Friday, March 05, 2010

$9.7 Trillion


Remember about six weeks ago when Obama lectured the American public on family budgeting, urging us to do things like canceling trips to Las Vegas? Somehow, there has to be a better spokesman for economic strategies. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office now estimates that Obama's spending will add $9.7 trillion to the federal deficit in the next decade.

Listen. You don't have to be Dave Ramsey to know that Obama is doing precisely the wrong thing when it comes to money. How many couples over the years have learned the hard way that spending more than you make doesn't work? Indeed, it leads to a deep financial hole that is next to impossible to recover from. How many parents have taught fiscal responsibility to their children by literally making them save up for a desired product and then buying it?

Compare this to what has happened since Obama took office. Need money? Print it. Need more money? Increase the debt limit. Need even more money? Borrow from China to the degree that even they are chastising us.

Most of America knows better, and that's why Obama's popularity is in a steep decline. Most of America doesn't want his financial naivete' to become a monetary nightmare that will burden our children and grandchildren.

This is what you get when you elect a guy whose life experiences made for the flimsiest presidential candidate's resume' in U. S. history. We can only hope that the November elections save us from his blind-leading-the-blind policies. Apparently, the Democratic majority in Congress can't be counted on to take the blinders off before then.

If we just hadn't been in such a rush to elect a smooth, charismatic black man to the nation's highest office. Looked like such a wonderful idea to so many. May we never be so delusional again.

5 comments:

The Left said...

No one is saying that digging deeper into the deficit is a good idea. But where were the Republicans and the Tea-Party types when Bush and a Republican-controlled Congress were spending this country into oblivion? Bush took over with a budget surplus and promptly erased it in less than two years. That was just the beginning of what will certainly go down as one of the worst presidential administrations in history.

Going from a surplus of $127 billion to a deficit of $1.3 trillion iin eight years is simply phenomenal. When Bush took office, the CBO projected a surplus through the next decade. Yet the party of "fiscal responsibility" spent like there was no tomorrow.

It's a shame that in just over a year, people seem to have forgotten the complete financial disaster that Bush left Obama.

Tim Perkins said...

Jeff: Did not approve of Bush spending, but it pales in comparison to what is going on now. Do you have any misgivings about the ramifications of the amount of spending Obama wants? I ask this not trying to start an argument but just simply wondering if Democrats worry about the same things as Republicans.

The Left said...

Absolutely, I have misgivings about the spending, and Democrats in general do as well, although they have traditionally been willing to spend more if it was to achieve a certain policy goal (Medicare, Medicaid, universal health care etc.), even if that would put us in the red.

The current situation is so incredibly complicated because of the economy, and I suppose it depends on one's economic philosophy on how to turn the economy around. Democrats generally believe in government spending to do that (FDR, Obama), and Republicans generally do not (Hoover, Reagan).

I have listened to both liberal and conservative economists--who know infinitely more than me about economics--swear by the the two theories.

And I know you would not try to start an argument. I love your blog and these kinds of discussions are what make politics great!

Tim Perkins said...

Cool. I'm relieved that Democrats are having misgivings about the large numbers being bandied about. While I acknowledge that I can't make heads or tails of many of the claims, I do know something that is simple: consistently spending more than you take in is sheer foolishness.

The Left said...

I totally agree: consistently doing that is a recipe for disaster.