…but first things first:
…nearly half of the current deficit can be clearly attributed to the downturn.
That’s a deficit increase that would have happened in an economic crisis whether Republicans or Democrats controlled Washington. But it was the specific spending excesses of President Obama and the Democrats that shot the deficit into the stratosphere.
There is no line in the federal budget that says “stimulus,” but Obama’s massive $814 billion stimulus increased spending in virtually every part of the federal government. “It’s spread all through the budget,” says former Congressional Budget Office chief Douglas Holtz-Eakin. “It was essentially a down payment on the Obama domestic agenda.” Green jobs, infrastructure, health information technology, aid to states — it’s all in there, billions in increased spending.
What was increased can be decreased. All it takes is wised-up voters.
The $800 billion “stimulus” was supposed to be a one-time thing. However, the Senate has failed to pass a budget since then, so it’s now part of the continuing resolution baseline used to fund the government. If you want to cut the projected debt by at least $8 trillion over the next 10 years, take that $800 billion “stimulus” out of the budget and return us to a FY2008 baseline. If you want to cut even more, do away with baseline budgeting.
That’s all well and good but I question whether voters are willing to let the other $10+ Trillion in debt slide just because it can’t be blamed directly on Obama.
If each dollar in current federal debt were a mile, how much more entitlement spending will it take to reach Alpha Centauri?
Alpha Centuri is about 25 trillion miles, so we won’t get there for another 10 years or so at the current spending rate. Of course, the whole house of cards will likely collapse before then. The system can only withstand so much economic pedophilia before it collapses or the young people get tired of being screwed.
Still, we are spending faster than the speed of light.
<smacks own forehead<
D’oh! Ten years > 4.3 years.
MORE COFFEE!
We’re spending fast enough that relativistic effects are getting pretty strong. The mass increase of the federal government alone is incredible.
However, the Senate has failed to pass a budget since then, so it’s now part of the continuing resolution baseline used to fund the government.
If only. The stimulus bill ordered $550b in spending, and that’s it. Most of it was spent in 2009 and 2010; it isn’t the reason we have a huge deficit in 2011.
“The stimulus bill ordered $550b in spending, and that’s it.”
Yeah, sure. And far right extremist screeds like this one from that frothing, ultra-right wing, extremist, crazy eyed… did I mention “extremist”?… Brookings Institute are just deliberately trying to pass on falsehoods in their extremist, partisan, politically driven, crazy right wing, far right extremist campaign of lies. Excerpt:
If only. The stimulus bill ordered $550b in spending, and that’s it. Most of it was spent in 2009 and 2010; it isn’t the reason we have a huge deficit in 2011.
Wrong. Without a new budget, Congress passes continuing resolutions that maintain the spending of the last budget until a new budget is passed. That so-called “stimulus” was part of the last budget that passed. Since the Senate has criminally failed in its responsibilities under the Budget Act to pass a federal budget each year, the dollar amount last allocated is included in the continuing resolutions.
Without a new budget, Congress passes continuing resolutions that maintain the spending of the last budget until a new budget is passed.
A continuing resolution does not necessarily maintain the spending of the previous budget; it can make changes. Recall that earlier this year the House GOP threatened to not pass a continuing resolution unless it included enough a certain amount of cuts. Nor does a continuing resolution extend spending programs that were always set to expire at a certain time (such as the Recovery Act).
To put it another way: The House GOP ran against the ARRA in 2010, labeling it a failure and a waste of money. Do you really think they then turned around and voted for a continuing resolution that gave the ARRA new life, and new funding?
the recovery act has served as a prolific hatchery and staging point for longer-term policy innovation that now requires implementation in the FY 2011 budget process
In other words, the administration likes the programs that were funded by ARRA, and has proposed continuing some of them. That doesn’t mean that they were continued, since doing so would require approval from Congress, approval that is not forthcoming.
Apparently, you are having trouble with the “that now requires implementation in the FY 2011 budget process” bit.