Posted by 
Facing the brewing outrage about out of control spending, President Obama is doing what he usually does when he finds himself in trouble: He blames George Bush. He did this again in his State of the Union speech in which he repeatedly hinted that it is his predecessor who is responsible for the country’s fiscal plight. As to his own role, there was not much he could do, since he took office with “a government deeply in debt.” Our current deficits are thus largely Bush’s doing: “The problem is that’s what we did for eight years. That’s what helped us into this crisis. It’s what helped lead to these deficits.”
But let’s look at some facts. When Obama took office on January 20, 2009 the national debt was $10.6 trillion. By the time he delivered his State of the Union remarks last Wednesday, it stood at $12.3 trillion. As Ken Timmerman observes, this spectacular increase represents “the biggest expansion of government spending in U.S. history.”
To be fair, the expansion is partially attributable to Bush. This is largely due to the $700 billion TARP authorization which was passed toward the end of Bush’s presidency, and part of which was spent during Obama’s term. But we must not forget that then-Senator Obama supported and voted for the measure. To now blame his predecessor for the cost of the policy he himself helped to implement is duplicitous at best.
There is every reason to believe that had Obama been in charge when the crisis erupted the national debt would have been even higher today. If anything, Obama thought the government was not spending enough. He sought to remedy this shortly after he took office with the $786 stimulus package. This was the largest spending measure in American history. The amount authorized in that single bill was more than one and a half amount the largest ever yearly deficit posted under Bush in 2008.
This is not to excuse Bush’s spendthrift ways, but only to show the extent of Obama’s disingenuousness. But apart from the cynicism of it, there is an even more fundamental question that needs be asked. Even if we accept the claim that our present over-spending is somehow Bush’s fault, why has the president done nothing to address this problem?
During the campaign Obama cast himself as someone who would boldly tackle the great problems that afflict this country. Why, then, has he not tried to introduce some sanity into federal finances and budgeting? A year should given him plenty of time to at least make a start in the right direction. And yet the president has done anything to stop the spending craze. Quite to the contrary, he has inflamed it further by ratcheting up spending to unprecedented levels. And now when a shell-shocked nation recoils at his excesses, he tries to blame another. This is not how great leaders act.
It is truly ironic that even as he tries to make the case against Bush, the president unwittingly condemns himself. For if Bush was an ignominious spender, then Obama must be triply so. The highest deficit posted under Bush was $457 billion in 2008. In a budget document released on Monday, the White House estimates that the deficit for fiscal 2010 – the first fiscal year in which Obama is charge for the full duration – will reach $1.6 trillion. In light of these figures, for Obama to charge his predecessor with fiscal profligacy is absurd. His behavior brings to mind the proverbial man who keeps pointing out a speck in his neighbor’s eye while failing to notice a plank in his own. This is by no means to suggest that Bush’s $457 billion deficit is a speck, but only that the president’s fiscal indignation is badly misplaced.
Even as he keeps blaming his predecessor, President Obama is creating a disastrous fiscal legacy for his successor. In a little publicized document released by the Office of Management and Budget in August of last year, the administration projected a rapid growth in spending during the rest of Obama’s term. So much so that the national debt will exceed the critical level of 100 percent GDP in fiscal 2011. This will be the highest level since 1945 and the highest ever in peace time.
When the next president assumes office, he will inherit financial disorder of catastrophic proportions. He will be handed a bankrupt government and an un-repayable national debt swollen by this president’s spending binge. But do not hold your breath waiting for President Obama to accept responsibility. After all, it’s all Bush’s fault.
Another FPM liar here to distort reality. The President said it so clearly that even you morons should have understood. The budget for 2009 would have been 1.3 trillion no matter what. Bush used financial trickery to keep the war "off the books" but rest assured, we "paid" for it.
With the economy collapsing and thus REVENUE DOWN there was the stimulus package. We are recovering money from the banks who were bailed out. As the economy recovers, revenue will go up. When Bush's tax cuts to the rich expire, revenue will go up. The struggle right now is he can't directly do anything to make the banks lend more money or start taking little risks. The 30 billions dollar proposal (taken from money recovered from banks) to help give loans to small businesses would be a good start.
"This is not to excuse Bush’s spendthrift ways, but only to show the extent of Obama’s disingenuousness"
Obama's disinenuous? Look who you write for Vasko…FPM is a house of disingenuousness….and guys that get paid to write ridiculous articles like this. No mention of Bush's war spending? A slight oversight Vasko?
Also…you know what economists say about spending during recession. So your entire argument is disingenuous…you leave out facts and then make up the rest…anything to smear Obama. Nice job. Maybe FPM will give you some extra fishheads for this one.
Yes, Bush's budget deficit was 'higher' ONLY because the loan (TARP) should be included in the whole number at least until it's been repaid – since TARP has been repaid (mostly – all but around 200B) the 'real' deficit Obama inherited is around 800B. This means that in a only a few months, Obama as doubled the budget deficit to 1.6T
What a guy!
