Why Obama’s Budget Is So Bad

Before I address President Obama’s budget, let me take a moment to ask you to keep in your prayers those who were killed or injured in the Boston Marathon attack two days ago.  We must continue to protect and cherish the freedoms that make our country the beacon of hope it has been for over 200 years now, and remain ever vigilant against those who hate us because of that freedom.

Well, President Obama finally sent Congress his budget – more than two months late.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t worth the wait.

This is the first time in almost 100 years that a President released his budget AFTER both the House of Representatives and the Senate had already adopted their own budgets.  The idea behind requiring our Presidents to submit their budgets to Congress by February 4th (10 weeks ago!) is so Congress can consider the President’s recommendations when the Congress considers its own budgets.  Our Presidents are supposed to show some leadership.  This one hasn’t.

But it’s not just the tardiness of the President’s budget.  It’s what’s in it.

Rather than balance the budget in 10 years as the Ryan Budget does (I voted for it), or balance the budget in four years as the more aggressive and more conservative Republican Study Committee Budget does (I voted for this one too), the Obama Budget never balances, ever.  And as a result,  rather than reduce the national debt (we all have hanging over our heads), Obama’s budget actually raises the national debt from its current $16.8 trillion level to a breathtaking $25 trillion (may as well call us Greece.)

In addition, Obama’s budget raises taxes by over a trillion dollars over the next decade – and that’s on top of his recent fiscal cliff tax hike, and a trillion or so in tax hikes due to Obamacare.  (Hold onto your wallets – it’s time to spread the wealth around.)

What we really need, rather than HIGHER taxes, is tax REFORM.  The President does propose eliminating some current so-called tax loopholes, deductions, and exemptions, but instead of reducing marginal income tax rates by an equal amount, and thus spur economic growth and job creation, the President wants to spend these “savings” on new government programs, and more money to existing government programs (because they are oh so efficient.)  He trusts the government to spend our money more wisely and more efficiently than he trusts people to spend their own money.  (But then he did win the election, and elections have consequences.)

When President Obama first took office, nearly four and a half years ago, he promised to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term.  Well that didn’t happen.  In fact, he’s dramatically RAISED the deficit every year of his presidency.

And rather than “focus like a laser beam on the economy,” as he had promised to do, he spent his time and political capital on passing big government expansions like Obamacare, and the economy has floundered as a result.  Thus the true unemployment rate is nearly 14% when you consider those Americans who used to work full time but can now only find part time work, and those workers who have been so discouraged by the Obama economy that they have dropped out of the workforce altogether, and are no longer even counted as being unemployed.

Unfortunately, raising taxes by a trillion dollars, and growing government by more than the already unprecedented levels, will do nothing to improve our economy or create jobs.

In conclusion, in my opinion, President Obama’s budget is a bust.  Not only was it late, but it is not a serious document.  It is likely that as usual, it will not only not get a single Republican vote in the House or the Senate, but it will likely not receive a single Democrat vote in either house either.

It was a time for the President to show some leadership.  He didn’t.

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