Deficit Reduction Rises on Public's Agenda for Obama's Second Term

[Stephanie]

It's a shame Obama and Democrats don't give a damn what the PEOPLE think...Guess where gun control comes in at?
Links and poll at site

SNIP:
Public's Policy Priorities: 1994-2013

Overview

When Barack Obama took office four years ago, reducing the budget deficit was a middle-tier item on the public’s agenda. Only about half of Americans (53%) viewed it as a top policy priority in January 2009, placing it ninth on a list of 20 policy goals.

But as Obama begins his second term, only the economy and jobs are viewed as more important priorities for the coming year. Currently, 72% say that reducing the budget deficit should be a top priority, up 19 points from four years ago. (Click here for a graphic of the public’s 2013 priorities).

All of it here
Deficit Reduction Rises on Public?s Agenda for Obama?s Second Term | Pew Research Center for the People and the Press

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - ya can't have it both ways...

Having Added Record $5.9T to Debt, Obama Claims He’s Cut Deficit $2.5T
February 19, 2013 - President Barack Obama claimed today that since he has been president both parties have worked together to cut the federal deficit by $2.5 trillion—despite the fact that the national debt has increased $5.19 trillion during Obama’s presidency, which more than it increased under all presidents from George Washington through Bill Clinton combined.

“Over the last few years both parties have worked together to reduce our deficits by more than $2.5 trillion,” Obama said in a speech at the White House in which he called on Congress to avoid modest automatic cuts in anticipated spending that are set to begin on March 1. “More than two thirds of that was through some pretty tough spending cuts,” Obama said. “The rest of it was through raising taxes, tax rates, on the wealthiest one percent of Americans. And together, when you take the spending cuts and the increased tax rates on the top one percent, it puts us more than half way to the goal of $4 trillion in deficit reduction that economists say we need to stabilize our finances.”

In August 2011, Obama and House Speaker John Boehner cut a deal to give Obama an additional $2.4 trillion in borrowing authority, which Obama had entirely used up by Dec. 31. 2012. The legislation that Obama and Boehner agreed to back in 2011 also said that starting two years later, in fiscal 2013, Congress and the president would begin cutting about $1.2 trillion from the anticipated spending that the government would do in the following ten years. Automatic across-the-board cuts in anticipated federal spending—split between defense and domestic spending--were supposed to begin on Jan. 1, if, by that date, Congress and the president had not agreed to an alternative package of equivalent cuts.

Instead, Obama and Congress made the so-called “fiscal cliff” deal, which increased federal taxes, but postponed the automatic cuts in anticipated spending until March 1, and reduced them from about $109 billion for this year to $85 billion. When Obama was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2009, the federal government’s debt was $10,626,877,048,913.08. As of the close of business on Feb. 14, 2013, the federal government’s debt was $16,540,800,290,147.46. Thus, since Obama has been president, the federal debt has increased $5,913,923,241,234.38. That is more than all the debt accumulated by all the presidents from George Washington through Bill Clinton.

The federal debt was last below $5.913 trillion on Feb. 1, 2002, when George W. Bush was president. Federal spending and federal deficits have both increased sharply under President Obama. In fiscal 2008, the last full fiscal year before Obama took office, the federal government spent $2.9716 trillion. In fiscal 2012, the federal government spent $3.538 trillion. In fiscal 2008, the federal deficit was $454.8 billion. In fiscal 2012, it was $1.2967 trillion. By this measure, President Obama did not reduce federal deficits by $2.5 trillion. He increased the annual deficit by $841.9 billion.

Source

See also:

Obama: Sequester Will Furlough FBI, 'Let Criminals Go'
February 19, 2013 – President Barack Obama warned that if the automatic cuts in the sequester take effect next week, criminals will go free, parents will lose day care and airport security will be compromised.

“As a consequence, we’ve got these automatic, brutal spending cuts that are poised to happen next Friday,” Obama said Tuesday flanked by emergency responders. “Now if Congress allows this meat cleaver approach to take place, it will jeopardize our military readiness, it will eviscerate job creating investments, education, energy, medical research. “It won’t consider whether we’re cutting some bloated program that has outlived its usefulness or a vital service that Americans depend on every day. It doesn’t make those distinctions,” the president said.

Obama signed into law and Congress agreed to increase the debt limit by $2.4 trillion in August 2011, President Barack Obama is invoking bipartisanship and calling on Congress to pass new legislation that repeals those cuts and replaces them with smaller ones. According to the book, “The Price of Politics” by Bob Woodward, the sequester was the idea of the White House. “Border Patrol agents will see their hours reduced,” Obama said. “FBI agents will be furloughed. Federal prosecutors will have to close cases and let criminals go. Air traffic controllers and airport security will see cutbacks, which means more delays in airports across the country. “Thousands of teachers and educators will be laid off, and thousands of parents will have to scramble to find childcare for their kids. Hundreds of thousands of Americans will lose access to primary care, preventative care, flu vaccinations and cancer screenings,” he added.

