Today's Update 2/1/2010
Submitted by admin on Mon, 02/01/2010 - 10:45.
TODAY’S MORNING UPDATE: Quote of the Day, Today’s News Clips
Quote of the Day:
Washington Times: “What the president is proposing now has the aspect of a toddler putting a single foot beyond the water's edge at the beach for the very first time and then proudly reporting to everybody that he "swam in the ocean." If he really wants to swim with the economic tide, Mr. Obama should learn from the 1990s that government is not the engine of prosperity and that when it comes to saving taxpayer money, boldness works far better than puny half-measures.” - From the Washington Times editorial “ Obama’s fake freeze folly” in response to President Obama’s proposed federal spending freeze.
Today’s News Clips:
State News:
· Editorial: Weeding out boards won't be easy task, Asbury Park Press
· Christie warns A.C.’s finances will jeopardize business growth, NJ Biz
· Christie reviews transition team’s ‘bold’ proposals, NJ Biz
· Christie comes out swinging, Philadelphia Inquirer
· Pete McCarthy: DiCicco wasting no time getting to work in the Assembly, Gloucester County Times
National News:
· GOP lawmakers to try to block federal funds for 9/11 prosecutions, The Hill
· White House previews budget cuts, Politico
· Obama's $3.8 trillion budget heading to Congress, Washington Post
· Deficit to Hit All-Time High, Wall Street Journal
· New York Lawmakers Criticize Obama Bank Tax Plan, Wall Street Journal
· GOP idea: Slash cash for Gitmo shutdown, Washington Times
· Obama seeks $33 billion for Afghanistan troop rise, Reuters
· Five years, $5.08 trillion in debt, Politico
· Democrats squabble over jobs bill, Politico
· Editorial: Obama's fake freeze folly, Washington Times
· $100 Billion Increase in Deficit Is Forecast, New York Times
· Obama to Field Questions Posted by YouTube Users, New York Times
· Obama's $3.8 trillion budget calls for jobs assistance, tax changes, Washington Post
· Knives Are Drawn for Proposed Cuts, Wall Street Journal
State News:
Editorial: Weeding out boards won't be easy task
By Carl Golden
Asbury Park Press
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Gov. Chris Christie's willingness to plunge into the thicket of the dozens of government boards, commissions and agencies to clear out the underbrush of rules, regulations, conflicting missions and duplication of effort is long overdue.
While a major part of his administration's effort to identify savings, the review will also turn a spotlight on the operation of these bodies, most of which function with scant public or media attention, and determine whether they serve a desirable public purpose.
The boards and commissions were created over many years, usually through legislative acts to apply regulations and standards of conduct on a specific profession or occupation. They were necessary to assure that the regulations were enforced and that violators would be called to account.
They oversee professions ranging from acupuncture to architects, from audiology to chiropractic, from cosmetology to marriage counseling, from massage to opthalmics, from prosthetic suppliers to shorthand reporting. And that's a partial list.
Christie's order to scrutinize these bodies was driven primarily by the 11th-hour action of his predecessor to appoint members of his outgoing administration to various boards and commissions, enabling them to continue to accumulate service credits and remain in the public pension system.
Former Gov. Jon Corzine's actions were nothing new. He followed the precedent routinely practiced by his predecessors — Republican and Democratic. The practice is so deeply entrenched, in fact, that discussions about finding a "soft landing" for soon-to-be replaced administration officials are a common and accepted part of the transition process.
Read Full Article <http://www.app.com/article/20100131/OPINION/1310327/Weeding-out-boards-won-t-be-easy-task>
Christie warns A.C.’s finances will jeopardize business growth
By Andrew Kitchenman
NJ Biz
Monday, February 1, 2010
Gov. Chris Christie said that if Atlantic City doesn’t get its fiscal house in order, it will drive businesses away.
Christie said business owners, including those who do not own casinos, told him during the campaign about their concerns about how the city is governed.
Christie made the remarks last week in response to a report by State Comptroller Matthew Boxer that there are widespread management problems in the city, which range from pervasive waste — including $8 million in unspent bonds — to poor cash management.
Christie also held Atlantic City voters responsible, questioning why they haven’t voted for different officials after a number of corruption convictions.
