For most American families, matching income with expenditures is a no-brainer. But not for a government that has run up more than $10 trillion in debt and is slated to gush a record $1.8 trillion in red ink this year. Full Story »
Posted by Derek Hawkins
Republicans complain the proposal covers only mandatory spending, and that discretionary spending — like the $787-billion stimulus bill passed earlier this year — wouldn’t be covered. A group of former members of Congress and Treasury officials, joined by former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker, issued a statement saying the proposal “is like quitting drinking, but making an exception for beer and hard liquor.”
Americans are getting sticker shock on the cost of government. Obama remains personally popular, but a May 29-31 USA Today-Gallup poll showed that 51% of Americans disapprove of the way he is controlling federal spending. The government balanced the budget under the last Democratic president, Bill Clinton, but began running bigger and bigger deficits under Republican George W. Bush. But Obama’s current deficit dwarfs any previous one.
