President Obama, PAYGO, and the Deficit Hole

BO is grasping for straws. He has no idea what he’s doing.

Obama is a moron. He was never qualified to be president. The DNC and the media shoved him on us. He is not my president.

Amazing…WHO could have guessed…this President is calling for “quick action” by the congress!
Of course this is a “good idea”. Both parties at different times have tried this. Of course since the entitlement programs are never part of it, IT ALWAYS FAILS. Since NO politician who wants to be re-elected will ever suggest that the entitlement programs be open to cuts, ALL of this is just more of same of saying something knowing you will DO nothing.
The president is talking proof of it…Notice he said Entitlement Increases….No talking about decreases.
Does anyone still think that if your under the 250k “Obama” line, that your taxes are NOT going to be increased to pay for this administration’s policies?
If your a smoker, THEY ALREADY HAVE!!!!!!

Obama is the best “FLIMFLAM Man” ever to hold the office of KING of AMERICA!!
He is not my President either!!

You’ve GOT to be kidding me. Mr. Fiscal Responsibility?

Mike_C:”Of course since the entitlement programs are never part of it, IT ALWAYS FAILS.”
There was a surplus for a few years under Clinton (the national DEBT went down). Part of that was thanks to paygo’s drag on spending.

Seriously ?? This guy have some nerve , doesn’t he ? I have laugh sooooo hard that my jaws hurt !! There is no question that he is lost so all of those who have blindly follow him. Joe Biden 2012 !!! LMAO

I think the right wingers might be wondering where Mr. Hyde came from..

Ummm right wingers are arguing against this?
Posted by: Ryan C |
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Not everyone has a schoogirl crush on POTUS.

The bi-polar disorder that exists in Washington continues. Depending on the week, we hear about the need and the plans for another spending plan to boost the economy. The next week, we hear about curtailing spending. The left hand is using one form of sign language while the right hand another. Meanwhile, the truth is covered under a giant TARP.

As usual, the haters here got nuthin.

Great notion but I’ll believe it when i see it. If he actually reverses his spending policies I’m all for it.
If it is anything like his “transparency” it is just more smoke and mirrors.
If genuine it should be interesting how he is going to fund his programs with “no tax increases on those below $250K” since it is a mathematical impossibility. However I seriously doubt he has reversed course on fiscal policy.

Paygo is Obama’s excuse to raise taxes. It is no surprise he waited until after his record setting, deficit quadrupling, pork and earmark laden spending before discussing Paygo.
I would suggest that before he raise taxes:
Rescind the failed stimulus
Rescind the 9000 earmarks
Rescind all unnecessary spending and funneling of money to euro banks for bailouts as Obama did funneling 200 billion to eurobanks through AIG,
and within the past few days funneled 2 billion tax dollars through GM to bail out Delphi.
Stop and rescind the wasteful spending then we can talk about taxes. Don’t come to me for more when you have used billions to payoff Obama union buddies and other supporters.

Nicole: You are so right! Washington is bi-polar.

According to the article Obama’s poll numbers are going DOWN..People are waking up to the fact that he is all talk and no action.

“President Obama today hailed the record surpluses of the 1990s, when the “PAYGO” rules were in place, and said it was no coincidence when it was abandoned by the Bush administration there was a return to deficits and an increase to the national debt”. Mr Obama you forgot to mention three things that ate up the surplus money. 1.)Sept. 11, 2001 and all that was needed for that. 2.) War in Irag 3.) War in Iran. All this was approved by both sides of the House and Senate. We will never know what President Bush tour in the Office would have been like here in the United States because he never had a chance, with 2 wars and 9/11. So Mr. O quit blaming President Bush for all the troubles.

Laura – War in Iran? HUH?

