12.02.11

The Chorus Grows: Obama’s Budget Represents Failure Of Leadership

“President Barack Obama has unveiled a hugely disappointing budget, cutting only a few percentage points from the $100,000bn in projected US federal deficits over the remainder of this century… If Mr Obama will not make this case, who will?” Financial Times, Obama’s budget shows failure of leadership

“The larger problem with the budget is the administration's refusal to confront the hard choices that Mr. Obama is so fond of saying must be faced.” Washington Post, President Obama's budget kicks the hard choices further down the road

“After three years of historic deficits that have added almost $4.5 trillion to the national debt, President Obama was finally going to get serious about fiscal discipline. Instead, what landed on Congress's doorstep on Monday was a White House budget that increases deficits above the spending baseline for the next two years. Hosni Mubarak was more in touch with reality last Thursday night.” Wall Street Journal, The Cee Lo Green Budget

“The White House's new budget is far worse than merely bad. By not attacking the underlying cause of our debt explosion and by raising taxes, it will lead inevitably to a weaker economy and perhaps even default.” Investor’s Business Daily, Obama's Gutless Budget Proposal

“Count us deeply disappointed by the $3.7 trillion budget that President Obama unveiled Monday… To really tackle the national debt, Mr. Obama needs to get off the sidelines, and start leading.” Orlando Sentinel, President Obama's budget plan falls short

“But the bottom line is that [President Obama is] figuring on reducing the deficit by $1.1 trillion over 10 years while his blue-ribbon commission said cutting four times that amount is critically necessary.” New York Daily News, Deficit of courage

“President Obama likes to talk about those ‘Sputnik moments’ when the nation rises to difficult challenges like the one posed by the Soviet space program in the 1950s. On Monday, he had a chance to turn his federal budget proposal into his own such moment. He whiffed.” USA Today, Obama's budget ducks tough choices

“Obama has all but ignored the recommendations of his own deficit reduction commission.” Indianapolis Star, We ignore 'red menace' at our peril

“President Obama's budget for fiscal year 2012 landed with a thud Monday, laying out short- and long-term tax and spending plans that disappointed lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The proposal was a remarkably tame response to Washington's fiscal problems, not the bold statement about belt-tightening that the White House had suggested was coming.” Los Angeles Times, Obama's overly tame budget

“Obama called the proposal one of ‘tough choices and sacrifices,’ yet it does not confront entitlements and continues to act as if government spending is the way to prosperity.” Denver Post, Obama budget still falls short

“In a crucial way, it lacks honesty.” San Francisco Chronicle, Obama's budget shies away from tough choices

“But taken as a whole, his proposal represents the third time in two months he has walked up to the challenge of curbing the deficit and more troubling long-term debt and turned away on leading the nation back from an impending fiscal nightmare.” Dallas Morning News, Obama, House GOP are failing America on deficit

“The flurry of deficit-reduction plans released late last year were supposed to kick off a national ‘adult conversation’ about the nation's metastasizing long-term debt problem. So when is that conversation going to begin? It certainly didn't happen on Monday when President Obama released his $3.7 trillion budget request for 2012.” Minneapolis Star Tribune, Slinking away from U.S. budget reality

“Instead of strict adherence to spending thrift, the president proposes open-ended spending on such luxuries as high-speed rail and continues to push the notion that government can become an effective investor in the private economy… Obama's plan is already on shaky ground.” Detroit News, Obama's budget slimming too mild

“This is, above all, an appalling failure of leadership. When we look back on this period a decade or two from now, I think we’ll identify this moment — the president’s decision about how to approach the budget battle of 2012 — as the last real opportunity we had for a gradual bipartisan course correction.” National Review, The Budget

“Obama's budget proposal is a remarkably weak and timid document… The president makes no serious attempt at cutting entitlement programs that threaten to drive the government into insolvency.” Washington Post’s Dana Milbank, In his new budget, Obama kicks the can one more time

“But we need a much more robust package of deficit and debt reduction over the medium- and long-term.  It is not enough to focus primarily on cutting the non-security discretionary part of the budget, which accounts for just 12 percent of spending this year.” Sen. Kent Conrad, Conrad Statement on President Obama's FY 2012 Budget