$410 Billion Omnibus Bill

[sadaist]

Why are we not talking about this? It's almost as if it's sneaking through without the general population knowing about it or understanding it's completely different spending from the bailout package.

"March 4, 2009 · Congress previously passed a stopgap bill that's keeping federal agencies operating at last year's levels through Friday. The House last week bundled those bills into a $410 billion omnibus package that raises domestic spending by 8 percent and has about 9,000 earmarks. The Senate has taken up the measure, and Sen. John McCain has demanded that President Obama veto the measure."

Sen. McCain Urges Obama To Veto Omnibus Bill : NPR

[kwame k]

Jesus, I don't know Sadaist. I hate the fact that during the last 8 years our government has damn near doubled and now it will only get bigger. As much as I get labeled a Left Wing Liberal, I am all for small effective government, fiscal responsibility, and cutting the National Deficit.

Our leaders in Washington are not doing this and yes we can look backwards to the causes but the reality of the situation is......there's no going back now. We've been on this path for too long now for the beast to be reined in.

I do like the fact that Obama is at least talking about trying to reduce the deficit. This is something that has never been discussed in 8 years, so that's refreshing. Will it really happen, who fucking knows, time will tell.

The fucking thing is......we are the ones getting screwed here and have been getting screwed for well over 30 years and maybe longer. I truly believe this era will be known as the Greed Era. You know honestly, it's my fault as well as the rest of the voting American public and those people who are able to vote but are unwilling. We put these fucking crooks into positions of power and continue to vote them in. No matter how much they don't represent our interests they keep getting elected. No third party has stood a chance and We The People allow that.

If you put a crook in charge of the cash register and then are shocked that money comes up missing, who's really at fault or the fool.

[ELVIS]

I do like the fact that Obama is at least talking about trying to reduce the deficit.

Wait a minute...

WHAT ??


Show me an example of Obama even talking about reducing the deficit...

[kwame k]

WASHINGTON - After a string of costly bailout and stimulus measures, President Obama will set a goal this week of cutting the annual deficit at least in half by the end of his term, administration officials said.

This reduction will come in large part through Iraq troop withdrawals and higher taxes on the wealthy.

Obama's budget outline, which he will release Thursday, will also confirm his intention to deliver this year on ambitious campaign promises on healthcare and energy policy.

Obama inherited a deficit for 2009 of about $1.2 trillion, which will rise to more than $1.5 trillion, given initial spending from his just-enacted stimulus package. His budget blueprint for the 2010 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, will include a 10-year projection showing the annual deficit declining to $533 billion in the 2013 fiscal year, the last year of his term, officials said.

Measured against the size of the economy, that would mean a reduction from a deficit equal to more than 10 percent of gross domestic product - larger than any deficit since World War II - to 3 percent, which is the level that economists generally consider sustainable. Obama will project deficits at about that level through 2019, aides said.

In his weekly radio and Internet address yesterday, Obama said his first budget was "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."

"We can't generate sustained growth without getting our deficits under control," he added.

Obama will propose to tax the investment income of hedge fund and private equity partners at ordinary income tax rates, which are now as high as 35 percent and could return to 39.6 percent under Obama's plans, instead of at the capital gains rate, which is 15 percent at most.

Senior Democrats in Congress joined with Republicans in 2007 to oppose that increase, signaling a fight ahead.

But with Wall Street discredited and lucrative executive compensation a political target, the provision could prove more popular among lawmakers - even if it would not bring in much money until the economy recovers.

Obama will also call for letting the Bush tax cuts on income, dividends, and capital gains lapse after 2010 for individuals who make more than $250,000 a year.

As a candidate Obama called for immediately repealing those tax cuts; he decided instead to keep them in place through 2010, as scheduled, reflecting the widespread belief that raising taxes further depresses economic activity.

As for war costs, Obama's campaign projected that withdrawing combat troops from Iraq would save about $90 billion a year.

But it is not clear how much any savings would be offset by increased spending in Afghanistan, where Obama has ordered an additional 17,000 troops, bringing the total there to 56,000.

The budget will provide the first clues of how Obama will reassert fiscal discipline after signing into law a $787 billion economic recovery plan. As difficult as cutting the deficits will be, much of the reduction by the end of his term will simply reflect an end to spending from the two-year stimulus package and - assuming the economy recovers - higher tax revenues and lower expenditures for safety net programs like unemployment compensation.

Obama will propose to cut a variety of programs, among them the Medicare Advantage subsidies for insurance companies that cover seniors who can otherwise acquire health coverage directly from the government.

Another target is spending on private contractors, especially for defense, which spiked during the Bush administration. And he will scale back some promises, including his proposal to double money for foreign aid.

The budget on Thursday will climax a week of reminders of the nation's fiscal plight. Tomorrow, Obama will hold a "fiscal responsibility summit" at the White House with members of Congress from both parties, economists, union leaders, and business representatives.

On Tuesday he will make a address a joint session of Congress - the equivalent of a State of the Union speech for a new president - that advisers said would focus on the economy.

Yet Obama will inflate his challenge by forsaking several gimmicks that the Bush administration used to make deficits look smaller. He will include war costs in the budget; Bush did not.

Obama also will not count savings from laws that establish lower Medicare payments for doctors and expand the alternative minimum tax to hit more taxpayers - both of which Bush and Congress routinely took credit for, while knowing they would later waive the laws to raise doctors' payments and limit the reach of the tax.

© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
Link

[kwame k]

Wait a minute...

WHAT ??


Show me an example of Obama even talking about reducing the deficit...

Quid pro quo.

Show me where Bush talked about Deficit Reduction.

[ELVIS]

That's some fuzzy math in the article you just posted...

[kwame k]

If you look at the statement you quoted from me you'll see I said,

I do like the fact that Obama is at least talking about trying to reduce the deficit.

Never said it was a good plan or even something that is feasible but at least he is talking about it.

*****Edit*****

How are you coming on finding those statements about Bush talking about Deficit Reduction?

[ELVIS]

Still looking, but enjoy this in the meantime...

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[kwame k]

Classic!

Don't even waste your time looking because the trump card is Bush left a 1.3 trillion dollar deficit.

[ELVIS]

Still looking...but this is interesting...

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/F9SOVzMV2bc&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/F9SOVzMV2bc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[kwame k]

Very interesting........it goes with my theory that Bush was replaced with a look-a-like, who was backed by this nefarious group of people........

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TPMS6tGOACo&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TPMS6tGOACo&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[sadaist]

I am all for small effective government

It's not the size so much as the word "effective". The only thing the government has been effective in is fucking us over and blaming the other side for it. I'm so tired of hearing "inherited from Bush", "Clinton lied about this", "Reagan imposed this", "Carter fucked that". Damn Democrats, damn Republicans....as far as I can tell, it's not us as Repubs or Dems fucking this country, but the politicians who are so far removed from the core beliefs of each party it would be laughable if it wasn't so serious. They only get elected by pandering to our core beliefs, which they toss out the second they are elected.

I truly believe this era will be known as the Greed Era.

Yep

[kwame k]

This is getting truly sickening! We're agreeing with each other.

[ELVIS]

One more interesting Bush clip, kwame...

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[LoungeMachine]

This cycle will NEVER end, regardless of which party is in power, UNTIL we have serious campaign finance reform, AND STRONGLY REGULATE LOBBYISTS



duh.