Obama Urges Even More Spending
The White House budget director inadvertently made a very revealing statement recently when he admitted that it would be "fruitless" for the Obama administration to push for immediate spending cuts because such a request would "go nowhere" in the Democratic-controlled Congress. In a speech to a left-wing think tank, Peter Orszag stated "we have very low probability of success" in cutting spending. Of course, the idea of the Obama White House actually proposing budget cuts is pure fairytale, considering President Obama continues to press for more and more government spending.
Not content with pushing the annual deficit to a record $1.4 trillion, the president is now requesting another $50 billion of taxpayer money. On June 12, Obama sent a letter to Congress urging passage of yet another "stimulus" effort. Included in the legislation is $23 billion to avert teacher layoffs and another $24 billion in funding for state governments. While no one wants to see teachers lose their jobs, at some point we have to face the reality that the federal government cannot, and should not, pick up the tab for every fiscal challenge we face.
The fact is, we simply can't afford any more spending. Between the failed $787 billion stimulus in 2009 and the $1 trillion health care takeover, the federal government is already spending billions of dollars we don't have, yet the national unemployment rate remains close to 10 percent. And to make matters worse, an alarming number of states are now "assuming" another massive stimulus bill in order to avoid making the tough decisions necessary to balance their own budgets. Not only is this irresponsible on both ends of the transaction, it represents a massive federal intrusion into areas that have been traditionally - and appropriately - locally controlled and financed.
Oklahoma, on the other hand is a prime example of the ability of states to make tough decisions and live within our means. And while our state has experienced some painful cutbacks, we have not suffered nearly the levels of unemployment faced by many other states and the nation as a whole. We have weathered the recession far better than other states, and our federal tax dollars ought not be used to allow other states to avoid making similar sacrifices.
Congress should not even consider additional spending unless it is paired with spending cuts in less critical areas. Unfortunately, President Obama casually dismisses such concerns, relying instead on his "deficit commission" to magically solve our nation's fiscal crisis when they release their recommendations in December. In the meantime, the president urges Congress to pass his new spending bill "even as we establish a path to long-term fiscal discipline." With a national debt approaching 90 percent of GDP by 2020, we should be earnestly rushing to the "path to fiscal discipline" -- not waiting for guidance from a toothless commission.
It's time for the Obama administration to admit that the first massive stimulus bill did not work and that continued deficit spending will only make our economic challenges worse. Their first failed stimulus should be all the proof they need that the federal government cannot spend its way out of the recession. Congress needs to sharply rein in spending and send a message to the states that they need to follow Oklahoma's example and start making the same kind of tough economic decisions that families and small businesses make every day.
###