Obama Adminstriation Misses the Mark on Spending Again
President Obama, during his first cabinet meeting while in office, asked agency heads to cut spending in their respective budgets by a total of $100 million and report back within 90 days. While I applaud searching for ways to cut spending and improve efficencies, this move is mainly symbolic.
One hundred million is roughly one day’s interest on the $787 stimulus (porkulus?) bill. It is, as Mr. Obama admitted himself, “a drop in the bucket.” I take issue with the stark contrast in how this “savings” move has been treated by his adminstration when compared to the Omnibus Spending Bill debates just a few weeks ago. Republicans proposed a spending freeze at then current levels and ommision of over $8 billion in pork barrel spending projects. This was dismissed by Democrats as “last years business”; evidentially the “scouring the budget line by line” as campained by Mr. Obama, does not start this year.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs stated yesterday that where he is from $100 million is “big money”. Eight billion must be chump change then. I’m a CPA by profession, and am still trying to learn democrat math!
So it begs the question, “why even publicize this in the first place?” Had I
been advising the president, and assuming the president’s true intention is to culminate meaningful and lasting budget cuts, I would have suggusted a wait and hold strategy. Round up your support and put an agenda in place that puts a culture of speding effeciencies front and center.
The answer to this question is simple. There is no culture (nor is one being pondered) to find and implement lasting spending cuts and fiscally responsibility with federal spending. Quite the opposite is true. This adminstration has made itself very clear: government spending is the end to all our economic woes. As simple (real) math can show, this level of spending (and the proposed tax increases) is not sustainable. This $100 million slashing initiative has been paradaded out now for one simple reason: it’s the only one.
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