Posted on 03/04/2009 9:38:35 AM PST by reaganaut1
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Wednesday blamed soaring budget deficits partly on failure by the former Bush administration to make needed investments in energy security and healthcare.
"We begin our time in office after a long period in which our government was unwilling to make the long-term investments required to meet critical challenges in health care, energy and education," he said in prepared remarks to the Senate Finance Committee.
The Obama administration is projecting a deficit of $1.8 trillion, or 12.3 percent of gross domestic product, in fiscal 2009, which ends September 30. Geithner said $1.3 trillion of that total was inherited from the Bush administration.
Most of his testimony echoed remarks he delivered on Tuesday to the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.
Geithner told lawmakers on Tuesday that $43 billion of new investments will be made in clean energy technology, but on Wednesday he boosted that estimate to $65 billion.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Bush does deserve some blame for not restraining spending, but Obama is far worse.
Pay your taxes and shut up !!!
“U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Wednesday blamed soaring budget deficits partly on failure by the former Bush administration to make needed investments in energy security and healthcare.”
The deficits are because Bush didn’t overspend enough?
Maybe it would help for our Treasury Sec’y to take a GED math test first before we offer him/her the position.
“an effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as intellectuals.” ...Spiro T. Agnew, 1969
Perfect characterization of Zer0’s flunkies
Somebody tell him there’s no more room under the bus. Hey Dems: It’s all your’s now baby!
Will someone tell me when the Statute of Limitations expires on the Blame Bush line.
Let me get this straight...
Part of the deficit problem is that we didn’t spend enough???
Seriously?
And this guy is the one in charge of printing money and protecting the President - Wow.
That’s realy easy, it’s called THE BLAME GAME. And as long as you can make someone else have the blame, no one will have any right or have confidence in him to fix the problem, until they own up to a Democratic Congress which led a run away budgetary plan, that THEN Senator Obama voted for, everytime.
Bastards are masters of deceit. Define your opponent as the cause. Classic Marxist techniques.
Where the hell is the GOP today?? Any counter attacks planned? Nope, just raising money from fools today so we can lose the next election....
Somebody, PLEAESE, find me a conservative party to join!
Oh boy, a partisan Sec. of the Treasury. No surpise there. I suppose the deficit would be less if people paid their taxes, right Turbo Tax Timmy?
The run away entitlement spending, debt service and defense costs are what are killing the budget. Bush spent a bunch on defense and last I checked no one has died in a massive terror attack on American soil. Clinton showed what happens when you don’t invest in security.
But, Obama could have said, “no more spending”. He could have refused to back the bail outs and his budget requests could have taken steps to restore fiscal sanity but, no, can’t have that.
Thinking your revenues will continue to gorw forever is just stupid and both parties share in this blame.
I will wager that Rush will cream Geithner before the end of today’s show. Of course, that shouldn’t be entirely up to Rush. The RNC should let the Dems have it with both barrels, as you very well stated.
This unspeakable worm must believe everyone else in the country is a moron. What a way to live.
This from a guy who ran part of the FED the last 7 years....and never - not a single time - raised his hand to suggest there was trouble on the horizon.
:::rolls eyes:::
Have they stopped blaming Hoover for the Depression yet?
With all due respect Mr. Secretary (which isn't much), bullsh*t. The budget is the Obama administration's budget - not former President Bush's administration's.
Is Geithner trying to say Obama and crew are not responsible-for nor accountable-for the bad things that come out of their budget? What kind of fresh BS is this? They want to take credit for what good things (if any) come from their spending, they also have to own up to the negatives, which look to be considerable.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.