“How many times do you have to get hit over the head?” Christie asked.
Read Full Article <http://www.njbiz.com/weekly_article.asp?aID=80464>
Christie reviews transition team’s ‘bold’ proposals
By Andrew Kitchenman
NJ Biz
Monday, February 1, 2010
New Jersey businesses could find themselves operating in a very different state over the next four years if Gov. Chris Christie enacts some of the far-reaching set of proposals put forward by his 19 transition subcommittees.
Ideas range from requiring a supermajority of the Legislature to approve tax hikes to taking over the stalled and vacant Xanadu megamall project.
The labor report advocates taking the word “labor” out of the title of Department of Labor and Workforce Development, and refocusing the department on economic development. “The current name suggests a bias toward organized labor, and a change in the name will help the department more closely align with all stakeholders,” the report said.
The reports were “full of bold ideas,” Christie said.
“In the coming weeks, my cabinet and I will be consulting with subcommittee members, reviewing each of the reports, and carefully considering these recommendations for improvement and change,” Christie said.
The report on the Department of State envisions a hub for economic development activity that includes the state Economic Development Authority.
Read Full Article <http://www.njbiz.com/weekly_article.asp?aID=80442>
Christie comes out swinging
By Jonathan Tamari
Philadelphia Inquirer
Sunday, January 31, 2010
If there has been a theme to Gov. Christie's first two weeks in office, it has been this: Get ready for a fight, especially when it comes to money.
Christie already has blasted school-spending overruns, mismanagement in local government, high public salaries, and even Atlantic City voters. Executive orders and his first veto were followed by verbal smackdowns that conveyed their message in ways a simple signature cannot.
The governor has set himself up for battle with influential public-employee unions, and on Friday he flouted a long-standing Trenton tradition by skipping the state Chamber of Commerce's schmoozy train ride to Washington with lobbyists and lawmakers.
"The people of New Jersey did not elect me to come here and play nice-nice," Christie said in a recent radio appearance.
Christie promised change. Early on, the differences have been striking.
Last week he blocked a request for more money for an over-budget school project and railed against the $300,000-plus salary of the head of a sewage commission in North Jerse
Read Full Article <http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20100131_Christie_comes_out_swinging.html>
Pete McCarthy: DiCicco wasting no time getting to work in the Assembly
By Pete McCarthy
Gloucester County Times
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Assemblyman Domenick DiCicco isn’t wasting any time.
Just weeks into his first term serving the 4th District, the Republican from Franklin Township has already dropped two pieces of legislation.
One would require towns that are audited to fix any problems found or risk losing aid from the state.
The other is designed to better inform taxpayers about how they can file tax appeals.
Both are designed to create better transparency in government.
“I ran on transparency and accountability,” said DiCicco, who was successful in November’s election. “I think these are first steps, but they are first steps that I think will have an impact immediately.”
Some of his more “ambitious” proposals, DiCicco said, will get introduced in the coming months.
Read Full Article <http://www.nj.com/gloucester/voices/index.ssf/2010/01/pete_mccarthy_dicicco_wasting.html>
National News:
GOP lawmakers to try to block federal funds for 9/11 prosecutions
By Jordy Yager
The Hill
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Amid fears that the White House may move the terrorist trials connected with September 11, 2001, to the Washington, D.C., region, GOP lawmakers are planning to introduce legislation that would bar the use federal funds for their prosecution in any U.S. civilian court.
The move comes as the White House, met with growing opposition, has reportedly begun considering alternative locations to the originally planned federal district court in downtown Manhattan to try the professed 9/11 “mastermind” Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four co-defendants.
The legislation expected to be introduced early next week is sponsored by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), whose district borders Washington, D.C., and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and would prohibit funding for any Justice Department prosecution in civilian courts of a person being tried in connection with the 9/11 attacks.
Earlier this week, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) introduced a similar bill that would prohibit the use of federal funds to try within U.S. civilian courts any detainee being kept in the Guantanamo Bay prison.
New York Gov. David Paterson and, in a stark reversal, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Friday expressed their disapproval for holding the trials in the Manhattan court, mere blocks away from where the World Trade Center towers once stood, saying that it would cost the city and state hundreds of millions of dollars in security costs.
