around for awhile, the recession in 1974 was particularly devastating to my family.
Michael H. Smith
February 5th, 2013
7:20 pm
Deficit reduction not balance the budget until there is a law to stop the gop or dems from blowing it out again.
Constitutional balanced budget amendment not a law would is the answer.
indigo
February 5th, 2013
7:26 pm
Aesop – 6:44
In no way is Obama a Socialist. If he were it would be readly apparent and he would have never been re-elected.
You seem to think that repeating a lie often enough here will actually convence some to believe you.
I can post the definition as often as you can lie.
http://www.bing.com/Dictionary/search?q=define+socialism&qpvt=socialism&FORM=DTPDIA
Michael H. Smith
February 5th, 2013
7:28 pm
The real key to recovery is the ending of the housing crisis. Inventory is starting to move, construction has to rebound for any type of recovery, those are good middle class jobs.
Therein is a conundrum. I feel your pain but a house building recovering is a long way from happening nationally and we don’t want a repeat of the last housing bubble just to clear a glut. Other problems co-exist with construction dependent jobs, though, this isn’t the time to open up that can of worms.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
February 5th, 2013
7:31 pm
When the economy is running at full throttle and employment is at 6%,
We will never get there with Obama running the economy. This is like saying our track team will be entering some international competition, as soon as our star miler, Rosanne Barr breaks 4 minutes in the mile.
I totally agree with obama’s approach which is both pragmatic and logical.
I have never heard any Obama approach to the deficit, it is just “now is not the time”. You have faith that he would someday deal with it, if the time was right. I don’t think the time will ever be right, as he only has four more years, and if previous experience is your best indicator of future performance, it just ain’t gonna happen. I don’t think he cares about the debt or deficit. When he was surprised during the 2008 campaign to find out how bad fiscal shape we were in, the media asked about all the aggressive spending he had previously proposed. They wanted to know what he was going to cut from his wish list. They said, surely he can’t do all this spending, now that we are on the brink of collapse. He procrastinated for a week or so indicating he was thinking about maybe scaling back some, but then he said he was not going to cut anything. I think he is just going to worry about his legacy, which he thinks consists of how many new programs he can get started, and let the next guy worry about the aftermath. He is after all narcissistic and self absorbed, and is not going to let anything stop him from doing what he wants to do, good time or bad.
md
February 5th, 2013
7:33 pm
“There is an old saying about hypotheticals, I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”
There are a few other countries that have tried that method as well…..the largest was probably the USSR. Greece was the most recent…….Japan sits at 200% debt to gdp….Zimbabwe is printing gazillion dollar bills…….
Personally, I’d prefer to work with in our budget, but I don’t see it happening. And Obamacare is not going to be the panacea most seem to be expecting, it’s going to open some eyes to dollar signs coming from their pockets……
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 5th, 2013
7:34 pm
Did someone say deficit?
Which brings us to the economic level. The deficits that Bush ran up in the years in which the country was teetering on the verge of a serious recession had the beneficial effect of righting the economy. In that sense, deficits not only didn’t matter, but were a force for economic good.
Translation: IOKIYAR
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
February 5th, 2013
7:35 pm
getalife
You must differ from your man Obama, he doesn’t support a balanced budget amendment, he thinks it would be too restrictive. Hey, big spender, spend a little more on me!
md
February 5th, 2013
7:36 pm
“I totally agree with obama’s approach which is both pragmatic and logical.”
And it just produced a negative quarter of gdp growth….and it was the Christmas buying season….that doesn’t bode well for the next quarter which is historically the worst…..
Michael H. Smith
February 5th, 2013
7:38 pm
Your bling definition fits the obama redistribution dogma:
a political theory or system in which the means of production and distribution are controlled by the people[government] and operated according to equity and fairness rather than market principles
equity and fairness rather than market principles
parallels the matra of Karl Marx, “from each according to their ability to each according to their need.”
