The Washington Post reports:
President Obama plans to convene his Cabinet for the first time today, and he will order its members to identify a combined $100 million in budget cuts over the next 90 days, according to a senior administration official....Earlier this month, both chambers of Congress passed Obama's $3.5 trillion budget outline for 2010, which includes unprecedented new investments in health care, education and energy. But the huge budget, which contemplates a $1.2 trillion deficit, has drawn the ire of small-government conservatives, who say that such high deficits jeopardize the nation's economic future.Just to be clear: $100 million represents .003 percent of $3.5 trillion.To put those numbers in perspective, imagine that the head of a household with annual spending of $100,000 called everyone in the family together to deal with a $34,000 budget shortfall. How much would he or she announce that spending had to be cut? By $3 over the course of the year--approximately the cost of one latte at Starbucks. The other $33,997? We can put that on the family credit card and worry about it next year.
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I'm just looking for a coherent argument from conservatives against increased spending during a recession. If recessions occur because consumer and investor spending tumbles, wouldn't the worst thing to do be a spending freeze? Even Bush, that faux-conservative, had to acknowledge this in the face of harsh criticism from within his own party for advancing the bailouts and stimuli.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the real argument against government spending?
Willing to listen,
your dear Lost Causes correspondent from the Left,
Joe