President Obama is putting the finishing touches on an ambitious first budget that seeks to cut the federal deficit in half over the next four years, primarily by raising taxes on businesses and the wealthy and by slashing spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, administration officials said.
In addition to tackling a deficit swollen by the $787 billion stimulus package and other efforts to ease the nation's economic crisis, the budget blueprint will press aggressively for progress on the domestic agenda Obama outlined during the presidential campaign. This would include key changes to environmental policies and a major expansion of health coverage that he hopes to enact later this year.
Even before Congress approved the stimulus package this month, congressional budget analysts forecast that this year's deficit would approach $1.2 trillion -- 8.3 percent of the overall economy, the highest since World War II. With the stimulus and other expenses, some analysts say, the annual gap between federal spending and income could reach $2 trillion when the fiscal year ends in September.
Obama proposes to dramatically reduce those numbers, said White House budget director Peter Orszag: "We will cut the deficit in half by the end of the president's first term." The plan would keep the deficit hovering near $1 trillion in 2010 and 2011, but shows it dropping to $533 billion by 2013, he said -- still high but a more manageable 3 percent of the economy.
To get there, Obama proposes to cut spending and raise taxes. The savings would come primarily from "winding down the war" in Iraq, a senior administration official said. The budget assumes continued spending on "overseas military contingency operations" throughout Obama's presidency, the official said, but that number is lower than the nearly $190 billion budgeted for Iraq and Afghanistan last year.
Just the other day somebody brought up the deficit and asked when I thought "my President" was going to take on that fight? I am sorry to admit that I made excuses saying that with so much damage left in the wake of the Bush administration that the deficit may have to wait until Obama's second term.
Apparently I underestimated our new President a little. Obama looks like he has a very clear idea of what he needs to do, and how he needs to do it. That is what I get for second guessing the guy.
Hey maybe he really is Superman!
Great pic, Gryphen! IMO when Republicans ask questions about "your" President, they aren't interested in the answers, they're just being obnoxious. Imagine the rant you would get if the shoe were on the other foot!
ReplyDeleteNaturally Democratic presidents are hard workers, whereas, right wing presidents are lazy and could care less that they are catapulting our nation into a recession/Depression. Hell, they're lazy about democracy too where they would much rather steal an election (or at least try to!) than run on their own morals & values, because they know if they ran on their values & morals, they would lose!
ReplyDeleteHard workers? What "JOB" has Big"O" ever had to WORK at. I'm in concrete construction, it's a REAL job, and I have to really WORK HARD, unlike "community organizing". What a joke he is, you all bought the hype hook,line,sinker,pole and boat. When the "O" trys to take away free speech (the fairnes doctron) or The Second Amendment, it's Civil War time baby! Think about THAT! Is that what YOU want?
ReplyDeleteSarah Palin has been hard at work stealing from Alaskans! Barack Obama was a community organizer which means he had to actually go out into the public. Sarah? BEAUTY PAGEANTS!
ReplyDeleteYou're a concrete worker? Let me guess....you don't lift anything but have big machines do the work instead?
Thank you, Gryphen, for this fantastic picture! I love President Obama.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad that there are so many disenfranchised voters on the "right" like the poster at 5:48 who don't understand how the GOP has abandoned them, as well as their economic and social wellbeing. They are sore losers, and (dare I say it) unpatriotic to bash our newly-elected president, who by the way, won the majority of votes in our democracy.
You'd think the "right" could give the guy a year at least to try to clean up the 8 years of Bush disaster. President Obama has barely been in office a month! But we know math isn't a strong suit for the GOP....
Anonn@5:48
ReplyDeleteObviously you had to get a "physical" job b/c by your spelling its plain to see you have no education "Fairness Doctrine" that is how it is spelled.
And since its obvious you only watch/listen to Faux news that explains you complete and totally idiocy!
