Bipartisan Opposition to Obama Budget That Spends, Borrows, and Taxes Too Much

Obama Doubles Down on Spending, Fails to Create Environment for Job Creation

Weeks after promising that his budget plan would seriously confront the nation’s staggering deficit, President Obama debuted his budget today to underwhelming reviews and was widely panned for his failure to lead in confronting the more than $1 trillion budget deficit:

“The plan shows that Obama will not take the lead on any aggressive measure to eliminate the nation’s $14 trillion debt. This sets up the Obama administration on a collision course with Republicans, who are calling for serious deficit reduction and spending cuts. On Friday night, House Republicans unveiled a spending bill to fund the government for the next seven months that they say will reduce the president’s requested spending levels this year by at least $100 billion….

“At no point in the president’s 10-year projection would the U.S. government spend less than it’s taking in.” (Jake Tapper, “President Obama’s Budget and the Pending Budget Fight,” ABC News’ Political Punch blog, 2/14/2011)

“The budget confirms that Mr. Obama is not taking the lead in embracing the kind of far-reaching deficit-reduction plan recommended in December by a bipartisan majority of his fiscal commission.” (Jackie Calmes, “Obama Budget Seeks Deep Cuts in Domestic Spending,” The New York Times, 2/12/2011)

“The White House would fail to meet a promise made a year ago to balance the budget outside of interest payments on the federal debt by 2015, which would mean a deficit of 3% of GDP.” (Jonathan Weisman and Naftali Bendavid, “Budget Forecasts Bigger 2011 Deficit,” The Wall Street Journal, 2/14/2011)

Even usual allies, such as Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad and Erskine Bowles, Democratic Chairman of the Fiscal Commission, criticized Obama’s budget for its lack of long-term vision:

SEN. KENT CONRAD (D-ND), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee: “Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said the president’s 2012 budget request starts strong but comes up short on fighting the deficit over the long run….

“‘We need a much more robust package of deficit and debt reduction over the medium and long term,’ he said.” (Peter Schroeder, “Conrad: Obama’s Budget Doesn’t Do Enough on Deficit,” The Hill’s On the Money blog, 2/14/2011)

ERSKINE BOWLES, Democratic Chairman of the Fiscal Commission: “Erskine Bowles, the Democratic chairman of the fiscal commission, said the White House budget request goes ‘nowhere near where they will have to go to resolve our fiscal nightmare.’” (Lori Montgomery, “Obama Spending Plan Criticized for Avoiding Deficit Commission’s Major Proposals,” The Washington Post, 2/14/2011)

Non-partisan budget watchdogs criticized Obama for playing politics with the nation’s fiscal crisis, reflecting the widening gap between the president’s rhetoric on deficits and his actions:

ROBERT BIXBY, Director of the Concord Coalition: “The entitlement and tax reform agenda will apparently be deferred yet again,” said Robert Bixby, director of the Concord Coalition, a fiscal watchdog group.  (Mimi Hall and Richard Wolf, “Budget Sets Battle Over Cuts,” USA Today, 2/14/2011)

MAYA MACGUINEAS, President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: “‘It makes you wonder what the point was of having a commission in the first place.’ Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, accused the White House of ‘a political unwillingness to tackle the tough issues’ before a fiscal crisis forces action. (Mimi Hall and Richard Wolf, “Budget Sets Battle Over Cuts,” USA Today, 2/14/2011)

Democrats in Congress went into denial mode and chose to lavish praise on the Obama budget rather than face the widely accepted hard truth that Obama’s budget does not seriously address the budget deficit:

“Democrats praised Obama for taking steps to stabilize the economy and put the nation on a stronger fiscal path. At the same time, they signaled they aren’t on board with all his proposed program cuts.

“The plan ‘keeps in mind that we need to make smart choices that will create more jobs, lift up middle-class families and keep our economy growing,’ said Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee. He called the proposal a ‘tough-love budget’ that ‘doesn’t do violence’ to priorities like education and medical research.

“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said Obama’s plan was a ‘serious attempt’ to address the deficit while Republicans are seeking to ‘slash the programs that keep us safe and make us competitive.’” (Laura Litvan, “Republicans in Congress Dismiss Obama Budget, Seek Deeper Cuts,” Bloomberg, 2/14/2011)