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by Don Azarias
class=”redtext”>July 30, 2010
Even though I’m a Republican, I’m like most of those responsible Americans whose love for the coun try is of paramount importance that it transcends my party affiliation. That’s why when Democrat Barack Obama was elected president of the United States, I set aside my Republican Party ideology and wished the newly-elected president the best of luck and prayed for his success as leader of the free world.
In a recent town hall meeting in Racine, Wisconsin, Obama declared that he intended to get “our debt and our deficits under control.” With public anxiety over a double-dip recession, Obama warned that he wouldn’t slash spending at the expense of the economic rebound. “We got it moving again,” Obama said of the economy in this Midwestern city, where unemployment tops 14 percent. “We now have to, in a gradual way, reduce spending but do so in a way that doesn’t hurt people. And that is a challenge”, he added. It’s a challenge, all right but Obama seems oblivious to the fact that he and his Democratic allies had a hand in allowing a problem of this magnitude to happen.
Speaking to a friendly audience in a state he won in 2008, Obama made the case for a government that plays a role in the lives of its people. He said it was a hands-off vision favored by many Republicans that led the country into an economic mess in the first place. “Their prescription for every challenge is pretty much the same and I don’t think I’m exaggerating here: basically cut taxes for the wealthy, cut rules for corporations and cut working folks loose to fend for themselves,” he said.
Also, seizing on a political opportunity, Obama blasted two Republican lawmakers for recent comments they made: Rep. Joe Barton’s (R-Texas) apology (which I believe is ill-advised) to BP for the $20 billion compensation fund the White House pressured the company to set up after the Gulf oil spill, and House Minority Leader John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) recent comment that the financial regulation bill Obama supports amounts to “killing an ant with a nuclear weapon.”
Obama, whose political strategy is to put the blame on Republicans for the economic crisis, as midterm elections loom, had this to say, “He (Boehner) can’t be that out of touch with the struggles of American families. If he is, then he has to come here to Racine and ask people what they think.”
Boehner’s response was quick: “The president should be focused on solving the problems of the American people———stopping the leaking oil and cleaning up the Gulf, scrapping his job-killing agenda, repealing and replacing ObamaCare———instead of my choice of metaphors.” While it’s only natural for Obama to defend his position with regard to the national debt and federal deficit, Gary D. Halbert, President and CEO of Forecasts & Trends, said it took the United States of America 233 years (1776-2009) to amass a national debt of $11 trillion. Yet Obama’s record large 2009 budget deficit estimated at $1.85 trillion and his own spending plans for the next 10 years (2010-2019) show that our national debt will likely double over the next 10 years. Using the Obama administration’s own projections, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that, including the record 2009 budget deficit of $1.85 trillion and huge annual deficits over 2009-2019, will result in an additional $11.1 trillion in national debt, on top of the current $11.4 trillion.
Keep in mind that these deficits do not include even half of the massive costs for Obama’s health insurance plan, which some experts now project will cost between $1.5 and $2 trillion over the next 10 years. Likewise, these projections do not include any money for the trillions that will have to be spent saving Social Security and Medicare over the next decade. Halbert emphasized that, whether you are a liberal or a conservative, these numbers should alarm you. If the national debt doubles over the next 10 years, it will almost certainly be a disaster for the U.S. dollar and the stock and bond markets. The largest foreign holders of US Treasury debt are already expressing concern about Obama’s record spending, and they could abandon the dollar and US Treasury securities if the national debt rises 50 percent over the next five years, and doubles over the next 10 years, as is projected by the CBO. Republicans are hammering Obama for running up a long-term bill for taxpayers, the same frustration that helped give rise to the Tea Party movement and that has made the budget deficit a bigger worry for voters across the spectrum. Obama’s comments about debt are meant to counter American voters’ opposition to bailout of Wall Street companies that started this economic crisis, with his own economic leadership in question. He promised that the matter would be a priority for him over the next couple of years, with help from a commission studying how to reduce costly safety-net programs. Still, the president defended as essential both the unprecedented stimulus spending and the massive aid given to big banks and auto companies. But while the economy seems to be improving, there are still concerns that the fragile recovery could spiral downward. A string of disappointing economic numbers, capped off by a dismal report on consumer confidence this week, has contributed to a slide in the markets. The unemployment rate is expected to hover around 10 percent through the end of the year which could haunt Obama and Democrats come 2012 presidential election. For the readers’ information, even Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke believes that the federal deficit is on an unsustainable path. And this, coming from a brilliant economist and a scholar, only underscores Republicans’ concern for Obama’s and his fellow Democrats’ deficit spending.
Erskine Bowles, former White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton and a cochair of the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (NCFRR), also presented an equally dire prediction: “If we don’t solve the debt problem, we will be paying $1 trillion in interest in 2020. That’s money we can’t spend on Social Security, Medicare, education, infrastructure and innovation to make sure America is competitive in a global economy. This debt is like a cancer growing within the country. To fix it, we’ve got to make decisions that are politically tough.”
Bowles is right on target. Polls show that majority of the Americans are more concerned about the federal budget deficit than any other problems related to the economy. Republicans, aware of voter anger about the growing national debt, are capitalizing on the situation. But they are willing to support extending the benefits if the bill was paid for which, I believe, is the right thing to do. They proposed using unspent money from Obama’s massive 2009 economic recovery package. Democrats rejected the offer, which I believe is wrong, saying the money was needed for jobs programs. Republicans rightfully claim that the stimulus package included plenty of pork for lawmakers’ pet projects that could be cut to cover the unemployment benefits. Mr. President, if you are really serious in cutting the national debt and federal budget deficit, maybe you should swallow your pride and listen to the Republicans, for a change.