Obama Orders US Congress Use Pay-Go Spending Policy

By Julie Smith on February 15, 2010, 8:12 am

In a move designed to paint himself as a deficit hawk, President Obama outlined his “Pay-go” policy in his weekly radio address on Saturday. Feeling the pinch from a increasingly irate electorate, Obama’s new attack on the deficit would force the government to fund increases in entitlement spending by either cutting other programs or raising taxes. He also reiterated his call for a $20 billion spending freeze.

But What’s Not Covered

While it sounds like a good plan, there are caveats. For one, it doesn’t apply to Medicare or Social Security, or direct spending included in appropriation bills. It also leaves the House a free hand to spend and then cover the expenditure by raising taxes, another sign that Obama’s promise to not raise taxes on the middle class has all but evaporated. Even as Obama spoke in such strong terms about returning Washington to accountability, he provided Congress cover by raising the debt ceiling from $12.4 trillion to $14.3 trillion.

And Once Again, Let’s Blame Bush

Obama also took yet another swipe at George W. Bush, noting that the government had budget surpluses up until 10 years ago. He pointed out that when he took office in 2008, the budget deficit stood at $1.3 trillion. Apparently funding two wars and a massive expenditure in Homeland defense and only racking up $1.3 trillion in debt in the process is not good enough for Obama.

 

Looking at Obama’s performance, it’s easy to see why he is concerned. George W. Bush increased the federal deficit 11.9% with respect to GDP in his eight year tenure. Obama’s spending spree is expected to raise the federal deficit a whopping 31.6% with respect to GDP in only one term. What remains to be seen is if the public buys into the idea that Obama is really a budget hawk, or just paying lip service to win votes.

Related posts:

1. Budget Deficit Panel Is A Smoke Screen To Secretly Raise Taxes
2. Americans Will Have To Borrow $1.2T To Pay For Obama’s $3.8T Budget
3. Deficit Commission Has Major Problems With Obama Tax Cut Deal
4. Does Congress Really Care About The National Debt
5. Bush Tax Cuts Expiring: Dems Way To Pay For Their Overspending