Raring to beat back federal behemoth

NY Post ^ | January 3, 2011 | Rich Lowry

[Scanian]

President Obama's first two years in office were for the ages: Rarely has so much been spent so wantonly with so little discernible public benefit.

Nondefense discretionary spending accounted for $434 billion of the federal budget in 2008, without widespread deprivation or riots in the streets. This was the year that then-candidate Obama promised to scour the budget line by line for waste and said in one presidential debate that his program would be a net spending cut.

In 2010, such spending was $537 billion of the budget, a 24 percent increase. Throw in the stimulus and its $259 billion of discretionary spending -- a category that excludes entitlements -- and the run-up is much higher. Most departments saw double-digit increases, and some saw triple-digit increases. For the federal government, 2008-2010 were the fat years.

Obama's personal style -- emotionally buttoned up and physically fit -- is utterly at odds with his sloppy governance. Congress passed bills without knowing what was in them, and took the recession as warrant to spend with no serious regard to merit or consequences. The resulting bursting-at-the-seams federal behemoth is about to have its turn on "The Biggest Loser."

The election of 2010 wasn't about the two parties getting along, although all things being equal many people would prefer that they did; it wasn't about defeating incumbents, although many of them lost; it was about a simple three-word slogan that captured the essence of the Republican program: "Stop the Spending."

[goldstategop]

Uh Rick... you were the cheerleader for TARP and a government bailout for the big banks. What credibility do you have lecturing the Democrats about their bailout? Go look in the mirror!