Republican Taliban! Losers! YOUR IDIOT GOP IS TRYING TO DESTROY WHAT IS LEFT AFTER 8 YEARS OF FAILED POLICES!!!
YOU RIGHTWINGNUTS MAKE ME SICK, LOSER-ASSHAT'S!!!
I voted for Obama but this bothers me a lot:
ReplyDeletehttp://rawstory.com/news/2008/Obama_continues_Bush_policy_at_Afghan_0221.html
In a stunning departure from his rhetoric on Guantánamo Bay prison, President Barack Obama signaled Friday he will continue Bush Administration policy with regard to detainees held at a US airbase in Afghanistan, saying they have no right to challenge their detentions in US courts -- and denying them legal status altogether.
A little too sure of O'bama's second term are you? Get a life
ReplyDeleteSuperman!
ReplyDeletedude that is cool
go to soul arena.com
and private message dragony
I think most of you need a crash course in American Constitutional Law (1) A thorough instruction in Civil Rights (2) and a good dose of good ol' fashioned History. For all you leftists out there, guess what generally happens in the decline to socialism after the government takes over private business as Obama has done stepping completely out of the boundaries set for him by the Constitution - yea - you know - that dusty document that our Founders died for in the Revolution that began this country - yea! the one that is the very foundational cornerstone of our rights as citizens -- the second step to establishing a socialist state after taking over private business is to begin policing civil liberties beginning with freedom of speech and followed by freedom of assembly and then from there - it's police-state hell!
ReplyDeleteDo any of you have any frickin idea what is going on? "Obama wants to cut the budget!" - Yea, a whole 17 billion - not bad, by 'not bad' I mean "completely worthless." 3.4 TRILLION dollars people - WAKE UP AND DO THE BASIC MATH! Your GRANDCHILDREN are still going to be paying on this debt (through taxes, importation fees and inflated prices of goods) when you are long dead and buried! Have any of you heard of a 'debt to credit ratio' - guess what - ours (as a Nation) is coming close to that of a third world country with the introduction of Obama's new budget. THIS COUNTRY IS DYING PEOPLE - AND OBAMA IS TWISTING THE KNIFE - WAKE THE EFF UP! The Fairness Doctrine is designed for one reason and one reason only - to put a gag in the mouth of the 'counteracting ambition' or the 'multiplicity of interests' (read Madison if you don't know what that means). Radio stations will now be afraid to broadcast anything but 'the official party line' for fear of not being able to renew their license two years later - so the politicians in office will now have control over the airwaves - AND LADY LIBERTY SCREAMED AS SHE WAS RAPED TO DEATH.
You know what, before you so eagerly offer up MY freedoms on a platter - think of this: Eastern Europe under socialism, Some filthy stranger whom reeks of booze shows up on your doorstep one night unannounced. You would normally turn him away for fear of your children - and you proceed to do so, until he shows you his official government signed 'equality letter' stating that because you have X number of square feet in your house (that you worked your ass off to pay for) you have to allow another person to live there - or three more or four more, however many it takes so everyone has their 32 sq feet of living space. THAT is historic FACT people - THAT is socialism and THAT is exactly where this will go if it isn't stopped. And THAT is a burden your grandchildren will bear as well - long after you are dead. Get wise, people. The Constitution was written for the express purpose of protecting citizens from evils such as this...there is not 'administrative branch' of the federal government enumerated anywhere in it. I hope you don't like getting your kids things for their birthdays - because under socialism - YOU CAN'T. Why do you think four states already have enacted 'separatist-like" legislation? It is not something ANY state does lightly. You should all start thinking about more than your party-line...about more than your stupid desire to have no accountability whatsoever for yourselves -- let the government take care of everything right? That's what they are there for - Right? WRONG! The government does not exist to fix your mistakes - or mine. It exists for the sole purpose of ensuring that we can fix our own and that no one is going to bomb us while they have the chance. At this rate, I give America 20 years - MAX - before this Union 'shall have perished from the face earth.' (Lincoln, by the way).