Read Full Article <http://thehill.com/homenews/house/78857-gop-lawmakers-to-try-to-block-federal-funds-for-911-prosecutions>
White House previews budget cuts
By Nia-Malika Henderson
Politico
Sunday, January 31, 2010
In a preview of President Obama’s FY2011 budget proposal, the White House said it was making “tough choices” to rein in the deficit, but also claimed the 120 programs that would be cut are ineffective or duplicative.
In all, Obama will propose eliminating or reducing 120 programs, according to a blog post by White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer, who said the cuts would net a savings of $20 billion—about one half of one percent of the proposed $3.8 trillion budget proposal set to be released on Monday.
Last year, the president proposed cutting 121 programs for a savings of $17 billion, while Congress ended up approving cuts of $6.8 billion.
At least three of the proposed cuts—slashing payments to states for mine and brownfield clean-ups and eliminating the advanced earned income tax credit—were rejected by lawmakers last year, suggesting that Obama will have a tough time wrangling with Congressional Democrats accustomed to getting federal funding for their projects.
A White House aide said that Obama’s budget includes “scores of cuts and reductions that are new,” including eliminating preservation programs at the National Park Service and streamlining the number of grant programs at the Department of Education.
“We are thankful for every penny that goes into the education budget, we understand that there is responsibility and wisely we are very concerned about how tough the economic environment is,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. “This economic turmoil that we are in pre-dates this president. There are still a lot of folks that are suffering, and I am confident that the president will do that best he can do.”
Still, “the cuts are going to hurt,” she said.
Read Full Article <http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/32259.html>
Obama's $3.8 trillion budget heading to Congress
By Lori Montgomery
Washington Post
Sunday, January 31, 2010
The $3.8 trillion budget blueprint President Obama plans to submit to Congress on Monday calls for billions of dollars in new spending to combat persistently high unemployment and bolster a battered middle class. But it also would slash funding for hundreds of programs and raise taxes on banks and the wealthy to help rein in soaring budget deficits, according to congressional sources and others with knowledge of the document.
To put people back to work, Obama proposes to spend about $100 billion immediately on a jobs bill that would include tax cuts for small businesses, social safety net programs and aid to state and local governments. To reduce deficits, he would impose new fees on some of the nation's largest banks and permit a range of tax cuts to expire for families earning more than $250,000 a year, in addition to freezing non-security spending for three years.
Despite those efforts, the White House expects the annual gap between spending and revenue to approach a record $1.6 trillion this year as the government continues to dig out from the worst recession in more than a generation, according to congressional sources. The red ink would recede to $1.3 trillion in 2011, but remain persistently high for years to come under Obama's policies.
For a more comprehensive deficit-reduction plan, Obama will rely on a bipartisan task force of lawmakers and budget experts, who will be asked to draft a package of tax hikes and spending cuts sufficient to slash deficits and stabilize government borrowing by 2015.
The budget blueprint, the second of Obama's presidency, comes as Republicans emboldened by recent election victories are fanning public outrage over government spending, and nervous Democrats are clamoring for more money to reduce a stubborn 10 percent unemployment rate. As both parties gear up for the November election, Obama's spending plan is designed to steer a middle course between those opposing goals and reassure angry voters.
The 2011 blueprint repeats many of Obama's grandest ambitions from his first budget, including an expensive overhaul of the nation's health care system, a dramatic expansion of the federal student loan program and far-reaching climate change legislation, congressional sources said. But with Obama's standing in the polls badly damaged by a bruising yearlong battle over health care, all three of those initiatives are stalled in Congress with no clear path forward.
Read Full Article <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/31/AR2010013101377_pf.html>
Deficit to Hit All-Time High
By Jonathan Weisman
Wall Street Journal
Monday, February 1, 2010
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama will propose on Monday a $3.8 trillion budget for fiscal 2011 that projects the deficit will shoot up to a record $1.6 trillion this year, but would push the red ink down to about $700 billion, or 4% of the gross domestic product, by 2013, according to congressional aides.
The deficit for the current fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30, would eclipse last year's $1.4 trillion deficit, in part due to new spending on a proposed jobs package. The president also wants $25 billion for cash-strapped state governments, mainly to offset their funding of the Medicaid health program for the poor.
