On
Monday, August 13, the national debt will reach $16 trillion. Obama,
the same leader who in 2009 promised to cut the deficit in half by the
end of his first term, is responsible for more than $5 trillion of that debt. And the deficit has not been cut in half. The deficit for 2012 is projected to be $1.15 trillion, not much less than the $1.3-trillion deficit he inherited. Even by FY2013, the deficit is projected to be $901 billion,
and this on the most hopeful of assumptions. The plain truth is that
the president has not kept his promise on cutting the deficit.
Strangely enough, Obama continues to talk about deficit-cutting as if he were proud of his record. As part of his short-lived "Win the Future" campaign early in 2011, he spoke again of slashing the deficit, just before submitting a budget calling for another trillion-dollar deficit. In September of that year, he rolled out his "Living Within Our Means and Investing in the Future" campaign -- again, a short-lived embrace of fiscal responsibility which came to nothing. For Obama, "Living Within Our Means" meant $1.5 trillion in new taxes but no real reduction in spending. One point one trillion dollars in "spending reduction" was credited to military drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan already scheduled to occur, while an additional $1.2 trillion was achieved from discretionary cuts that would never have been implemented.
Strangely enough, Obama continues to talk about deficit-cutting as if he were proud of his record. As part of his short-lived "Win the Future" campaign early in 2011, he spoke again of slashing the deficit, just before submitting a budget calling for another trillion-dollar deficit. In September of that year, he rolled out his "Living Within Our Means and Investing in the Future" campaign -- again, a short-lived embrace of fiscal responsibility which came to nothing. For Obama, "Living Within Our Means" meant $1.5 trillion in new taxes but no real reduction in spending. One point one trillion dollars in "spending reduction" was credited to military drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan already scheduled to occur, while an additional $1.2 trillion was achieved from discretionary cuts that would never have been implemented.
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