FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
You gotta love it. President Obama is submitting a $3.8 trillion budget. It contains a deficit of $1.6 trillion just for this year. That's an all-time record.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/01/art.budget.jpg caption="Pres. Obama, flanked by Treasury Sec. Timothy Geithner (L) and White House budget director Peter Orszag, speaks about his proposed $3.8 trillion budget for fiscal year 2011."]
It will all be done with much hand-wringing about how important it is to get the deficit under control. And they don't think we know any better.
At his State of the Union address, President Obama proposed freezing discretionary federal spending in an effort to save some money. The projection is that this courageous move will amount to a total savings of about $250 billion dollars… over the next ten years. That's one-sixth of the deficit for next year.
The White House claims that the President's budget will reduce the national debt by $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years. That's making a lot of assumptions about how Congress will vote on the parts of the budget designed to reduce the debt. Don't hold your breath.
And they say these things with a straight face…as though we're morons. Maybe we are. We keep electing the same people to Congress who are bankrupting the country.
Last week there was an estimate that the United States will be bankrupt within seven to 10 years. The mightiest economy the world has ever known is going under because the people in Washington refuse to rein in spending. It's an absolute disgrace.
But maybe we can help them.
Here’s my question to you: How would you cut government spending?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Janne from North Carolina writes:
5% off the top of everything. Nothing spared. Then I would charge everyone, from the person making $100 to the person making a billion a 5% deficit tax. No exemptions no exceptions. Last of all, I would require a federal balanced budget amendment. I guarantee by the time we get done paying all of that we would never let our elected officials get so carried away with our money again. Now tell me, does any of that sound complicated?
Michael writes:
If you want to stop spending, cut the empire. We do not need to spend billions of dollars on a military based on the Cold War. China is not going to attack; we owe them too much money.
Casey writes:
I wouldn't, Jack. Not right now at least, not at a time when the government needs to be spending to boost the economy. What the real problem here is that we've been operating under a tax policy for the last decade that refuses to take in enough revenue to cover our budget–or even cut down on the deficit to a substantial degree.
Charlotte from Wilmington, North Carolina writes:
Jack, Your comments are incendiary! People who serve in government are not infallible but it isn't helpful to trash them the way you've been doing tonight. They are the people who are in government now. I'd really like to see us communicate more with our elected officials. I worked on the Hill for years and I know they listen.
Brad from Oakland, California writes:
70% of the federal budget is spent on Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, National Defense, and interest on the debt. Any Congressional effort to cut the deficit without addressing these programs will be as successful as trying to save a sinking ship by bailing water with a tea cup.
Ali writes:
Jack, It's simple: you fire the government. It's about time for change.