Watch: Obama slams Bush “waste” in new budget
US President Obama unveiled his new budget today, costed at $3.8 trillion, and sent it to Congress for approval.
In introducing the budget he made a speech to the press that slammed Republicans for a decade of waste and “profligacy” that squandered a budget surplus and turned it into a huge budget deficit and financial collapse.
Watch
He said:
The fact is, 10 years ago, we had a budget surplus of more than $200 billion, with projected surpluses stretching out toward the horizon. Yet over the course of the past 10 years, the previous administration and previous Congresses created an expensive new drug program, passed massive tax cuts for the wealthy, and funded two wars without paying for any of it -– all of which was compounded by recession and by rising health care costs. As a result, when I first walked through the door, the deficit stood at $1.3 trillion, with projected deficits of $8 trillion over the next decade.
If we had taken office during ordinary times, we would have started bringing down these deficits immediately. But one year ago, our country was in crisis: We were losing nearly 700,000 jobs each month, the economy was in a free fall, and the financial system was near collapse. Many feared another Great Depression. So we initiated a rescue, and that rescue was not without significant cost; it added to the deficit as well.
One year later, because of the steps we’ve taken, we’re in a very different place. But we can’t simply move beyond this crisis; we have to address the irresponsibility that led to it. And that includes the failure to rein in spending, as well a reliance on borrowing –- from Wall Street to Washington to Main Street –- to fuel our growth.
---------------------------
| Tweet |
Sunny Hundal is editor of LC. Also: on Twitter, at Pickled Politics and Guardian CIF.
· Other posts by Sunny Hundal
Filed under
News
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Reader comments
He is twisting facts like nobody I have ever seen. He is including the full authorized amount of TARP funds in that 1.3 trillion dollar deficit he “inherited,” never mind the fact it was a one-off program, with all but $90 billion of the funds already repaid. The true budget deficit was in the order of $500 billion, and he has added over a trillion dollars to it. Where is that extra trillion dollars going?
My God, the man reminds me of a communist.
Tee hee:
“The fact is, 10 years ago, we had a budget surplus of more than $200 billion, with projected surpluses stretching out toward the horizon.”
Umm, no mention of the way in which tax revenues at the time were hugely boosted by the internet bubble? You know, exactly the way that we now know that our own in 2005/7 were hugely boosted, unsustainably, by the finance and housing bubble?
The projections assumed it would all continue….and we know that what is unsustainable doesn’t continue forever….
Apart from the impression that a regular and credulous viewer of Fox News Channel has fetched up in LibCon, at times like this I would always favour a measured and analytical view.
Fortunately this is available from the HuffPo:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-kwak/budget-sense-and-nonsense_b_445197.html
and I’d suggest a read of this before anyone questions Barack Obama’s political orientation.
Reactions: Twitter, blogs
- Liberal Conspiracy
Watch: Obama slams Bush "waste" in new budget http://bit.ly/a5XHoR
- Liberal Conspiracy
Pres. Obama slams Republican "waste" over last decade while unveiling new budget: http://bit.ly/a5XHoR
- sunny hundal
Pres. Obama slams Republican "waste" over last decade while unveiling new budget: http://bit.ly/a5XHoR
- David Skelton
Liberal Conspiracy » Watch: Obama slams Bush “waste” in new budget http://bit.ly/a5XHoR
- Tweets that mention Liberal Conspiracy » Watch: Obama slams Bush “waste” in new budget -- Topsy.com
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by sunny hundal, Liberal Conspiracy and Liberal Conspiracy, David Skelton. David Skelton said: Liberal Conspiracy » Watch: Obama slams Bush “waste” in new budget http://bit.ly/a5XHoR [...]
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
You can read articles through the front page, via Twitter or RSS feed. You can also get them by email and through our Facebook group.
» High pay – in football and banking – shouldn’t be about morality
» Why Quantitative Easing doesn’t make common sense
» Barclays was also bailed out – Diamond doesn’t deserve a bonus
» Ten myths about private rented housing
» Even on the left, morality has its limits
» The NHS bill could be a Waterloo moment for the govt
» Ken Livingstone and gay rights – it just isn’t an issue
» Abu Qatada deportation: what about our principles?
» New study shows a Robinhood tax would boost growth
» In defence of Sky News’ re-Tweeting ban
» Another reason to continue banker bashing
|
88 Comments 15 Comments 17 Comments 26 Comments 42 Comments 21 Comments 13 Comments 51 Comments 11 Comments 78 Comments |
LATEST COMMENTS » Sally posted on Media finally expose problems over the NHS Bill » Bob B posted on Media finally expose problems over the NHS Bill » NHS London risk register exposes Tory threat to healthcare « Mike Sivier posted on The NHS London Risk Register that exposes Lansley » Cherub posted on Dorries says Osborne wanted Lansley "shot" » John Dyer posted on Media finally expose problems over the NHS Bill » liane gomersall posted on Media finally expose problems over the NHS Bill » liane gomersall posted on The NHS London Risk Register that exposes Lansley » Carrie JS posted on Media finally expose problems over the NHS Bill » Carrie JS posted on Media finally expose problems over the NHS Bill » liane gomersall posted on Dorries says Osborne wanted Lansley "shot" » Michael Connor Hawk posted on Media finally expose problems over the NHS Bill » Michael Connor Hawk posted on Media finally expose problems over the NHS Bill » Claire posted on Media finally expose problems over the NHS Bill » Claire posted on Media finally expose problems over the NHS Bill » Frances_coppola posted on Why Quantitative Easing doesn't make common sense |