Our Constitution guarantees separation of Church and State by prohibiting the government from recognizing one religion above others. It DOES NOT guarantee religious institutions would not have to pay taxes.
This is an incredible source of untapped income for both federal and local governments. Religious organizations own quite a bit of land in this country. Don’t they use the same resources everyone else does? The resources paid for by property taxes? Streets, street lighting, fire and police departments, garbage collection, etc. This overlooked but appropriate source of revenue could help prevent further municipal job losses, meaning more people spending money and paying income taxes.
Religious organizations are corporations. They should be paying corporate income taxes. Granted, they operate differently from any other corporation, but there is no reason they should tax exempt.
Clergy pay income taxes, but it’s calculated differently and they have some benefits the rest of us don’t. Maybe they shouldn’t have those additional benefits.

Schizophrenic fiscal and monetary policies.

“According to the article Obama’s poll numbers are going DOWN..People are waking up to the fact that he is all talk and no action.”
For the last 3 months Obama’s RCP avg of polls(5 latest weeklies and the two dailies) has been no lower than 59.4 and and no higher than 62.8.
His approval ratings have been remarkably consistent.

“Not everyone has a schoogirl crush on POTUS.”
Oh I see.
I pointed how right wingers are really with out principle or ideas.
Just kneejerk hate of Obama.

When the people recall the surpluses of the Clinton years with such fondness, they forget that those only came about after the republicans took control in ’94. That was before the republicans came down with DC disease and started spending like crazy in the recent years. But things really started to go down hill in 2007 when the Dems again took over and dramatically increased spending. Now that we have both a spendthrift congress and a spendthrift president, there is really no hope. Both Dems and Repubs are to blame. We are spending our grand children’s money. The money they will be able to pay in taxes will be spent to repay our debt, not providing the services they need. Stop the spending congress and Mr. Obama, just stop!

Lumberman_63, you really want us to cut Bush some slack because his troubles were due to two wars HE CREATED, BY LYING TO CONGRESS AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE? Congress’ approval was based on the information they were given, which turned out to be totally made up.
Yes, I DO blame him. Did you read how 69 billion of tarp money is being paid back? There will be more.
I also hate seeing money go to banks and automakers, but I would hate more to see the impact of letting them, their suppliers, and other businesses that depend on them fail. Nor do we need the additional unemployed.

“According to the article Obama’s poll numbers are going DOWN..People are waking up to the fact that he is all talk and no action.”
For the last 3 months Obama’s RCP avg of polls(5 latest weeklies and the two dailies) has been no lower than 59.4 and and no higher than 62.8.
His approval ratings have been remarkably consistent.
Posted by: Ryan C | Jun 9, 2009 5:57:58 PM
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Apples and oranges. He is talking about the polls on Obama’s POLICIES. Obama himself has a higher approval rating from cult of personality.

If we do that we better expand it to all organizations that are tax exempt. Nice try to single out religion but the same logic applies to everything including ALL organizations that help people via private means.
If you’re all for that scope that’s cool I disagree but that’s a valid point. If you want to limit it to religion you’re playihg partisan politics.
Posted by: Cryos | Jun 9, 2009 6:00:41 PM
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Simple solution . Only 100% non-profits get exempt status. See how simple that was? Churches are not non-profit ,at least not most.
Check the books and see…but just one thing…let the irs do the checking tho ,not some wacko from waco type.

Another note. In 2009-2010 Fannie/Freddie will pay out more in executive bonuses than AIG. I bet you didn’t know that fact either. Funny how that got passing mention yet AIG was mainstream for weeks.

I see Obama is blowing with the wind of the Polls.
Must have learned that trick from his Secretary of State (and her hubby).

“He is talking about the polls on Obama’s POLICIES.”
Here’s the summary from Gallup
“This latest Gallup Poll shows that the U.S. public has significantly differentiated views on various dimensions relating to Obama. Americans are most positive when asked about their basic opinions of Obama as a person. They also are positive when asked to assess his overall job performance, and on aspects of his performance relating to foreign and international issues. Americans have become increasingly less positive about Obama’s handling of the economy in recent months, and are most negative when asked to say whether they approve of his handling of the federal deficit and federal spending.
The good news for Obama is that the public continues to be quite positive when asked to rate him as a person and to rate his overall job performance — both of which are presumably summaries of Americans’ views of their president across all of the ways in which he could be evaluated. Obama’s favorable rating is higher than were those of Bush or Clinton at this point in the first months of their presidencies, and his approval rating is also higher than those for Bush, Clinton, or Bush the elder in May of their first year in office.”