To get the deficit down by the middle of the decade, Mr. Obama will be relying on cuts that have previously been proposed without success, on cooperation from a wary Congress and on a yet-to-be set up debt commission to suggest politically difficult choices.
At the same time, Mr. Obama is under pressure to address the country's continued high unemployment rate. And he will propose increases in spending for priorities such as education and domestic scientific research. All of this raises questions about how much progress the president is likely to make in trying to fulfill his pledge to half by 2013 the $1.3 trillion deficit he inherited.
The budget embodies Mr. Obama's larger predicament of needing to contain the deficit without harming the economy, which remains fragile. The deficit has become a major political issue, as antigovernment activists swing independents against what they describe as Mr. Obama's big-government policies and Republicans try to regain the mantle of fiscal responsibility after the Bush years saw surpluses swing to deficits.
Read Full Article <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704722304575037470289762694.html>
New York Lawmakers Criticize Obama Bank Tax Plan
By Corey Boles
Wall Street Journal
Sunday, January 31, 2010
A group of New York House lawmakers criticized a plan by President Barack Obama to levy a tax on large banks with the aim of recouping taxpayer money spent on the Treasury’s financial market-rescue program.
The administration estimates the tax could raise about $90 billion over the next decade. The Troubled Asset Relief Program — which was introduced in 2008 to help ailing banks in the global financial crisis and later expanded to include a few other firms — has been estimated by the Treasury Department to cost taxpayers $117 billion, although that amount could fall if companies such as General Motors Co. accelerate repayments to the government.
A letter sent to the president and signed by two Democratic and one Republican lawmaker warns that the tax could have a “crippling effect on New York’s economy.”
“The proposed bank tax will ultimately cause New Yorkers to continue to suffer economic hardship at a time when the citizens of New York can least afford it,” Rep. Gregory Meeks, (D., N.Y.), a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee who signed the letter, said in a statement.
The other lawmakers who signed the letter were Reps. Peter King, a Republican, and Michael McMahon, another Democrat.
Read Full Article <http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/01/31/new-york-lawmakers-criticize-obama-bank-tax-plan/>
GOP idea: Slash cash for Gitmo shutdown
By Joseph Curl
Washington Times
Monday, February 1, 2010
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday threatened to try to cut off the cash the Obama administration will need to shut down the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and hold terrorism trials in U.S. courts.
A day after the White House abruptly changed course and said it was reconsidering its decision to hold a terrorism trial in downtown New York, the Kentucky Republican mocked the Obama administration for citing former President George W. Bush as a precedent for holding such trials on U.S. soil.
"The only time this administration ever cites the previous administration for a precedent is to mention that there was some terrorists tried in U.S. courts. We now know that was a mistake. That was a mistake by the previous administration," Mr. McConnell said.
"Three years ago, we passed military commissions legislation for the specific purpose of trying foreigners captured on the battlefield. They ought to be tried in these military commissions. They also ought to be detained at Guantanamo," he said.
Asked whether he would tell the president, "You are not getting the money," Mr. McConnell said: "Yes, absolutely. And I think that will be done on a bipartisan basis. And the sooner the administration figures out that whatever domestic support they had for this is totally collapsing."
Read Full Article <http://washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/01/gop-idea-slash-cash-for-gitmo-shutdown/print/>
Obama seeks $33 billion for Afghanistan troop rise
By Caren Bohan
Reuters
Monday, February 1, 2010
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will ask the Congress on Monday for an additional $33 billion in the current 2010 fiscal year to fund a troop increase in Afghanistan, the White House said
Obama announced in December he was adding 30,000 more U.S. troops to the Afghan war effort to join the 68,000 already fighting a resurgent Taliban.
The $33 billion request would come on top of about $130 billion that Congress has already approved for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars through September 30, 2010.
Obama's proposed budget, which will be released at 10 a.m. EST, will also include a request for $159.3 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for the 2011 fiscal year that begins October 1.
Read Full Article <http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6101VN20100201?type=politicsNews%3FfeedType%3DRSS&feedName=politicsNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FPoliticsNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Politics+News%29>
Five years, $5.08 trillion in debt
By David Rodgers
Politico
Monday, February 1, 2010
President Barack Obama’s new $3.83 trillion budget—on its way to Congress Monday— anticipates an even worse deficit this year than last and no big improvement until the economy improves and the nation sheds the crushing costs of two wars overseas.
