Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Those $2 trillion cuts

President Obama says he has identified $2 trillion in federal budget savings, to help reduce the deficit. He mentioned:

– Ending education programs "that don't work."
– Ending payments to large agribusiness companies "that don't need it."
– Ending no-bid contracts in Iraq.
– Reforming the defense budget, to get rid of unneeded Cold War-era weapons.
– Rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare.
– Ending tax breaks for corporations that "ship our jobs overseas."

There was much applause for each of those proposals. We think most of them would be excellent ideas. Call us cynical if you will. Call us jaded. But we are not holding our breath.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're too cynical. I'm sure he will "get rid of unneeded Cold War-era weapons" - by which he means fighter jets, bombers, ships, subs, and tanks. Because it's not like we'll need them to face down Iran, North Korea, China, etc. in years to come, and Dems can always agree to gut the military to pay for pork.

Anonymous said...

It was a ,” I need a boost in my approval ratings speech”. As Presidents, he can make promises because he knows no one will hold him to them. We just past 790 Billion in stimulus spending, loaded with pork and political payola, His approval ratings go down, and now we get a plan to cut waste in government. The Military has already retooled to a post cold war era force, medicare waste will only expand with increased government spending for the SCHIP program, (Coverage expanded to the age of 30), and claiming we will end Farm Subsidies for those who do not need them, is opposite to the goal of increased spending on alternative fuels, like biodiesel and ethanol, (corn is the most subsidized crop in the US, but needs it the least) We Will See.

Anonymous said...

"Ending education programs 'that don't work.'"

Hey, Gorman! Better blow the dust off that resume, son!

Anonymous said...

History........Anyone remember that Stuff?....

Under Glass/Stegall of 1933 nationally chartered banks were prohibited from 'buying, selling,or underwriting commercial securities."

Garn / St. Germain of 1982 basically removed that piece of leverage.

Through the '80's and '90's, banks gobbled banks and S&L's.........thousands of people made millions...

This isn't news.....it just tells you how we got here...