Free Republic

There's one corner of the country where Democrats are growing increasingly disenchanted with President Obama, and it's right in his front yard. In the District of Columbia, which gave 93 percent of its votes to Obama last November, dismay is turning to anger in some Democratic leaders, who have totted up a list of instances they see as disses of their city. The most egregious to them is the White House's silence about a bill that would have given city residents a voting representative in Congress, despite Obama's campaign promise that he would enthusiastically back it. They're also ticked that...

Even as Ayatollah Khamenei blasted the United States for fomenting unrest in a defiant Friday prayer address in Tehran, President Obama has kept silent, focusing instead on domestic policy. Obama spent more time with TV personality Stephen Colbert, taping a segment for a comedy show, than he did addressing the turmoil in Iran this week. Newsmax has learned that the Obama administration also has zeroed out funding for pro-democracy programs inside Iran from the State Department budget for fiscal 2010, just as protests in Iran are ramping up. Funding for pro-democracy programs began in 2004, when Congress earmarked $1.5 million...

Whose side is he on? Obama Erases Pro-Democracy Money for Iran By: Kenneth R. Timmerman Newsmax Friday, June 19, 2009 Newsmax has learned that the Obama administration also has zeroed out funding for pro-democracy programs inside Iran from the State Department budget for fiscal 2010, just as protests in Iran are ramping up. Funding for pro-democracy programs began in 2004, when Congress earmarked $1.5 million of the State Department budget for “educational, humanitarian, and non-governmental organizations and individuals inside Iran to support the advancement of democracy and human rights in Iran.” The funding ramped up dramatically two years later, when...

"The President's 2010 Budget seeks to usher in a new era of responsibility. ..." That's how a White House budget document released Thursday characterizes $17 billion in budget trimming. Luckily for President Obama, the media focused on these small cuts instead of his more than $300 billion in spending increases. In 2008, the George W. Bush administration projected that the 2010 federal budget would hit $3.09 trillion. Mr. Obama requested $3.55 trillion and Congress cut that down to $3.4 trillion. This $3.4 trillion is a $300 billion increase over what Mr. Bush projected for the year. The $17 billion in...

President Obama has targeted the Department of Defense to absorb more than 80 percent of the cuts he has proposed in next year's budget for discretionary programs. In its "Terminations, Reductions and Savings" booklet, which the administration released Thursday, the White House highlighted the results of the president's line-by-line scrubbing of the federal budget. The administration identified $11.5 billion in discretionary program terminations and reductions for next year. The Defense Department will take a $9.4 billion hit, constituting 82 percent of the cuts. Defense accounts for 49 percent of spending on discretionary programs, which Congress must fund each year. The...

In a fit of hypocrisy sure to outrage, just as Attorney General Eric Holder makes ready to attend a ceremony to honor fallen police officers, the Obama administration is proposing to cut almost in half a program that provides benefits to the future families left behind. So much for the more loving, more caring president “we’ve been waiting for.” So, wouldn’t you think the Old Media would be braying at the hypocrisy here? Wouldn’t you rather think that the Old Media would be up in arms about this one? Isn’t this typically the type of story that would get them...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's budget blueprint cancels plans to extend the border fence along the U.S.-Mexico border beyond the 670 miles already completed or planned. The move marks a significant shift from the much-heralded approach to border security advocated by President George W. Bush. The Obama administration's turnabout left limited funds for roads, lights and the so-called tactical infrastructure – but left no money to extend the pedestrian fencing and vehicle barriers erected along roughly one-third of the nation's 1,947 mile border with Mexico. As a Democratic senator representing Illinois, Obama joined 79 other senators in 2006 to support...

The White House wants to get out of the business of telling youngsters "Just Say No to Sex." President Obama is putting his own ideological stamp on federal spending in his proposed 2010 budget by cutting cash for abstinence-only sex ed programs. He's taken a scalpel to a pair of $100 million George W. Bush-era programs that exclusively preached abstinence. Obama is replacing them with $110 million for comprehensive teen pregnancy prevention. "It's about time that evidence-based management - and sanity - return to family planning programs," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan). Dumping the say-no-to-sex programs were a tiny fraction...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday will suggest wringing $17 billion in savings from the fiscal 2010 budget as he seeks to allay worries about soaring deficits and build support for a hefty domestic agenda. [snip] Amid spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and bailouts for the banking and auto industries, the White House has forecast that the budget deficit will hit $1.75 trillion in the current 2009 fiscal year. The administration expects the deficit to drop to a still-huge $1.17 trillion in 2010. [snip] Of the spending cuts Obama will spell out on Thursday, about...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's budget suggests $17 billion in spending cuts for fiscal year 2010, but Congress already has rejected some of those proposals and the savings do little to dent a projected $1.17 trillion deficit. Obama on Thursday released details of the spending cuts, most of which were announced during or after the initial roll-out of his $3.5 trillion budget in February. Fiscal year 2010 begins on October 1. Here is a look at what some of the cuts mean for deficit reduction and the chances they have of getting approval from lawmakers:

