When Will the Dems' Borrowing End? Government Now Borrows 50 Cents for Every Dollar Spent
As Budget Deficit Soars to New Record, New Analysis Details a Sea of Misplaced "Stimulus" Dollars
Washington,
May 11, 2009 -
As last Friday’s monthly employment report showed, job losses are showing no signs of reversing anytime soon – a point the President’s chief economic advisor, Dr. Christina Romer, acknowledged over the weekend. And while our job market is hemorrhaging, so too are the federal government’s books, with the Associated Press reporting this morning that the budget deficit this year will climb to $1.8 trillion – nearly four times the record set just last year. So with the budget deficit ballooning to previously unthinkable levels, why is it that the bulk of the Democrats’ “stimulus” funds are headed to areas with the lowest unemployment at the expense of those with the highest? The Associated Press underscores this point in a new “Stimulus Watch” analysis:
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“Counties suffering the most from job losses stand to receive the least help from President Barack Obama’s plan to spend billions of stimulus dollars on roads and bridges, an Associated Press analysis has found.”
“Altogether, the government is set to spend 50 percent more per person in areas with the lowest unemployment than it will in communities with the highest.”
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News of the misplaced stimulus spending is even more troubling in light of the White House’s announcement this morning that this year’s budget deficit is actually $89 billion worse than predicted just three months ago. Perhaps the most startling aspect of the White House’s budget admission: the government is borrowing 50 cents for every dollar it spends this year. From whom are we borrowing that money? Global competitors in China and the Middle East, among others. And who gets stuck with the bill? Our children and grandchildren, who already are buried under a mountain of debt. No wonder newspapers across the country are taking aim at Washington’s arrogant, irresponsible spending habits in editorials published over the last couple of days:
- “When it comes to federal spending, there's a pattern emerging with President Obama, and it's not a flattering one. The president says all the right things about the importance of getting the deficit under control, but his actions don't come close to matching his rhetoric.” – “Obama, Congress Go AWOL On Fiscal Responsibility,” USA Today, May 11, 2009
- “The White House has tried to produce as much hoopla as possible around a proposed $17 billion in savings. But while the savings are nice as far they go, they are part of a budget that will add trillions to the national debt. The budget relies on so much borrowing that it will cost taxpayers more than $4 trillion just to cover interest payments for the next 10 years – more than twice what the federal government will spend on education, energy, homeland security and veterans combined.” – “The President's Budget; Leaving the Hard Choices for the Next One,” Washington Post, May 10, 2009
- “President Barack Obama asked Congress Thursday to eliminate or trim 121 federal programs for a ‘savings’ of $17 billion in the coming budget year – while crossing his fingers behind his back and failing to mention that he actually plans to shift that money into programs he likes better.” – “The Audacity of Trimming,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, May 10, 2009
- “The $17 billion in cuts represents just 5.5 percent of the increase in what Congress authorized over what Mr. Bush planned. It is only about one-half of 1 percent of the total $3.4 trillion budget. The cut is swamped by the $787 billion increase in spending in the stimulus package and the $31 billion (8 percent) increase that Mr. Obama signed for this year’s current discretionary budget. Despite tax increases, the Congressional Budget Office expects Mr. Obama's policies to balloon the nation's debt over the next 10 years from nearly $6 trillion to $15 trillion. A mere $17 billion isn't even a rounding error for these spending increases.” – “Budget Cut Baloney,” The Washington Times, May 10, 2009
House Republicans know that Washington needs to stop piling more and more debt onto future generations, and that’s why they introduced a better budget solution – a plan that would curb spending, create jobs by cutting taxes, and control the debt. Unfortunately, the Democrats in charge of Congress took a go-it-alone approach by rejecting the GOP alternative and barreling ahead with their own budget plans that spend, tax, and borrow too much. When will Washington finally get it? When will the reckless borrowing end?
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