On the recordFebruary 3, 2010
The President's budget released on Monday is a blueprint for failure. It projects a $1.6 trillion budget deficit for this year alone; and in its entire 10-year window, the annual deficit never falls below $700 billion. The much vaunted spending freeze only covers some 13 percent of the budget and only accomplishes this goal by moving certain programs from discretionary to mandatory spending. Once the freeze is picked at by the free-spending leadership of the House and Senate, it will be reduced to a lukewarm puddle of even more deficit spending. To make the tough decisions about balancing our budget, the administration looks to create a nonbinding commission. The President doesn't need a toothless commission when he already has the power to direct his Office of Management and Budget to create a blueprint for solvency. We need leadership. We need the buck to stop with the President, not with the commission of unelected economists, academics or bureaucrats.
