Geithner Blames Budget Woes on Bush Administration

Reuters ^ | March 4, 2009 | Glenn Somerville

[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.

[roj]

It’s one thing to fall behind on taxes, but it’s another thing to be paid the money to pay the taxes and refuse to do so. Besides, how can you have confidence in a guy who can’t tie his tie right?

[xkaydet65]

Would someone explain how not creating a nationalized health system has contributed to our budget and financial woes. As for energy, Pres. Bush's ties with the middle east sheiks certainly did this country no good, but he did oversee an opening of homeland areas in which to drill. The current occupant of 1600 has done nothing more than talk about the modern equivelant of burning buffalo chips and using hamster wheels to generate energy. Meanwhile we are still importing 65-75 % of our energy needs.

Of course when the haloed one's cap and trade takes effect we will have no worries as most will have to choose between energy and food. Buffalo chips may be more appreciated at that time.

[Southack]

"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..."

LOL! President Bush fully funded the *new* No Child Left Behind educational boost to federal spending (highest raise in school spending ever), opened up off-shore oil drilling and fully filled the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserves, as well as fully funded prescription drugs for all U.S. senior citizens.

That the Left is reduced to outright lies in order to slander Bush just goes to show that they never had a viable platform of their own.

[RichInOC]

Democratic Congress spends like a drunken sailor who just hit the Mega Millions. Democratic president signs off on it.

Bush’s fault!

[lmr]

Good points.

[elpadre]

Geithner was a conspirator in the Fall meltdown. One commentator back then gave him credit for the bailout plan.

[GSWarrior]

Whom did George Washington blame his administration’s woes on?

[farmer18th]

I couldn’t quite believe the Drudge headline that a U.S. Secretary of the Treasury actually allowed the words “global warming” or “climate change” to slip out without so much as a snicker.

If there were any doubt, this completely dispells it: Geithner is a loon. We have a half-wit for a Treasury Secretary.

[10Ring]

I would say he was really the architect. I love to keep articles from last September handy for days that Timmy testifies. When he gets going with his whoppers it's great to refer to quotes like this from the LA Times on 9/20/08:

Geithner's staff over previous weeks had studied the probable fallout of a potential Lehman bankruptcy and advised that the coming days, though difficult, would probably not be disastrous. He was ready to launch an effort to contain the damage in the financial markets.

Probably used the same study techniques for his budget.