This bubb4 guy is a fool's fool. Why is it when the Democrats the government's business so poorly that we the tax payer are forced to pay for it on both ends? Could it possibly be that they already have way too much money to spend in the first place? Shouldnt we view government as a corporation and we are all the shareholders ? Would you buy more stock of a company that was so inept and mismanaged? Why shouldnt government be forced to downsize and lay off employees and tighten its fiscal belt just like everyone else?
Obama has raised the number of civil servants by 15% to 2.5 million, the largest in history.
So Bubba What do economists exactly say
Well Bubba4, you seem to forget that the banks have paid back the money that they borrowed. As for Bush's tax cuts-they were for everyone not just the rich-oh yeah, just love that earned income tax credit (i.e. welfare).
Correct. $500+ billion was paid back yet, because it wasn't returned to the Treasury to offset the debt in accordance with the law that authorized TARP, Obama is not only treating it as part of Bush's deficit but as a continuing expense which it never was intended ot be. The bottom line is that Obama is outright lying when he overstates Bush's budget and resulting deficit.
As no great admirer of G. W. Bush, when one looks at who he ran against how could you not vote for him?
A reminder that the economic demise took place in 2007. Who controlled Congress the last two years of the Bush Administration.? Congress must approve all budgets which is why we need Congressional Term Limits. It is remarkable the the Republican in Congress and the useless RNC don't holler this from the roof tops.
Yeah sure…Bush was a great President and he didn't turn surplus into 3 trillion of new debt and an almost complete economic collapse….
If you want to think that Bush was a misunderstood and brilliant President that "history" will look kindly on…then whatever.
Read this one. It is really good. And this gentleman says it just like it is.
This venerable and much honored WW II vet is well known in Hawaii
for his seventy-plus years of service to patriotic organizations and causes all over the country. A humble man without a political bone in his body, he has never spoken out before about a government official, until now. He dictated this letter to a friend, signed it and mailed it to the president. Consult : http://xrl.us/bgeewc
bubba4 is clearly a marxist, beware the devil
[...] Read more at FrontPage Magazine. [...]
Conservatives have called the Democrats the "tax and spend" party. At least Obama should admit that this is what he is about, instead of blaming George W. Bush. He is also about wealth distribution, government as santa claus, etc.
[...] Obama’s Budget Blame Game [...]
Obamma, Reid and Pelosi – the most vile figures to ever find a seat in Washington DC. They are the 3-Stooges of the Beltway. Obamma is a buffoon, like ALL politicians today. He is no different. Politicians just don’t give a dam. Fat cats never do.
I say flush ‘em ALL down the terlet.
Opportunity exists for conservatives to push their agenda. Now is the time to attack. If they make a mistake and wait for the end of the election, they will be stone walled by the administration in a DC pissing contest.
I am a strong advocate of Mr. Bill Kristol's idea of eliminating the payroll tax for a year instead of government handouts. Obama mentioned it in the State of the Union. Lindsay Grahm and Mitch McConnel should play ball here. This is where they are strong, as the stimulus is already seen by a failure from those who vote.
You have income tax, state tax, property tax, sales tax, FICA social security taxes, special taxes, and regulatory fees, high gasoline taxes and energy taxes, phone taxes and tv taxes…..and this adminstration is now prepared to quadruple the budget deficit into the trillion dollar range. Our nation is going bankrupt…so watch as your taxes, capital gain taxes and sales taxes start climbing again….until the bubble bursts. The total Fed debt is now unpayable!! FIfteen trillion dollars. No one can comprehend that kind of money. Vote in sensible representatives in 2010. The present Administration is a wrecking crew.
The highly destructive Cap and Trade. An inferior healthcare plan that no one wants and cannot afford to pay. The threat to jail and/or fine those who don't purchase the government enforced plan. Massive spending as if there is no tomorrow. Massive debt. There is no question that the total destruction of America's economy is planned. The results will be horrifying. In the once wealthy and great, prosperous America, millions of Americans left destitute, hungry and homeless with no money or resources to take care of them.
Obama Says U.S. Long-Term Debt Load ‘Unsustainable’
By Roger Runningen and Hans Nichols
May 14 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama, calling current deficit spending “unsustainable,” warned of skyrocketing interest rates for consumers if the U.S. continues to finance government by borrowing from other countries.
“We can’t keep on just borrowing from China,” Obama said at a town-hall meeting in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, outside Albuquerque. “We have to pay interest on that debt, and that means we are mortgaging our children’s future with more and more debt.”
Holders of U.S. debt will eventually “get tired” of buying it, causing interest rates on everything from auto loans to home mortgages to increase, Obama said. “It will have a dampening effect on our economy.”…
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&a...
Obama admits the terrible government financial destruction wrought against Americans. WHY THEN DOES OBAMA NOT IMMEDIATELY REVERSE THIS TRAGEDY?
A major investor states America is going to reach Zimbabwe hyperinflation.
http://economyincrisis.org/articles/show/2942
Billions of dollars urgently needed for America's defense is instead gifted to Islam. Nuclear Iran and nuclear North Korea both state they intend to destroy America. They are not idle threats. The same venomous hate for the U.S. is shared by other nations and Muslim terrorist organizations. The treasonous response of the U.S. government to America's increasing danger, is to drastically reduce our defenses facilitating America's annihilation.
