One of my favorite White House reporters of all time was Sam Donaldson. When Ronald Reagan would go off on a tangent that sounded great, but in reality didn’t seem to make sense, Donaldson would famously say, “Hold on Mr. President.” That’s kind of how I felt going through Barack Obama’s budget.
Budgets are supposed to be “your tax dollars at work.” Wouldn’t that be nice?
There are 3.6 trillion reasons to be concerned about the federal budget. That’s just about the size of it.
You’d think it would be time to save the spending for stimulus, you know, all those programs that will put America to work. Well, if you can believe it, I actually looked at the budget and found some increases THAT MAY NOT BE TIED TO STIMULUS! Politicians might just be putting money into pet programs, while nobody is looking. I’m shocked, SHOCKED!
For example, foreign aid. The State Department and other international programs will get a 41 percent boost in the budget. Foreign aid will be doubled. Of course, this makes sense. We should boost aid to buy back our international reputation. But now? It might be a good time to start at home.
The Commerce Department gets a 48 percent rise, with more money to climate change research, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation. I’m all for saving the whales, the polar bears and the snail darters. Research is obviously important, but do we really need 48 percent more of it?
The Environmental Protection agency’s budget is going up 35 percent.
And so on.
The GOP trotted out their new hope for the future, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. However, the Ivy League-educated Governor’s Republican response smacked of “Mr. Rogers Goes to the Think Tank.”
Newt Gingrich, the man who once made a contract with America, has a bunch of ideas. He reportedly suggests a tax holiday, with no corporate or personal income tax for a year. Gingrich feels that’s a much better way to stimulate spending. And, it puts Democrats on the defensive. But, none of his Republican colleagues has even bothered to propose it. Don’t look to the GOP for any brave new ideas.
The President has a health care agenda, a climate agenda and an education agenda. All admirable. But job one is creating jobs. If we don’t, all the rest won’t matter.
Dick Brennan
