Re-imaging himself as a fiscal conservative, is he? Is that what we’re supposed to believe? From Jake Tapper, ABC News:
Pursuing a path of deficit reduction and government reform, President Obama will tonight in his State of the Union address call for a ban on earmarks and he will propose an overall budget freeze, ABC News has learned.
The proposals come as the president prepares to tackle the deficit and debt and as he faces a House of Representatives in Republican hands, many of whose members include those affiliated with the Tea Party who may be willing to embrace both moves.
The president will propose some new spending in certain areas that address the speech’s theme of “How We Win the Future”: innovation, education and infrastructure. But those increases will be proposed as part of an overall budget freeze, which given the annual rate of growth is often seen in Washington, DC, budgeting as a cut.
The FY 2011 budget was $3.8 trillion.
As for earmarks, President Obama has long been critical of the process in which members of Congress insert their pet projects into legislation without having them first go through the normal appropriations process, but Congress has continued to put billions of dollars of such projects in bills that arrive at the president’s desk.
Freezing the budget after increasing discretionary domestic spending by 84% is hardly a sacrifice.
But it will be sold that way.
John McCain believes this signals a President wedded to fiscal responsibility; protein wisdom, conversely, believes it’s time for John McCain to put himself out to pasture, and take Colin Powell and Pat Buchanan with him.
The TEA Partiers in the House want to slash the federal government back to 2006 levels; they want to do the hard work of actually cutting spending and bringing our fiscal house to order. By proposing a budge “freeze” tonight, Obama hopes to present himself as a fiscal hawk concerned with the federal deficit — while setting up the GOP to do the actual cost cutting, which Obama and the Dems will subsequently frame as hurting woman, children, minorities, and the elderly.
And as he sets this up, he’ll call for civility — and the camera will zoom in on Republicans and Democrats, sitting together, in comity and harmony.
Making Paul Ryan’s rebuttal a televised downer.
We’re being played. And because it’s so obvious, I have to believe that the Republicans who go along with this ruse are being played happily. Because big government is good for business — regardless of which party establishment one belongs to.
it’s time for John McCain to put himself out to pasture
Increasingly, that’s pretty much what the Senate is anymore, especially if you’re Republican.
Stunning…
Calling it a budget freeze after increasing spending for the last 2 years under Obama and the last 4 years under the Democrat congress; as you say, after increasing spending by 84%! And just now talking about banning earmarks? After the Rethugs! have already unilaterally pledged to do so.
This is nothing, complete BS, the usual charade. What do you think the odds are that the “cuts” to offset his new “investments” come from the DoD budget? Because Captain Kickazz, the “fiscal hawk” who has so clearly demonstrated otherwise has been such a careful steward of public funds up until this time, so that only from the pork laden defense budget, where we are spending on Boooooooooosh!’s illegitimate wars of choice anyway, could there possibly be any room for reduction; Bob Gates has said so.
But there’ll be no talk of entitlements, regardless of Obama’s own blue-ribbon panel’s findings; save to vilify Paul Ryan that is.
We have to make sure to point out to others how ridiculous any notion of a budget “freeze” at such bloated levels of spending really is, regardless of the punditocracy’s inevitable gushing.
Apropos budget cuts, New Mexico Gov. Susane Martinez looks promising. People in her state, she says, “are not undertaxed; the government has simply over-spent.”
Calling it a budget freeze after increasing spending for the last 2 years under Obama and the last 4 years under the Democrat congress; as you say, after increasing spending by 84%
Honestly, it’s as if he were laughing at us.
Loath as I am to resurrect Perot’s campaign, I think a few charts and graphs might come in real handy this week. Last ten years of annual spending; revenues vs expenditures; debt held by the public. That sort of thing.
When your enemies are desperate to hide the problem, it’s really stupid to help them keep the curtain drawn.
*John McCain believes this signals a President wedded to fiscal responsibility*
How could any sane person possibly think that? Also, I live by the precept that every promise Obama makes has an expiration date.
It will be interesting to see which seals get up and bark for Baracky when he drops that.
There is simply nothing in Obama’s political career that suggests any developed concept of balancing budgets. Nada. Zip.
What we are learning is that he’s a political marketer, a retail signage provocateur. There are some leftists who are astonished by his willingness to present this position of “cooperation” which they wish … wouldn’t happen. He is simply not a real and hardcore political hack … he’s an image guy without an ounce of deep understanding of political leadership. He’s a neon sign glower, a raggedly traced banner of advertising that simply reflects a selling position rather than a personal and political position.
He is a poser and mime with no reflection of a real and honest political understanding.
“Freezing” the budget when roughly 1/3 of it is debt financed…We don’t need a “freeze”, we need serious cuts.
