Senate Rejected Deficit Task Force Gets Presidential Exec. Order Override

By Donald Griffith on February 19, 2010, 7:55 am

Just as anything can’t get any more hectic as far as the economy and finances go in the Obama administration, now comes the news of a new Deficit Task Force and commission. The plan of a bipartisan task force looking into the federal deficit backed by President Obama has already been rejected by the Senate but now comes word that the President will sign an executive order to execute this task force. Either way, there has been big debate among Congress and for now seems not to happen. If the President has his way, things will be different.

Congress’ Fears May Be Realized

One of the big reasons that Congress has turned down the deficit task force is the fear of the task force having a huge influence on the Congressional Budget Office. The main reason that Congress has turned down the task force is that more or less the President wanted the group to be the main force behind all budget decisions concerning Congress and monetary law proposals. While the deficit did fall very slightly from 2009, the economic and financial outlook of the country is looking very bleak. Recent news of a huge Social Security downfall and news of possible huge tax increases over the next ten years have Washington in an uproar.

More Drama

Another big drama of the deficit task force has been the sudden resignation and shuffling of current senators, namely Sen. Evan Bayh. Sen. Bayh has gone on record and stated that he was tired of the so-called bipartisanship maneuvering in Washington and that these days don’t know who from what. This is another sign that a bipartisan task force would not work. Especially when it comes to the government’s spending habits.

 

While Obama has announced spending freezes and freezes on salary hikes for his cabinet and administration, there is still the legal ramifications of a deficit task force and just how much influence that they could have on Congress. So it is pretty safe to say that any kind of deficit task force will not oversee the Congressional Budget Office. The backers of this task force though are still trying to say that the Congressional Budget Office does not have the ability to take care of itself therefore someone needs to do it.

Related posts:

1. U.S. Deficit: CBO Reporting Lees Than Last Year
2. Obama Orders US Congress Use Pay-Go Spending Policy
3. Budget Deficit Panel Is A Smoke Screen To Secretly Raise Taxes
4. Federal Deficit 2010: An Unsustainable Problem That Needs Solutions
5. Can The Government Get Spending Control Under Control