Apr 03 2009
President Obama’s budget passes through Congress
President Obama’s broad outlines of a budget passed through Congress on Thursday.
This budget signals a fight coming between Republicans and Democrats in Congress, and a fight between Democrats in Congress and the White House.
Between Republicans and Democrats, the fighting is no surprise. Democrats inherited a $1.8 trillion deficit from President Bush. However, Democrats neglect to mention how much of this deficit was because President Bush passed the TARP bill that Democrats, especially then President-elect Obama, asked him to pass. But with this budget, Democrats have agreed to raise the deficit levels to $4 trillion. This, understandably, upsets Republicans.
The Republicans are furious over this high level of debt. In fact, they point out that this level of debt spending is so irresponsible that European and Chinese leaders are chastising the U.S. over this type of spending.
In fact, this type of spending is grossly irresponsible. How can someone possibly say that they are a good leader when they are spending our children - and their childen - into a debt so large that they will spend their lives, and their children’s lives, paying it off. $4 trillion is such a large number that people cannot even grasp at it. The number is so huge. It is incredibly irresponsible. There are things that the President feels must be done, that is understandable. But to spend $4 trillion in debt is simply unforgiveable. There is nothing important enough to spend $4 trillion in debt. Nothing in the world today can be important enough to reach those debt levels. By raising the debt to those levels, the future of America is at stake. There is no way the country can continue to function with that high a level of debt. President Obama is bankrupting the nation.
In addition, his plan is going to cause friction between Democrats in Congress and the White House. President Obama’s budget calls for a decrease in the troops in IRaq, but an increase in the troops in Afghanistan - by almost 30,000 troops. Provisioning and supporting troops in Afghanistan is no cheaper than doing it in Iraq. In fact, it might cost more lives because the terrain in Afghanistan is so mountainous, that it is impossible to create secure areas for the troops to live in. The Democrats in Congress are not excited over this proposal, and would prefer to see the troops come home, not simply be shifted from one country to another.
This budget is massive. It includes money for universal health care and other Democratic priorities. However, it is also irresponsible. This budget is a mess, and should never have passed. What Democrats are saying, by passing this budget, is that they don’t care about future generations. Instead, they simply want to spend the country into a debt so large that we will never come out of it.