Under the terms of the sequestration deal reached in 2011 – the Budget Control Act – the Office of Management and Budget is responsible for coming up with $1.2 trillion in cuts in discretionary appropriations and mandatory spending – divided equally among defense and non-defense – to take place between 2013 and 2021.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said no one wants the sequester and called on Obama to work with Congress. “Today the president advanced an argument Republicans have been making for a year: his sequester is the wrong way to cut spending,” Boehner said in a statement. “That’s why the House has twice passed legislation to replace it with common sense cuts and reforms that won’t threaten public safety, national security, or our economy. “But once again, the president offered no credible plan that can pass Congress – only more calls for higher taxes,” Boehner continued. “Just last month, the president got his higher taxes on the wealthy, and he’s already back for more. The American people understand that the revenue debate is now closed. “We should close loopholes and carve-outs in the tax code, but that revenue should be used to lower rates across the board. Tax reform is a once-in-a generation opportunity to boost job creation in America. It should not be squandered to enable more Washington spending. Spending is the problem, spending must be the focus,” Boehner said.

Source

Related:

Republicans Would Rather Protect the Wealthy Than First Responders, Obama Says
February 19, 2013 - President Barack Obama says his top priority -- the "north star" of his second-term -- is to do "everything we can to grow the economy and create good, middle-class jobs." And that means taking more tax money from wealthy Americans, on top of the higher tax rates that Congress went along with a few months ago.

Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, President Obama said Republicans have a choice: "Do you want to see a bunch of first responders lose their jobs because you want to protect some special interest tax loophole?" He was surrounded by emergency responders as he spoke. Obama said Democrats have proposed a "balanced plan" to avoid the sequester -- the deep, automatic, across-the-board spending cuts that will take effect on March 1 unless Congress agrees on a different way to reduce the deficit. Balance means higher taxes. "I know that Republicans have proposed some ideas, too," Obama said. "I have to say, though -- so far, at least -- the ideas that Republicans have proposed ask nothing of the wealthiest Americans or the biggest corporations. So the burden is all on first responders, or seniors, or middle class families."

Obama said Republicans have expressed a preference for huge budget cuts to take effect rather than close a single tax loophole for the wealthiest Americans. "Well, that's not balanced. That would be like Democrats saying we have to close our deficits without any spending cuts whatsoever -- it's all taxes. That's not the position Democrats have taken, it's certainly not the postion I've taken. "So now Republicans in Congress face a simple choice: Are they willing to compromise to protect vital investments in education and health care and national security and all the jobs that depend on them, or would they rather put hundreds of thousands of jobs and our economy at risk just to protect a few special interest tax loopholes that benefit only the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations? That's the choice," Obama said. "Do you want to see a bunch of first responders lose their jobs because you want to protect some special interest tax loophole? "Are you willing to have teachers laid off, or kids not have access to head start, or deeper cuts in student loan programs, just because you want to protect special itnerest tax loopholes that the vast majority of Americans don't benefit from?" Obama said he will not sign a plan that harms the middle class.

Obama got his tax increases, Republicans say

 

[RoadVirus]

Republicans Would Rather Protect the Wealthy Than First Responders, Obama Says
February 19, 2013 - President Barack Obama says his top priority -- the "north star" of his second-term -- is to do "everything we can to grow the economy and create good, middle-class jobs." And that means taking more tax money from wealthy Americans, on top of the higher tax rates that Congress went along with a few months ago.

Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, President Obama said Republicans have a choice: "Do you want to see a bunch of first responders lose their jobs because you want to protect some special interest tax loophole?" He was surrounded by emergency responders as he spoke. Obama said Democrats have proposed a "balanced plan" to avoid the sequester -- the deep, automatic, across-the-board spending cuts that will take effect on March 1 unless Congress agrees on a different way to reduce the deficit. Balance means higher taxes. "I know that Republicans have proposed some ideas, too," Obama said. "I have to say, though -- so far, at least -- the ideas that Republicans have proposed ask nothing of the wealthiest Americans or the biggest corporations. So the burden is all on first responders, or seniors, or middle class families."

Obama said Republicans have expressed a preference for huge budget cuts to take effect rather than close a single tax loophole for the wealthiest Americans. "Well, that's not balanced. That would be like Democrats saying we have to close our deficits without any spending cuts whatsoever -- it's all taxes. That's not the position Democrats have taken, it's certainly not the postion I've taken. "So now Republicans in Congress face a simple choice: Are they willing to compromise to protect vital investments in education and health care and national security and all the jobs that depend on them, or would they rather put hundreds of thousands of jobs and our economy at risk just to protect a few special interest tax loopholes that benefit only the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations? That's the choice," Obama said. "Do you want to see a bunch of first responders lose their jobs because you want to protect some special interest tax loophole? "Are you willing to have teachers laid off, or kids not have access to head start, or deeper cuts in student loan programs, just because you want to protect special itnerest tax loopholes that the vast majority of Americans don't benefit from?" Obama said he will not sign a plan that harms the middle class.

Obama got his tax increases, Republicans say

Why do we need more taxes? The Republicans agreed to raise taxes at the beginning of the year. What we need now is what was promised by Obama: SPENDING CUTS! And not just spending cuts in the military. I'm talking about cuts in the welfare system and in other places that are bloated.

This just goes to prove that Obama is a liar and not serious about spending cuts