Obama’s Leadership Deficit Meets the Budget Deficit
When Will Democrats’ Actions Meet Their Rhetoric on Cutting Spending and Ending Uncertainty for Job Creators?
Appearing Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley proclaimed “no one’s taken more steps” than Obama to “bring the deficit down”:
DALEY: “No, of course it can’t wait. Our–and that’s why he’s taken all the steps he has. I mean, this is a president who put a budget out–forward that has frozen spending, is going to cut the deficit over $1 trillion over the next 20 years. So, so he’s been very cognizant of the fact that we’ve got our–got to get our fiscal house in order. No one’s taken more steps, nobody’s put an actual plan out, a budget plan just for ’11 and for ’12, that begins to bring the deficit down…” (Lynn Sweet, “Bill Daley on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’,” The Chicago Sun-Times, 3/6/2011)
Daley’s comments expose an ever-widening gulf between Obama’s lofty rhetoric and the reality of his inaction on deficit reduction. Far from assuming leadership, Obama delegated negotiations over the FY 2011 budget to Vice President Biden. But shortly after holding a summit of Congressional leaders, however, Biden hopped on a plane to Europe with less than two weeks to go before a government shutdown:
“Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. walked out of Thursday’s high-stakes negotiations to stop a government shutdown and said the conversations will continue — but he won’t actually be part of them since he leaves this weekend for major negotiations with European leaders.
“President Obama on Wednesday tapped Mr. Biden, his ‘sheriff’ on the stimulus, to lead negotiations with Congress, though Mr. Biden already had a prearranged trip scheduled to visit Finland, Russia and Moldova next week.”(Stephen Dinan, “Biden Leaving in Middle of Budget Talks,” The Washington Times, 3/4/2011)
As it stands, the White House’s budget negotiations are therefore, from the top down, completely leaderless:
QUESTION: “Who on the staff is the point person for these talks?”
JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: “I’m not going to specify that. Simply to say that a variety of staff members, senior staff members, have been in conversations with folks on the Hill about this.” (White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, Remarks At Press Briefing, Washington, D.C., 3/7/11)
Even at their summit, all Biden and top Senate Democrats could come up with was an embarrassingly unserious proposal for $6.5 billion in spending cuts, which news reports indicated would keep spending “flat” and fall “far short” of the $61 billion in cuts offered by House Republicans:
REUTERS: “Although Democrats are pitching the $44.8 billion as a spending cut,it is essentially keeping spending flat.” (Richard Cowan and Thomas Ferraro, “Republicans and Biden Meet Amid Budget Pressure,” Reuters, 3/4/2011)
THE NEW YORK TIMES: “White House and Congressional Democrats on Thursday offered to trim an additional $6.5 billion from current spending, a figure far short of the Republican goal of cutting agency budgets by $61 billion.” (Carl Hulse and Jackie Calmes, “Democrats Open Talks by Offering $6.5 Billion More in Cuts,” The New York Times, 3/3/2011)
This latest standstill comes after the White House and Senate Democrats spent days engaged in a high-stakes blame game over failure to lead on spending cuts.
Senate Democrats had kicked off the accusations by expressing their “open irritation” with the White House for Obama’s “low-profile,” urging the White House to take leadership:
“Democratic senators are frustrated with the low-profile President Barack Obama has kept during the rancorous spending debate dominating Capitol Hill, urging him Tuesday to take an assertive role or risk strengthening the Republicans’ hand in the next round of negotiations.
“At a closed-door session on the budget, nine Democratic senators spent parts of the 30-minute meeting whacking the White House for not being more engaged, according to people who were present.
“The open irritation with the White House comes just as Reid announced support for the Republican-led bill which passed in the House Tuesday and funds the government for another two weeks, while slashing $4 billion.” (Manu Raju, “Democrats: Obama Must Lead on Budget,”Politico, 3/1/2011)
“‘We need somebody from the White House directing this,’ Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, told reporters.” (Stephen Dinan, “With Government Shutdown Averted, Parties Debate Next Move,” The Washington Times, 3/2/2011)
The White House pushed back, suggesting instead that it was up to Senate Democrats to assume responsibility for leading deficit negotiations:
NBC’s CHUCK TODD: “There is some disappointment with some folks on this side of Pennsylvania Avenue that the Senate Democrats haven’t been more of a — haven’t been more of a force in these conversations and that, really, the decision to get the White House involved was more to almost drag the Senate Democrats to the table more immediately and start working more directly with Boehner and McConnell on this.” (Remarks from Chuck Todd, MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, 3/3/2011)
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, on the other hand, simply refused to offer any details whatsoever on what spending cuts she would support:
“‘Of course,’ Pelosi told reporters when asked whether she believed Democrats would be able to compromise with Republicans on a longer-term plan that cuts spending to below current levels. ‘The fact is that Democrats stand ready to meet the Republicans halfway on this,’ she said. ‘That would be fair.’
“Complicating matters is the fact that Pelosi’s ‘halfway’ point appears to refer to the measure currently funding the government, which stands at $41 billion below President Obama’s fiscal year 2011 request. That budget was never enacted.” (Felicia Somnez, “House Democrats Mum on Spending Cuts; Republicans Say More Stopgaps Possible,” The Washington Post’s 2chambers Blog, 3/3/2011)
“When pressed further for a concrete number, Pelosi responded, ‘I’m not going to say that number, because I’m not approximating or conceiving or stipulating to any number.'” (Luke Russert, “Pelosi Uncommitted on Cuts,” NBC’s First Read, 3/3/2011)
In reality, Democrats have not shown leadership on the deficit in more than a year, refusing to pass a budget even in 2010. It was ultimately Republicans who developed and led with a plan to avoid a government shutdown while accomplishing real spending cuts. When will Democrats close the chasm between their rhetoric and their irresponsibility on basic budgeting and deficit reduction?
“House Democrats will not pass a budget blueprint in 2010, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) will confirm in a speech on Tuesday…
“The House has never failed to pass an annual budget resolution since the current budget rules were put into place in 1974.” (Jared Allen, “Dems won’t pass budget in 2010,” The Hill, 6/21/2010)
ZERO HOUSE DEMS VOTED FOR SPENDING CUTS THAT WOULD LAST FOR THE ENTIRE REMAINDER OF FY 2011: Final Vote: 235-189 (Roll Call Vote 147, 2/19/2011)
PELOSI, 84 OTHER DEMS VOTE AGAINST STOPGAP MEASURE: Final Roll Call: 335-91 (Roll Call Vote 154, Clerk of U.S. House)