It’s a bleak, nerve-wracking landscape for any White House, but the president is still betting on significant new spending for education and clean energy initiatives, including billions in loan guarantees for the nuclear power industry.
He would hire thousands of new personnel to process veterans’ claims faster, and amid everything else, wants billions to resolve the complaints of soldiers and airmen exposed to Agent Orange in the Vietnam War.
But behind the brave face, Obama’s budget anticipates that Iraq and Afghanistan war funding will hover near $160 billion for both 2010 and 2011— far more than he had hoped when elected and only modestly less than in the last years of the Bush Administration.
The strain shows itself in the new deficit projections, far worse than what the White House forecast in its first budget at this time a year ago.
Read Full Article <http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=87D7B86B-18FE-70B2-A86D11DD1F52ECA4>
Democrats squabble over jobs bill
By Manu Raju and Meredith Shiner
Politico
Monday, February 1, 2010
Democrats from the president on down say jobs are their No. 1 priority, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid expects to announce details of a bill this week. But a squabble among Senate Democrats is complicating early efforts to bring a bill to the floor.
Sens. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and Dick Durbin of Illinois have been working intensely on a jobs bill for more than a month, talking with relevant committee leaders and other members and dispatching aides to dozens of other meetings in the hopes of crafting a bill that could get through the Senate quickly.
And when they walked into a meeting in the office of Reid (D-Nev.) on Jan. 22, they thought they were about to cross the finish line — the Dorgan-Durbin plan would be blessed by the small group of senators in the room, presented to the full Democratic Caucus on Jan. 28 and then taken straight to the floor for a vote.
But Montana Sen. Max Baucus had other ideas.
The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, where the health care bill was debated for months last year, surprised the senators gathered in Reid’s office by suggesting he wanted a chance to mark up portions of the bill under his committee’s jurisdiction before it went to the floor, according to several people who attended the meeting.
Read Full Article <http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=87BABBE3-18FE-70B2-A880C71A1C2076E0>
Editorial: Obama's fake freeze folly
Washington Times
Sunday, January 31, 2010
President Obama made a big deal last week about his purported federal spending freeze, but not enough has been said about how meager the supposed savings actually are. Historical context shows that any savings from this public-relations gimmick will be tiny. Frugality, apparently, is a concept Democrats have a hard time understanding.
The Obama freeze is projected to "save" $15 billion from expected spending next year. This is not a cut of $15 billion in existing spending, but only a decision not to raise spending (to match inflation) on certain accounts. Those accounts supposedly are to be frozen for the following two years as well, but they are being frozen only after a decade-long spending orgy that included an 8.2 percent increase in domestic discretionary spending this year. And they don't apply to any new purported jobs bill or to any other new item on the president's priority list.
Now, let's consider the $15 billion itself. By most people's reckoning, that's a big number. By government reckoning, it's child's play. In 1995, for instance, Congress rescinded - took back - $18.9 billion that had been signed into law but not yet doled out. Whereas the Obama plan is a mere pledge not to let government grow by $15 billion in certain programs, the 1995 rescissions actually cut about $19 billion from existing programs. And that was back when the dollar was worth far more. That $18.9 billion then would be worth $26.6 billion today.
That amount was trimmed from a budget of about $1.5 trillion, making it a real, honest cut of 1.27 percent. The Obama freeze is from a much larger budget of about $3.6 trillion, meaning a paper "savings" of barely more than four-tenths of a single percent.
Read Full Article <http://washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jan/31/obamas-fake-freeze-folly/print/>
$100 Billion Increase in Deficit Is Forecast
By Jackie Calmes
New York Times
Monday, February 1, 2010
WASHINGTON — The additional tax cuts and public works spending that President Obama has proposed to spur job creation would add $100 billion to this year’s deficit, bringing it to nearly $1.6 trillion, according to an administration official.
A deficit of that size for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30 would be about $150 billion greater than last year’s deficit, which was the highest since World War II.
Measured against the size of the economy, a $1.6 trillion shortfall would equal almost 11 percent of the gross domestic product. Economists generally consider annual deficits above 3 percent to be unsustainable.