But the “deficit hawk” won’t go that far. Heck, the unions and the far left are breathing a sigh of relief that he’s not going to even bring up social security. A fact that indirectly implies that taxes will have to go waaaaaaaay up in the near future to pay the bill when the social security trust fund starts needing to cash in their I.O.U.s.
Sometime in the next 10 years or so.
He is a poser and mime with no reflection of a real and honest political understanding.
Would we were that fortunate!
Carin,
That’s exactly what he’s doing… and the so-called Media are all snickering because they know the vast majority of their views/readers are gullible rubes who eat up whatever lies they feed them.
“Good man”, my ass. He’s a con artist. A charlatan. A snakeoil salesman.
BJTex, amen to that.
So if Ryan is now progressive/Democrat “enemy number one”, I guess that means Palin will enjoy a cease-fire for a while, right?
And in a way, I relish the MFM and other Dems sparring with Ryan. They better bring their “A” game, because he’s pretty good on his feet. He’d have most of the sputtering and twisted around in no time; and if he debated Obama without TOTUS™ ? Fuhgeddabowditt
sdferr, this is what makes him different from Carter. Carter really and truly believed in his political philosophy above and beyond all measures of reality. Obama is just interested in getting himself ahead, somehow, while still maintaining some kind of a leftist bulletin board.
He may sit many of the lefties as they become disillusioned with his faux created cooperation.
We’re being played. And because it’s so obvious, I have to believe that the Republicans who go along with this ruse are being played happily
This is the really galling part. I personally have no doubt the non-Left is the intellectual equal or better of the Left, but are the people we send to DC up to snuff? Are they just out-classed? As Leftists in general all want to run other peoples lives (FOR THE CHILDREN), while non-leftists are usually more interested in running their own lives and businesses, is it the case that the Left gets more high-performers to run and win?
Or do the Republicans really get compromised so quickly and easily? Jeez if we let them into the Bunny Ranch they’d max out their credit cards in minutes.
Are we jumping the gun just a bit? Dont you think its a stretch to assume the GOP’s position when the speech hasn’t even been given yet?
Let’s see what Ryan says, and let’s see what happens afterward.
As a side note – I don’t see any reference to McCain anywhere in the part Jeff posted. So why the mention of McCain?
McCain has been telling us for two days what Obama’s speech will be. He’s been telling us how smart Obama is. How much he’s learned. How we can now all work together.
Pat Buchanan this morning was talking about how this will be another soaring Tucson moment.
Clearly, not all Republicans are positioning themselves to cheer on Obama. But many are — and it’s the same type that gave us 2008. So no, I don’t think I’m jumping the gun.
My summation: “Hello” he lied.
I don’t believe one word out of this mook’s mouth.
Yes.
Has there ever been a sillier, juvenile and, as you say, obvious, ploy? We have to assume some sort of defect in those playing along, even if it’s hard to say specifically what it is (cowardice, stupidity, agreement) for any one individual.
Ron Radosh, still hammering.
The sweet academics like Fox-Piven, who wouldn’t hurt a fly (they tell us), hurt people badly all the time by design and yet never seem to pay for the damage they do. And the left still wants to portray Obama as an academic? Go on then. “[R]arely in American history” is a common equivocation for “historic”, isn’t it?
On the bright side, several of those sorts have gone missing since 2010. Let’s keep an eye on losing some more of them on 2012.
I am still laughing thinking of McCain as Fernidad, sitting out in the pasture under a cork tree smelling the flowers.
And yeah, Buchannan and Gingrich can join him (Powell was out there long before them all).
Sorry Jeff – I didn’t see that. In the meantime, I’m still gonna withhold judgment until I hear what Ryan has to say.
As for Pitchfork Pat, he’s MSNBC’s house boy… I mean conservative. I already have a judgment on what he says.
Ya think? How about his five pillars? Theye’re laughing out loud.
I bought a Lamborghini with money I didn’t have so I suppose I’ll freeze pending. Now that I’ve limited myself to buying one Lamborghini a year with money stolen from children…I’m frugal. Damn I feel all responsible and shit all of a sudden.
The Five Pillars thing is just them trying to bait us. They know already that tonight’s performance is going to be a disaster, so they’re setting the stage to make this week all about the Islamophobia of the Crazed Right.
Point and laugh, but don’t give them any quotes to take out of context.
Oh, yeah, and they’ll surely hit some paydirt somewhere. But I wonder what the Middle East will make of it.
ccoffer, have you seen the new SA Aperta? What’s another few dollars?
[…] are supposed to believe that Obama has become a fiscal hawk … hardly as so aptly stated by Protein Wisdom, “Freezing the budget after increasing discretionary domestic spending by 84% is hardly a […]