“The stock market is NOT way up during Obama’s tenure so how can you call anyone a moron?”
Jan 20th Dow Jones opens at 8279.
June 9th Dow closes at 8763.
I think stating that it is way up is an exaggeration but it is up.

The only hope for fiscal responsibility is to never elect a Republican president again. There is no guarantee of responsibility from the Dems, but no hope at all for the GOP.

“Democrats are on record wanting to further deregulate these government sponsored companies up to February 2008.”
Senator John McCain’s campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations, current and former officials say.

I guess facts/statistics aren’t going to help then,unfortunately .
Posted by: Moron Slapper |
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Unemployment is way up though but don’t tell me, let me guess. That’s all bushes’ fault.

“Gallup?!?! Bwahaha. Who’d they poll? ACORN? They should poll the GM and Chrysler workers who recently lost their jobs.”
I imagine Obama would fare better among GM & Chrysler workers than the right wingers and Republicans who blasted their unions.

Obama’s own projection for the unemployment rate at this point was 8% or less. It’s 9.4%.”
Yes, but we are seeing less in jobless claims that has been projected.
“And the U6 measurement (unemployment+underemployment) is 16.4%.”
I am heartened to see a right winger use the U6.
Unfortunately it was nearly that high in Feb.

“Democrats are on record wanting to further deregulate these government sponsored companies up to February 2008.”
Senator John McCain’s campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations, current and former officials say.
Posted by: Ryan C | Jun 9, 2009 6:22:26 PM
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Very poor deflection attempt which brings me to another point. If that is your non-response to the giant Fannie/Freddie issue I think you are conceding that democrats are the PRIMARY ones behind Fannie/Freddie and that the housing situation was largely bipartisan. It wasn’t “capitalism failing.”
When a committee vote was imminent on Fannie/Freddie regulation, Fannie/Freddie started lobbying and spent $200 million lobbying specific republicans (ones up for re-election primarily) to stop the bill from going to the floor and republicans having enough votes to pass it.
Would you care to comment on the actions of democrats in February 2008 regarding deregulation? Here’s a snippet from an article.
“Democrats in Congress and some mortgage industry officials have been calling on Mr. Lockhart to loosen controls over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac so the companies could play a more active role in the housing market by buying bigger and more risky home loans and securities backed by those mortgages. On Wednesday, Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, welcomed the lifting of the portfolio caps and called on Mr. Lockhart to go even further by removing the excess capital requirement.
While Democrats have advocated lifting restrictions on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Bush administration and the Federal Reserve have insisted that the companies deserve close scrutiny because of their large role in the mortgage and financial markets.”

Pay As You Go – Is really just Obama’s way of “Taxing Republicans As We Go.” Nothing new here – more wealth distribution and shaking down hard working Americans to pay for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, ACORN, and the UAW.

Ryan C as an added note to my post one point liberals used against conservatives was that removing the regulations for capital requirements was a major issue. It has come to light that in some areas Fannie/Freddie was leveraged 100 to 1.
Can you explain that and why if democrats were against removing capital requirements why in February 2008 they pushed to lower capital requirements for fannie/freddie?

It is too late to pay as you go! With trillions in deficit spending we new spending must be more than offset.

Ryan C: “I am heartened to see a right winger use the U6. Unfortunately it was nearly that high in Feb.”
But Obama promised that the “stimulus” bill was supposed to LOWER unemployment. It didn’t. Left wingers have short memories.