Sailfish
February 5th, 2013
7:40 pm
rafe
I’ve been around awhile and seen many cycles of boom and bust. Obama is nowhere as bad as you scream nor is he as good as you think I think he is. The circumstances that we are in are unique to this time. Everyone knew the housing bubble would pop but the scars are deep because people can no longer use it as a credit card. Once this viscious cycle abates, building will come back and we all know there is plenty to fix.
All the money gov’t spends for disasters is a mini stimulus. I agree with the idea that the only solution is to grow our way out but the pump must be primed.
Sailfish
February 5th, 2013
7:43 pm
md
Selective about your quarters? Don’t forget, the populous northeast was affected by the storm right before xmas. You have a negative take on things, lighten up.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
February 5th, 2013
7:45 pm
equity and fairness rather than market principles= it is only fair that those who have benefited the most can pay a little more. Who said that, wasn’t GWB or Reagan, it was ….let me think, the guy who also said “a little redistribution is not a bad thing”, wasn’t Chavez, or Castro, or Putin, I’ll get it in a minute, maybe it was Forest Gump, you think?
Michael H. Smith
February 5th, 2013
7:49 pm
This vicious cycle cannot abate until the fraud that started it is eliminated. Part of the housing problem is government involvement that grew out of hand beginning from FDR’s action which had good intentions but lacked limits to prevent further intrusion into the housing market and then into home mortgages.
The pump needs priming from honest valuation met with real money and credit worthiness requirements restored to the market.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 5th, 2013
7:50 pm
indigo – If obozo isn’t a socialist, it’s because he was too dumb to fill out the application.
md
February 5th, 2013
7:52 pm
“Selective about your quarters?”
Umm….no. Merely pointing out the most recent, and the one furthest away from the “blame Bush” mantra. Obama has had this baby for 4 years and the latest quarter is negative and it was during the Holidays which traditionally is a good quarter……it wasn’t.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
February 5th, 2013
7:54 pm
Sailfish: the pump must be primed.
In the past, to get it primed, we always put the money back into the hands of those, who need it and will spend it, i.e. tax cuts. That is why this is a “unique” time, to use your words, because for the first time, we are trying fixes that Obama think fit his ideology. For the first time, we have abandoned what worked to get us out of previous recessions, are are winging it to satisfy Obama’s ideology.
I am not an economist, but some of them say that the recession of the early 1980’s was just as bad, with 20% inflation, 10% unemployment, gas prices through the roof, gas lines around the block, and car dealer lots loaded with big gas guzzlers. Reagan got us out of that mess much quicker than Obama has tackled this mess. 4 years and little sign of improvement.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 5th, 2013
7:58 pm
OK, I’ll concede the point, obozo isn’t a true socialist and most real socialists would probably laugh in hi scrawny face. Putin does all the time.
So how do we define this new, putrid form of marxism your girl practices? Let’s call it obotulism.
Sailfish
February 5th, 2013
7:59 pm
rafe md
If you cannot see how the housing bust is unique to this recession then the point is moot. If you don’t think that the storm in the northeast affected xmas spending then I can’t help you either. Spring is when this economy is poised to get some steam, we’ll see.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 5th, 2013
8:01 pm
On Feb. 5, 1963, 50 years ago this week, President John F. Kennedy addressed Congress on “Mental Illness and Mental Retardation.” He proposed a new program under which the federal government would fund community mental-health centers, or CMHCs, to take the place of state mental hospitals. As Kennedy envisioned it, “reliance on the cold mercy of custodial isolations will be supplanted by the open warmth of community concern and capability.”
And that, ladies and gentleman, is how getalife was unleashed upon us.
Sailfish
February 5th, 2013
8:02 pm
aesop
Baby, baby stick your head in gravy, wash it off with bubblegum…your name calling is a bit immature but carry on if it makes you feel good.
md
February 5th, 2013
8:03 pm
The storm is an excuse….sure, it may have affected shopping, but on the flip side it boosted other spending from insurance companies and those out trying to replace what they lost. Car sales alone could make up the difference.