See: Aloha, "Star Wars" By: Washington Times Editorial
Washington Times | Monday, June 29, 2009
http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTI...
Sell all your stuff and move to the mountains….and please please don't get the internet out there….
You're just another hysterical ninny….
U.S. BROKE, but BILLIONS for Muslim FAVORITES
DRUDGE REPORT
'WE'RE OUT OF MONEY'
May 23 2009
In a sobering holiday interview with C-SPAN, President Obama boldly told Americans: "We are out of money."
SCULLY: You know the numbers, $1.7 trillion debt, a national deficit of $11 trillion. At what point do we run out of money?
OBAMA: Well, we are out of money now. We are operating in deep deficits
http://www.drudgereport.com/flashocs.htm
CREEPINGSHARIA.COM
Obama’s Supplemental Bill Passes, Gives Billions to Enemies?
By creeping
Barack Obama’s 2009 Supplemental Appropriations for Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Pandemic Flu was revised and “passed by the full committee”. Not sure what the next step is, but based on the summary, it gives billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to countries and entities that support sharia law and/or harbor, hide and support those who want to destroy the U.S. and our allies.
Read the summary from David Obey’s office that was quietly released last week with nary a word from any media.
• $3.6 billion, matching the request, to expand and improve capabilities of the Afghan security forces
• $400 million, as requested, to build the counterinsurgency capabilities of the Pakistani security forces
• Afghanistan: $1.52 billion, $86 million above the request
• West Bank and Gaza: $665 million in bilateral economic, humanitarian, and security assistance for the West Bank and Gaza
• Jordan: $250 million, $250 million above the request, including $100 million for economic and $150 million for security assistance
• Egypt: $360 million, $310 million above the request, including $50 million for economic assistance, $50 million for border security, and $260 million for security assistance
• Pakistan: $1.9 billion, $591 million above the request
• Iraq: $968 million, $336 million above the request
• Oversight: $20 million, $13 million above the request, to expand oversight capacity of the State Department, USAID, and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan to review programs in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq
• Israel: $555 million of the $2.8 billion 2010 request for security assistance, $555 million above the supplemental request. (Note: that means Obama’s original request did not include any money for Israel in 2009)
• Lebanon: $74 million
• International Food Assistance: $500 million, $200 million above the request, for PL 480 international food assistance to alleviate suffering during the global economic crisis
Watch it. And weep for our great nation and people.
Fall Of The Republic – The Presidency Of Barack H Obama – The Full Movie HQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8LPNRI_6T8&fe...
[...] Obama’s Budget Blame Game The president blames his predecessor for his own fiscal profligacy. [...]
…and yet everybody keeps glossing over the home mortgage bubble that was no one's but the Democrats'. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are both Demmunist constructs. Bush tried three or four times to get Balmy Fwank and Maximiliana Waters to do something about it and they pretty much told him to have sex with himself and denied that there was a problem. Huge, economy-destroying problem.
• Refugee Assistance: $343 million, $50 million above the request, …including humanitarian assistance for Gaza. Funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency programs in the West Bank and Gaza is limited to $119 million (Note: Gaza = Hamas)
• Disaster Assistance: $200 million to avert famines and provide life-saving assistance during natural disasters and for internally displaced people around the world, including Somalia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, the Middle East and South Asia
• Peacekeeping: $837 million for United Nations peacekeeping operations, including an expanded mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a new mission in Chad and the Central African Republic
• HIV/AIDS: $100 million, $100 million above the request, for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to address a funding shortfall for grants in key countries such as Haiti, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Afghanistan. (Note: That means Obama’s original request didn’t include any money for AIDs)
• Africa: $151 million, $18 million above the request, for economic and security assistance for Kenya, Somalia, Southern Sudan, and Zimbabwe
• Mexico: $470 million, $404 million above the request, to address growing violence along the United States-Mexico border by supporting the Government of Mexico’s war against organized crime and drug-trafficking
• Georgia: $242 million to fulfill the United States commitment to the people of Georgia
• Global Financial Crisis: $300 million, $148 million below the request, to address the global financial crisis in developing countries
• Nuclear Non-Proliferation: $55 million, $34.5 million below the request, for the National Nuclear Security Administration to safeguard nuclear material in Russia and other sites world-wide
• Department of Justice: $17 million, matching the request, for counter-terrorism activities and to provide training and assistance for the Iraqi criminal justice system
Updates:
Mass media remains silent on this but the International News has now picked up the story
…and then there is Obama’s $108 billion IMF bailout scheme in addition to the Supplemental
Related:
To really add insult to injury, check our previous Creeping Sharia post – Obama asks Congress to allow U.S. funds to terrorist Hamas govt
The Obama administration has asked Congress to let aid to Palestinians continue if Hamas backers are included in a new unity government, observers say. The proposed change in U.S. law would be necessary because Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, is designated as a terrorist organization and therefore cannot receive U.S. aid.
http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2009/05/13/ob...
Whilst homeless shelters are filled to capacity and desperate jobless and homeless, NEGLECTED Americans are living in tent cities, billions are gifted to highly favored Muslims.