Posted by: Ryan C | Jun 9, 2009 6:41:42 PM
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Oops I used the wrong term. Cuts in HUMINT not ELINT.
Saying the military cuts were Cold War drawdowns is highly debatable and not too genuine.
So far as the economy are you saying that the dotcom bubble wasn’t a fake set of promises never delivered? Wow. Sorry not letting you scapegoat out of that one.
This would also be a disingenuous talking point but you could say that Clinton helped along the late 90s economy to make his contributor Bill Gates the richest man in the world. If there was ever a case of “getting his buddies rich” that is prime.
Also interested on your insight into Fannie/Freddie issues I brought up.

Pay as you Go? LOL This does not even solve the problem of the Gov. spending money on stupid programs.

“Would you care to comment on the actions of democrats in February 2008 regarding deregulation? Here’s a snippet from an article.”
Schumer was wrong.
Interesting tidbit from the article.
“Daniel H. Mudd, Fannie Mae’s chief executive, said the company saw more opportunities in packaging mortgages into securities for sale to investors than in expanding its investment portfolio.”
Now isn’t that what really got us in trouble?

“You got busted out trying to use January 20th as your starting point.”
Yes, how dare I use the day he came into office.
“November 4th is very relevant as business owners saw who was taking the keys to the white house 100% and jumped ship.”
ROFLMAO!
So before he took office and pursued any action the market went down in fear of Obama.
But post taking office, the Dow has gone up because of what?
Palin running in 2012?
ROFLMAO!

Obama is responsible for the Dow 3 months before he took office but Bush is not responsible for 9/11 which took place 8 months after he took office.
Right wing logic in action!
Posted by: Ryan C |
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You think investors waited for the inauguration?
Look, this all started because I expressed skepticism about the state of the economy and someone said the stock market was way up since Obama came to power, as if that was some kind of rebuttal, and now we are mired in minutiae (how unusual).
The left sees green shoots and I see weeds.

Ryan C as part of his campaign “promises” (I use quotations since we know the reality of those promises now) Obama wanted to raise capital gains taxes.
Wouldn’t this make it logical as an investor to pull out your money before he raised the rates? Just simple logic 101.

Republicans love to whine about Fannie and Freddie but F&F did not bring our economy down it was Bush & Chaney.

Republicans love to whine about Fannie and Freddie but F&F did not bring our economy down it was Bush & Chaney.
Posted by: V. Brame | Jun 9, 2009 7:04:48 PM
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Surely then you can answer my several questions regarding Fannie/Freddie. You also must have answers for how they are not central to the housing crisis.
Also please explain how a $400 billion dollar bailout that won’t be paid back has helped the economy.
I have articulated my argument fairly well so feel justified pushing back the burden of proof.

“Ryan C as part of his campaign “promises” (I use quotations since we know the reality of those promises now) Obama wanted to raise capital gains taxes.”
Yes he proposed raising the highest rate from 15% to 20%.
“Wouldn’t this make it logical as an investor to pull out your money before he raised the rates? Just simple logic 101.”
So the logical investor on the possibility that in 3 months that Obama may raise capital gains taxes 5% on the highest rate, jumped like lemmings off a cliff selling all their shares?

“Look, this all started because I expressed skepticism about the state of the economy and someone said the stock market was way up since Obama came to power, as if that was some kind of rebuttal, and now we are mired in minutiae (how unusual)”
Mired in minutae?
Like the parrot you belched forth the Hannity talking point from 2 months ago.
And why?
Because the fact is the Dow is up since Obama took office.
Americans feel better the direction of this country with Obama at the helm.
And fewer and fewer people will admit being Republicans.
Sucks to be a right winger.

another foney fraudulent bait and switch by obama. obama we ain’t stupid and we won’t let you steal our great grand childrens freedom, liberty and future.
Its time to cut the federal government by 30%. Its time to cut out all of obamas’ government doles. DEFUND the Criminal ACORN NOW.
Dead people shouldn’t be allowed to vote.

“Common Sense” would actually dictate that we don’t spend what we don’t have.

