- President Calls For Spending Restraint
Come on. This is from The Onion, isn't it?
Posted on 02/01/2006 8:49:34 AM PST by Reagan Man
President George W. Bush’s State of the Union address called for restraining federal spending, reforming runaway entitlements, and making permanent the tax cuts that are set to expire in the years ahead. President Bush proposed much less new spending than is typical in a State of the Union address and called for savings of $14 billion next year alone. However, the President declined to reveal his goal for total spending next year, and the tradeoff he envisions between new spending and any savings will not be known until his budget is released next week. As the President said, progress in slowing the growth of federal spending must continue. The real test for President Bush this legislative year will be whether he enforces spending restraint with a veto, if necessary.
The President emphasized that 77 million retiring baby boomers will push the cost of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid to an unsustainable level. Indeed, these programs are projected to double in size over the next 25 years, from 8 percent of GDP today to over 16 percent, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Unless these programs are reformed, the nation will face tax increases that bring the total level of taxation to European levels, the elimination of nearly all other federal programs, or a massive, unprecedented federal debt that would place the entire economy at risk. To address this looming crisis, the President proposed a bipartisan commission on entitlements that will focus on actual policy solutions rather than political gamesmanship. Commission recommendations for entitlement reform should quickly become legislation, because each year of delay makes reform more painful and more costly.
While competitiveness is an important issue, the President’s call for large increases in research and development spending is not the answer. Since 2000, such spending has surged 58 percent to $132 billion with little to show for it. Instead, these spending programs have placed Washington in the impossible role of selecting marketplace winners and losers through its grants. The result thus far has been too many programs like the notorious Advanced Technology Program, which provides millions of dollars to Fortune 500 companies and has very little technological innovation to show for it. Lawmakers should focus on fixing the current failed research and development programs rather than layering more costly programs on top of them.
The President’s calls for eliminating 140 outdated federal programs and paring back congressional pork projects will help restrain the growth of government. However, last year Congress terminated only 24 of the 99 programs that the President had hoped to end, despite strong evidence of these programs’ failures. Acknowledging the need to reform the role of earmarks in the budget process, President Bush should exert strong leadership to end the corrupting earmarking practice. The record 13,999 pork projects in 2005 forced hard-working taxpayers to fund things like the Please Touch Museum and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. More than merely wasteful, pork invites corruption, encourages big government, distracts lawmakers from vigorous oversight, and compromises lawmaker independence. Eliminating outdated programs and wasteful pork projects will make Washington more efficient and accountable. If necessary, a veto would be instrumental in enforcing discipline.
hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now where is that pesky veto pen again????
I call for him to use his veto pen.
Come on. This is from The Onion, isn't it?
zzzzzzzzz wake me up when congress follows this advice.
Should've used it for Campaing Finance too instead of relying on the court......
Taxpayers Call For President To Find Veto Pen.
Exactly. All he has to do is use it, instead of endlessly talking about it.
It's a good thing this is written down because the funnier a joke is, the harder it is for me to remember.
First Bush spoke and then took action. Bush and the GOP Congresss created the largest welfare entitlement program since Medicare was created under LBJ. The new prescription drug program will cost taxpayers a trillion dollars. Bush doubled the budget for the Education Department and signed into law three bureaucratic boondoggles. The transportation bill, farm bill and energy bill.
Bush and the GOP Congress love big goverment Republicanism. While the conservative agenda suffers.
"Yeah, funny how the Whine All the Time Choir scream for veto's of bills that all ready passed the Congress with more then enough votes to override the veto. Guess the Whiners all slept thru their High School Civics classes. Wonder when the Winers will actually develop the guts to call the CONGRESS to account for it's out of control spending? Guess it is just easier for the half dozen or so pseudo Conservative Freepers to just mindlessly regurgitate the same old whines day after day after day then actually DO something about the REAL problem."
You really need to learn a different song - only the choir thinks that one is good.
Before he called for more programs.
"WHAAAAAAA! I hate Bush. He is not doing what I want! Whaaaaa!" Gee wonder when the 100%ers will actually learn that we are a Constitutional Republic NOT the Presidential Dictatorship of their fantasies
Oh get it over already. People are tired of your posts accusing FReepers of whining about Bush when it is YOU who is doing the whining.
Bush has the authority to veto spending bills, or did you not learn about this in school?
He is the biggest Bush apologizer on FR and a typical Bush sycophant.
But you knew that already. ;^)
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