Obama wants to halve budget deficit


WASHINGTON – Barack Obama wants to cut the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term, mostly by scaling back Iraq war spending, raising taxes on the wealthiest and streamlining government, an administration official said Saturday as the president worked to finalize his first budget request.

Obama's proposal for the 2010 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 projects that the estimated $1.3 trillion deficit he has inherited from former President George W. Bush will be halved to $533 billion by 2013. That's a difference of 9.2 percent of the overall economy now vs. 3 percent in four years.

"We can't generate sustained growth without getting our deficits under control," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address that seemed to preview his intentions. He said his budget will be "sober in its assessments, honest in its accounting, and lays out in detail my strategy for investing in what we need, cutting what we don't, and restoring fiscal discipline."

More here;
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090222/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_budget


$1.3 trillion deficit he has inherited from former President George W. Bush.

My God.....$1.3 trillion, $1.3 trillion, $1.3 trillion...

How ever did this happen???

Dont read the article Bushies. Hes planning on doing this while keeping more campaign promises. I know how this makes you mad!!

Before the election he did say that he would tax the top 2% of families to give back a portion of the tax cuts they received over the past 8 years. He said that they won't pay more then they would have in the 90's.

thats right

Watch how the Bushies will be silent about this!

And it's not about spreading the wealth. It's a budget deficit cutter!!

I'm waiting for the movie

stupid double posts

It's not a movie, it's "the greatest story ever told".

just spreading the wealth around.

welcome to the USSA.

Talk is cheap.
Blinded by the light?

Watch and Whine....

Double posts are the fault of the poster rose.

While waiting on the slow puter quit clicking the send post button.
If you click it twice before the puter responds you will always get double posts.

Like this,,,

Double posts are the fault of the poster rose.

While waiting on the slow puter quit clicking the send post button.
If you click it twice before the puter responds you will always get double posts.

Like this,,,

With the new "stimulus" the deficit goes over $2 trillion. That is roughly $1.4 trillion in debt for TARP and the spending bill.

Were you opposed to TARP? Im curious. Obama wasn't. The budget deficit for 2009 was $600 billion before the bailouts. So who are we blaming for over a $2 Trillion budget deficit, again?

On reducing the deficit.

You can make all the promises you want, but how the hell does he know whats going to happen from now until 2013? He doesn't. Its grandstanding, and he knows it. Letting the tax cuts expire is fine if the economy is coming around. Bringing the military costs of Afghanistan and Iraq down would clear about $150 billion out of the budget, but that is chump change in a multi trillion dollar debt.

Expanding healthcare, education, global warming reasearch and whatever the hell else Pelosi and Reid dream up, isn't going to bring down the debt. It is a sham. He is no different than all the other liars that have been sent to Washington, and failed to live up to their promises.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has committed hundreds of billions of dollars to help revive the economy and is working on a plan to cut the federal deficit in half by the end of his first term.

Obama will touch on his efforts to restore fiscal discipline at a White House fiscal policy summit on Monday and in an address to Congress on Tuesday. On Thursday he plans to send at least a summary of his first budget request to Capitol Hill. The bottom line, said an administration official Saturday, is to halve the federal deficit to $533 billion by the time his first term ends in 2013. He inherited a deficit of about $1.3 trillion from former President George W. Bush.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the president has not yet released his budget for the fiscal year 2010, which begins Oct. 1, said the deficit will be shrunk by scaling back Iraq war spending, ending the temporary tax breaks enacted by the Bush administration for those making $250,000 or more a year, and streamlining government.

"We can't generate sustained growth without getting our deficits under control," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address that seemed to preview his intentions. He said his budget will be "sober in its assessments, honest in its accounting, and lays out in detail my strategy for investing in what we need, cutting what we don't, and restoring fiscal discipline."

Republicans were not convinced. They said Obama's plan would hurt small businesses, including many filing taxes as individuals and possibly facing higher taxes under his plan.

"I don't think raising taxes is a great idea," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. "And when our good friends on the other side of the aisle say raising the taxes on the wealthy, what they're really talking about is small business."

Obama's budget also is expected to take steps toward his campaign promises of establishing universal health care and lessening the country's reliance on foreign oil.

Obama has pledged to make deficit reduction a priority both as a candidate and a president. But he also has said economic recovery must come first.

Last week, he signed into law the $787 billion stimulus measure that is meant to create jobs but certainly will add to the nation's skyrocketing national debt. He also is implementing the $700 billion financial sector rescue passed on Bush's watch; about $75 billion of which is being used toward Obama's plan to help homeowners facing foreclosure.


I see a man that is trying to fix the big mess that he inherited.

I'm still curious how he can say we're going to cut the deficit after he's blowing over $1.2T in new spending. I mean, how do you do that with a straight face?











Oh, that's right. He's a politician.

When a person spends too much money, don't they cut back in other areas until they catch up again?

Rescind this for one;

On day 20, President Bush sent his record-setting $1.6 trillion tax cut plan to Congress.
For the richest Americans I might add.