Common sense says that we pay down the debt of the Federal Government before we go and add any new funding which is not specifically authorized by Article 1 of the Constitution which specifies what Congress is responsible for funding. Time for the President to read Article 2 and realize what his powers are instead of trying to modify the Constitution on the run. If he wants to change the Constitution then Article 5 states the process by which the Constitution is amended and it says nothing about the Judiciary making/interpreting changes. He is supposedly a lawyer and if non-legal trained individuals can read what our forefathers wrote then he should have no problem understanding the document. It is written to provide limits on the branches of government and if it is not specified in the Constitution then per Article 10 it is a States right not the Federal Government right.

Ryan C – The US Government has NOT had a balanced budget each year since 1969, Congress has spent more money than its income. The Treasury Department has to borrow money to meet Congress’s appropriations.
When you spend more than your income that is a deficet no matter how you look at it.

“Common Sense” would dictate not spending what we don’t have.

OK … it wounds like they want to EXCLUDE the following:
1.) Tax cuts, but not tax increases – so Obama can increase taxes and pocket the money in his budget.
2.) Any increases in Social Security or Medicare (both of which are currently headed toward bankruptcy).
3.) Alternative Minimum Taxes fixes – so middle class taxpayers will still get nailed by an archaic law meant originally to force the wealthy to pay taxes.
Now discretionary spending – or 40% of Obama’s record $3.2 trillion dollar yearly budget will not be affected. So basically Obama gets to spend all the money he wants on his pet projects and we watch Social Security and Medicare will get frozen unless we increase taxes. We get “alternative fuels” and decreased pollution, but our senior citizens are left to the streets and die? Oh, I guess Obama isn’t very concerned about their votes – they may die anyway.
Does Obama think that we are all idiots?
He gets a blank check, but the American people don’t?
This also paves the way of increasing everyone’s taxes to pay for all of any health care reform plan.
If we stopped fixating on the Republicans, and Bush – we might just realize that there is someone right now out there ready to fleece the American people even worse.

Paygo is Obama’s excuse to raise taxes. It is no surprise he waited until after his record setting, deficit quadrupling, pork and earmark laden spending before discussing Paygo
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Exactly.
The idea we have to “pay for” tax cuts is alarming double-speak. Taxpayers pay the government, not the other way around.
Congress and the President need to do a better job of looking at how much tax revenue they actually are going to get this year, and consider what people can actually afford to spend. Their default position has to stop being figuring out how much they want to spend and then figuring out how to squeeze it out of us.
But yeah, with Paygo Obama wants to pretend Congress has ordered him to raise taxes to pay for things, because he can’t afford to keep his not one dime of taxes pledge.
And holding an event about it was just to make himself look fiscally responsible.

good.
Even if the republicans do get back into power (unlikely for at least 8-12 years) ,this PAYGO law will seriously restrict their ability to offer tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of everyone/everything.
Added to this wonderful news are the 2 new supreme court justices mr obama will appoint and i would hope that even you dimwit republicans can read between the lines for real dirt/gist of the story.
But if you can’t i will paraphrase for you. read closely…
1) Your “free ride” days are over , no more unfunded tax cuts ,ever.
2) There will be new liberal thinkers very soon in the Supreme Court ,and it will be much more liberal-leaning for many years.
3) Enjoy!

Pay As You Go = Tax & Spend

It should be named PoGo -
Look up, down, over here, over there, look here, not there, ignore that, pay attention to this, we’re promising to do this and we’re really doing that, I did that but forget that ’cause now I’m doing this, you’ll get a middle class tax cut, but we’ll create new taxes to pay for it… po, go, po, go, po, go, po, go. Are you dizzy and nauseated yet?

I vaguely remember a term from years ago, I believe it was “voodoo economics.”

