This really seems like a game of politics to me:
resident Barack Obama will call in his State of the Union address for a three-year freeze on spending for many domestic programs as part of his strategy to rein in the deficit, administration officials said.
The proposal, which wouldn’t affect spending on national security, would save an estimated $250 billion over a decade and reduce the deficit by $10 billion to $15 billion in 2011, according to the two officials, who briefed reporters on the plan. Last year’s budget shortfall was a record $1.4 trillion.
Obama will unveil the plan in his address to a joint session of Congress tomorrow night and include it in the fiscal year 2011 budget he’s set to deliver to lawmakers Feb. 1, the officials said.
Then you got the Republicans questioning the move:
A spokesman for House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio was critical of Obama’s plan. “Given Washington Democrats’ unprecedented spending binge, this is like announcing you’re going on a diet after winning a pie-eating contest,” the spokesman, Michael Steel, said yesterday.
Well if that isn’t the pot calling the kettle black. It’s the same thing as when Republicans go on that health care will cost more than a trillion dollars over the next ten years, yet the Bush tax cuts they love so much cost more than double that. Oh and those tax cuts were supposed to make our economy so much stronger – right? Yeah we see where that left us.
Adding… A look at history reveals something interesting. Clinton came into office with a recession, passed on to him after 12 years of Republican rule. Obama came into office with a recession, passed on to him after 8 years of Republican rule. Can we honestly trust the Republicans when it comes to fiscal responsibility?