Obama budget pitch: 'Can't just cut our way into growth'

MSNBC ^ | 2/13/12 | Staff w/ agencies

[Nachum]

President Barack Obama unveiled his budget proposal at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Va., Monday morning, saying, “The main idea in the budget in this: At a time when our economy is growing and creating jobs at a faster clip, we’ve got to do everything in our power to keep this recovery on track." He said his proposals would “invest in the things that will help grow our economy right now. We can’t cut back on those things that are important for us to grow. We can’t just cut our way into growth. We can cut back on the

[silverleaf]

When your pool is looking a little low on water, a liberal would go scoop some water out of the deep end and pour it into the shallow end....

[rlmorel]

You can’t walk out of quicksand by walking towards the deepest parts.

[rlmorel]

Heh, great allusion MrB!

[Let_It_Be_So]

>

 

From the propaganda piece, Obama says: "We can cut back on the things that we don’t need, ..."

 

By definition, things we don't need are things we shouldn't be spending money on.  So, don't "cut back", cut OUT of the budget entirely.

 

Our budget (if we ever get back to the constitutionally mandated congressional responsibility) should be divided into three groups:

 

1. Needs-must fall within constitutionally mandated functions.  Further, one of the needs will always be reducing the national debt before declaring any money will be made available to category #2. 

 

2. Wants-Anything that is not in category #1, and if it to be funded at all, it is funded via block grants to States;

 

3. Desires-Always funded at $0.  Leave fulfillment of desires to the individual citizens and/or private sector and leave government out of it altogether.

 

Then, we allocate available revenues to #1 first and if there is any money left over, consider #2.  Category #3 is for Greece and other EU countries, so it will always be $0 here.  Since we will probably never have any money left over, category #2 will remain at $0 as well until such time as the national debt is erased.

 

This would require a national discussion to make sure we don't allow the Left to redefine our "wants" as "needs".

 

Wishful thinking and a bit simplistic, I know.  But it's sometimes fun to think of what "could be".

[Pearls Before Swine]

Let me complete the quote:

“Can’t just spend our way to growth. We have to borrow our way to get there!”

[Bluestocking]

If cutting spending is bad for economies, as Obama claims, why did global stock markets rise almost universally today and by significant percentages in response to the news that Greece had finally adopted an austerity budget?

And if raising taxes is good for economies, as Obama also claims, why didn’t the European nations paying billions to Greece in bail-out money demand that Greece raise its taxes to cover its debts?

Why is Barack Obama the only person in the world who still thinks taxing and spending is the road to prosperity when it’s proven instead to be the road to doom?

[skr]

Indeed! It’s called pruning!

[BitWielder1]

I he believes we can spend ourselves into solvency (which didn't work) why can't he believe that.
Nothing wrong with culling unproductive and counter-productive federal programs.
They have no problems culling babies, why not departments?

[LibLieSlayer]

Because obama is a true believer in marxism and the revolution.

LLS

[LibLieSlayer]

The truth is that there is no recovery... obama needs the lie to be elected and the media will support that lie in a effort to reelect him. If he is defeated, the press will blame the republican President and the republican Congress and Senate and if he wins... they will blame Bush and the Republicans and Ronald Reagan and absolve obama of all guilt. The press will NEVER deviate from the play list.

LLS

[MrB]

"Keynesian Economics" is nothing more than the Broken Windows Fallacy on a national scale.

[rlmorel]

Exactly! Which is why I enjoyed your post so much.

[imjimbo]

since his ideology won’t allow him to cut his way to prosperity, we NEED to install SOMEONE else that WILL.