A year ago, President Obama left a gaping hole in his budget, but promised that his deficit commission would fix it. On Monday, he released his new budget and the hole remains, though this time he dropped the semblance of a fix and instead accepted that his budget shows deficits for the foreseeable future.
While he does call for some tax increases and spending cuts, Mr. Obama‘s 2012 spending plan doesn’t deal with the rising costs of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, failing to take advantage of several of the commission’s recommendations aimed at curbing the costs of the fastest-growing parts of the federal budget.
As a result, several budget analysts said, Mr. Obama missed a golden opportunity to prove he’s serious about reducing the nation’s annual trillion-dollar deficits and overall $14.1 trillion federal debt.
While he does call for some tax increases and spending cuts, Mr. Obama‘s 2012 spending plan doesn’t deal with the rising costs of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, failing to take advantage of several of the commission’s recommendations aimed at curbing the costs of the fastest-growing parts of the federal budget.
As a result, several budget analysts said, Mr. Obama missed a golden opportunity to prove he’s serious about reducing the nation’s annual trillion-dollar deficits and overall $14.1 trillion federal debt.
Comment