Even if the republicans do get back into power (unlikely for at least 8-12 years) ,this PAYGO law will seriously restrict their ability to offer tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of everyone/everything.
Added to this wonderful news are the 2 new supreme court justices mr obama will appoint and i would hope that even you dimwit republicans can read between the lines for real dirt/gist of the story.
But if you can’t i will paraphrase for you. read closely…
1) Your “free ride” days are over , no more unfunded tax cuts ,ever.
Posted by: DARBY | Jun 9, 2009 9:39:06 PM
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Those unfunded taxcuts that EVERYONE GOT increased jobs and increased treasury receipts because so many people had jobs.
But no worry, republicans will simply rescind the massive wasteful spending that Obama and Pelosi and Reid have imposed on the american people.
Their fake 800 Billion dollar stimulus didn’t work, it is a waste and should be rescinded.
That is the real reason they are changing course and trying to spend the money faster. They know they are going to lose control in the midterm elections and republicans will stop this horrific, historic, massive debt spending that Obama has achieved in a few short months.
Obama has spent more in a few short months than every other president combined throughout history!
You kool-aid drinkers are so ignorant and happy, they do say ignorance is bliss, so I guess you dems are blissful while the rest of us are worried sick about what our children and grandchildren will have to endure in taxes to payoff the Obama debacle of spending.

How can you pay as you go if you have spent as you went? Another Obama attempt to close that barn door on an empty barn. I like the way Orzag talked about not digging a hole – after the hole analogy was opined by Sarah Palin.

I voted for Obama and fiscal responsibility is a very important issue for me, but this proposal is a joke. What we need, whether we like it or not, is a VAT tax and a major simplification of the tax code that gets rid of many exemptions.

But no worry, republicans will simply rescind the massive wasteful spending that Obama and Pelosi and Reid have imposed on the american people.
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Really? Simply “rescind” you say? I think you need to do at least 3 things immediately.
1) Re-read the article
2) Take American Politics 101 sometime
3) Loosen that tin-foil hat

They won’t. They won’t get rid of the whole Bush tax plan because that would raise everybody’s taxes. They really just liked complaining about how awful they were, and how they were only for the “rich”.
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You’re correct ,they won’t get rid of the whole Bush tax plan ,only about the 85 % of it that is strictly for the wealthy , all improperly appropriated by an arrogant self serving republican majority who couldn’t have cared less about pay as you go ,with a doofy president who was only out to grease his crony buddies coffer lids.
The other (proper) tax cuts ,all 10-15 percent of them , i.e, those that actually help people that need help to begin with , will indeed stay in effect ,as they should .
Republicans have dug themselves in deep and may not get out . I love watching them squirm now that they are spayed/neutered and powerless and I will really extra enjoy the next 20 or 30 years with our new leftwards leaning supreme court as well.
I hope you enjoy it Maybee as much as I am sure I will. If not ,just prepare to persevere/endure because it’s a certainty . Actually , Republicans will be lucky if Mr Obama doesn’t get to appoint 3 SCJs ,which is a decent bet if he gets a 2nd term in office.

Hi Bennigton
How much of a wealthy person’s income do you think it is appropriate to take through taxes? 50%? 60%? More?

When will journalists confront this President’s outrageous rhetoric. If this President were a serious one, he would pull back the idiotic stimulus funds that have yet to be spent. How about that as Pay-Go? Journalists need to get serious and call him out on this President’s stupidity. Journalists owe it to the American people.

The debt of the US Government is a large number and with the spending of the current administration growing rapidly larger. Although the yearly budget does not usually require the pay down of the debt there is a requirement to pay the interest on the debt each year. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the U.S. Treasury Department have warned that debt levels will increase dramatically relative to historical levels if entitlement programs are not reformed. For example, projected expenditures for Medicare and Social Security programs exceed tax revenues by over $40 trillion over the next 75 years. Mandatory expenditures are projected to exceed federal tax revenues sometime between 2030 and 2040 if reforms are not undertaken. The severity of the measures necessary to address this challenge increases the longer such changes are delayed. These organizations have stated that the government’s current fiscal path is “unsustainable.” Each year since 1969, Congress has spent more money than its income. The Treasury Department has to borrow money to meet Congress’s appropriations. We CANNOT continue down this path.
“I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.”
– — Thomas Jefferson
“Until the National Debt is paid off, the other problems facing our country will remain unsolved. Compound Interest is the ‘Eighth Wonder Of The World’ and it can bring a nation to its knees.”
– — C. Morgan Cofer