“The auto industry wins the silver lining award from the affects of Hurricane Sandy: November car sales jumped 15 percent on strong demand from people replacing cars destroyed by the storm, Americans feeling more confident in the economy, and an easier access to credit.”
Michael H. Smith
February 5th, 2013
8:05 pm
There is a way out of this economic mess Rafe but I doubt many people on this blog will go alone with it anymore than the Dems or GOP in Washington D C will.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
February 5th, 2013
8:31 pm
MHS
I think had we put that $1T we squandered in the pork fest/stimulus, into tax cuts for everyone, this mess would have corrected itself a great deal sooner. Obama’s years long campaign against the Bush tax cuts, had poisoned the well to such an effect, blaming the economic mess incorrectly on the tax cuts, that this weapon was not available to him. Yet, he was quick to extend the tax cuts and later made them permanent. So, the question is, was he lying during the campaign when he disparaged the cuts, or lying now when he says we need them for the health of the economy.
Hillbilly D
February 5th, 2013
8:52 pm
I see the new format has made it to Jim Galloway’s. Can’t be much longer until it gets here. It seems to be working a bit better on the Sports Side, although every time you refresh it still takes you to the oldest first and only 20 posts per page.
md
February 5th, 2013
8:52 pm
” Yet, he was quick to extend the tax cuts and later made them permanent. So, the question is, was he lying during the campaign when he disparaged the cuts, or lying now when he says we need them for the health of the economy.”
Best I can tell, he uses them as a campaign tool…..how hard is it for a snakeoil salesman to sell snake oil if the guy standing next to you is going to pay for it……
Sailfish
February 5th, 2013
9:04 pm
rafe
I guess its ok to cut everyone a one time check and add to the deficit while a stimulus creating jobs and a weekly paycheck is bad? What kind of logic is that?
Dave
February 5th, 2013
9:16 pm
Kyle, I think the President is serious about the deficits and debt; but, he is going about dealing with the issues in his way, right or wrong. I don’t have much sympathy with Republican sniping as if the party had any any sense, it could have gotten a $4 trillion/$1 trillion spending cut/tax increase deal in late summer 2011. The GOP at that point and and now doesn’t seem to want to govern, it just yells “our way or the highway.” They missed their chance for their way for next couple of years. I hope for the country’s sake they aren’t right.
Sailfish
February 5th, 2013
9:33 pm
aesop
Sorry about my comment earlier, chalk it up to temporary finsanity!
md
February 5th, 2013
9:38 pm
” I don’t have much sympathy with Republican sniping as if the party had any any sense, it could have gotten a $4 trillion/$1 trillion spending cut/tax increase deal in late summer 2011.”
Not exactly…..O & B had a deal until O came back after the fact and wanted more revenue. And the deal they were working on was iffy at best considering Cantor and his allies didn’t like it and Pelosi came out with a press conference saying certain items were a no-no.
Don’t fool yourself to think there was no deal because of just one side……
Dave
February 5th, 2013
9:42 pm
Don’t know the ins and outs and don’t remember that it was O that backed off (I thought it was the new Republican class) but from the Republican point of view, they could have done a lot better then than now.
getalife
February 5th, 2013
9:48 pm
The speaker walked away for something they passed. Raising taxes on the wealthy.
So why don’t the gop take the 4 trillion deal still on the table???
md
February 5th, 2013
9:51 pm
According to Woodward, O made his last offer and B was left to mull it over. When B decided to accept the deal, O then wanted more…..but as I said, that was a deal between 2 guys sitting in a room by themselves without the rest of Congress. Cantor hated it and Pelosi went as far as actually using a presser to say certain things would not be cut, yet those things were in the deal O was supposedly agreeing to……
I think the whole thing was a charade for the election……….
Dave
February 5th, 2013
9:55 pm
Wouldn’t be the first time I suppose.