Here, Greg, this is 3 days old...

Thursday, March 26, 2009

The Republicans' Budget   [David Freddoso]

"It spends too much. It taxes too much. It borrows too much."

Someone, somewhere, must have a poll that shows voters react to this particular formula. I have heard dozens of Republicans use precisely those words in describing President Obama's massive budget proposal, and probably many more have as well.

More than a few conservatives wish that the Republicans had thought of this line in 2005 or 2006. But that doesn't mean they are wrong to use it now. Obama's budget, a $3.6 trillion version of which passed the House last night, is simply gargantuan by historical standards. The president's budget accumulates as much debt as did the first 43 presidents combined. The deficit for each and every year is larger than any of the deficits that President Bush ran when he had a docile Republican Congress, as Democrats complained loudly that those relatively small deficits endangered our future.

Obama's annual deficits for the next decade add up to a staggering $9.3 trillion, for a total debt greater than $23 trillion by 2019. That includes the savings brought about by withdrawing from Iraq. The president talks about including the Iraq War in his budget as a more honest way of presenting costs. It's really a clever way of masking, in part, the size of the new spending that will replace the disappearing costs of war.

In about an hour, Republicans will present their alternative budget on Capitol Hill. As President Obama pointed out in his news conference on Tuesday night, the Republican alternative will have to deal with many of the same realities that make the Obama budget so large — particularly the trillions of dollars committed in the form of long-term entitlements.

In a few minutes, I'll post a summary of Republicans' plans based on the materials they have distributed. They will be adding more details and answering reporters' questions later this morning.

03/26 10:52 AMShare