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama sent Congress his first budget Thursday boasting of cutting or killing 121 federal programs in a belt-tightening he likened to that of most Americans in difficult times. But the trims amount to a tiny fraction of the new spending he wants, and some have already been nixed by allies on Capitol Hill. Obama said his cuts would amount to $17 billion — in a budget totaling well over $3 trillion for the fiscal year that begins in October. He's estimating the government's red ink will still be about $1.2 trillion, down only slightly from...

Obama to cut slain officers program almost in half May 7, 2009 - 5:15pm By DEVLIN BARRETT Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration wants to cut almost in half a benefits program for the families of slain police and safety officers. The president's proposed budget calls for cutting the Public Safety Officers' Death Benefits Program from $110 million to $60 million. Justice Department budget documents say the reduction is being made because "claims are anticipated to decrease" because the number of officers killed in the line of duty has been decreasing. The proposal is being made just...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration wants to cut almost in half a benefits program for the families of slain police and safety officers. The president's proposed budget calls for cutting the Public Safety Officers' Death Benefits Program from $110 million to $60 million. Justice Department budget documents say the reduction is being made because "claims are anticipated to decrease" because the number of officers killed in the line of duty has been decreasing.

President Obama on Thursday will announce fewer budget cuts and for a lesser dollar amount than President George W. Bush did in his final budget - and is counting on being able to eliminate some programs that his predecessor repeatedly tried, but failed, to slash

President Barack Obama plans to unveil today a fiscal 2010 budget full of details on his plans to save as much as $17 billion by cutting — and in some cases ending — 121 government programs. The goal, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said, is "identifying and ending programs that are unneeded and don't work." About half the savings would come from nondefense programs, and the rest from de-fense. Major cuts would include ending the Even Start program, which promotes family literacy, as well as a mine cleanup effort and the Education Department's Paris attache. The full list will...

WASHINGTON -- A senior White House official says the president is recommending eliminating or cutting 121 programs to produce $17 billion worth of budget savings. Some of the cuts in President Obama's budget are sure to rankle lawmakers, such as the elimination of a program that gives money to states to help defray the cost of incarcerating illegal immigrants who commit crimes. A House Democratic official says about half the savings would come from the Pentagon budget.

Stung by criticism that his spending program will bankrupt the country, President Barack Obama promised to “put the screws to the bureaucracy” by asking his cabinet heads to “try to find, if you can, either a way to cut $100 million from the operating budget or to plausibly justify why it is impossible.” Despite skepticism in many circles, the President said he was optimistic “we can get this done, probably.” One idea gaining favor is to send out Social Security checks “postage due.” “It would save the government only 42 cents per mailing,” Obama admitted, “But there are millions of...

Zero proposes a 3.6 trillion dollar budget, and hopes to pass another 700+ billion dollar 'stimulus' - and asks for a 100 million dollar spending 'trim'...... WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama told agency heads to trim spending by $100 million, a largely symbolic effort that foreshadows bigger budget fights down the road. Responding to Republican lawmakers -- and some ordinary voters -- who complained that his policy proposals are too costly, Mr. Obama told cabinet chiefs to find the savings in current operations and report back within 90 days. The president acknowledged at his first cabinet meeting that the new...

Painfully stupid, but what else can he say? So fantastically huge is The One’s budget and so staggering the deficits we’re facing that it’s hard to even imagine a budget cut large enough to qualify as impressive. I laughed in the marijuana post at the idea of legalization bringing in an extra $20 billion a year in revenue given the pricetag on TARP, but $20 billion’s fully 200 times more than Obama’s $100 million trim. Democratic shill Jennifer Loven asks a good question of Gibbs: Why even announce something this paltry? Why not wait until they’ve put together a package...

ABC's Jake Tapper questioned Gibbs why the Obama administration was making a large deal over saving $100 million in his proposed budget when the administration pooh-poohed $8 billion in an appropriations bill several weeks ago. (see video by following link)