Last week, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected that this year’s deficit would be more than $1.3 trillion without further spending or tax cuts. Mr. Obama’s proposed $100 billion stimulus package, which includes tax credits for small businesses that make new hires and money for infrastructure projects, is less than a $154 billion package that the House approved in December but more than a measure the Senate is drafting.
Read Full Article <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/us/politics/01budget.html>
Obama to Field Questions Posted by YouTube Users
By Brian Stelter
New York Times
Sunday, January 31, 2010
On Monday, President Obama is scheduled to sit down in the library of the White House residence for his first interview since his State of the Union address.
The interviewer? The United States of YouTube.
In a first-of-its-kind group interview, Mr. Obama will read and watch questions submitted by YouTube users and answer them in a live Webcast. “It’s a way to give people access to the president that feels more participatory,” said Macon Phillips, the Obama administration’s director of new media.
YouTube, which is owned by Google, will allow people both to submit questions and to vote for their favorite ones, “so we get a stronger signal about what the crowd is interested in,” said Steve Grove, the head of news and politics at YouTube and a former reporter for The Boston Globe.
Read Full Article <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/us/politics/01youtube.html>
Obama's $3.8 trillion budget calls for jobs assistance, tax changes
By Lori Montgomery
Washington Post
Monday, February 1, 2010
The $3.8 trillion budget blueprint President Obama plans to submit to Congress on Monday calls for billions of dollars in new spending to combat persistently high unemployment and bolster a battered middle class. But it also would slash funding for hundreds of programs and raise taxes on banks and the wealthy to help rein in soaring budget deficits.
To put people back to work, Obama proposes to spend about $100 billion immediately on a jobs bill that would include tax cuts for small businesses, social-safety-net programs, and aid to state and local governments. To reduce deficits, he would impose new fees on some of the nation's largest banks and permit a range of tax cuts to expire for families earning more than $250,000 a year, in addition to freezing non-security spending for three years.
Despite those efforts, the White House expects the annual gap between spending and revenue to approach a record $1.6 trillion this year as the government continues to dig out from the worst recession in more than a generation, according to budget documents released Sunday by the White House. The red ink would recede to $1.3 trillion in 2011 but remain persistently high for years to come under Obama's policies.
For a more comprehensive deficit-reduction plan, Obama will rely on a bipartisan task force of lawmakers and budget experts, who will be asked to draft a package of tax hikes and spending cuts to slash deficits and stabilize government borrowing by 2015, administration officials said.
The budget blueprint, the second of Obama's presidency, comes as Republicans emboldened by recent election victories are fanning public outrage over government spending, and nervous Democrats are clamoring for more money to reduce a 10 percent unemployment rate. As both parties gear up for the November election, Obama's spending plan is designed to steer a middle course between those opposing goals and to reassure angry voters.
Read Full Article <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/31/AR2010013101377_pf.html>
Knives Are Drawn for Proposed Cuts
By Greg Hitt and Neil King Jr.
Wall Street Journal
Sunday, January 31, 2010
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama's plan to reduce the deficit faces a tough battle on Capitol Hill, and prospects for a rapid return to fiscal austerity remain slim.
Mr. Obama, responding to growing public concern over deficit spending, will propose as part of his fiscal 2011 budget to freeze basic government spending, outside of national security programs. He also plans to appoint a commission to recommend ways to reduce the deficit.
But Republicans are skeptical. Special-interest groups are lining up to protect their own share of the budget. And even some top Democrats are breaking with their president to float their own ideas on how to tackle the deficit.
With so many cross-pressures, New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg, the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, said he saw little chance of Congress and the White House making a serious dent in the deficit this year. "There will be a lot of political posturing, but absolutely no substantial action," he said in an interview.
White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer on Sunday said the president understood the difficulties of dealing with the deficit. "Of course it won't be easy," he said. "It is going to require tough choices and a willingness of both parties to come together to make those choices." He said Mr. Obama hoped that Republicans would participate in the presidential commission on debt that would soon be created.
Read Full Article <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704343104575033212051806270.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5>
TODAY’S MORNING UPDATE: Quote of the Day, Today’s News Clips
Quote of the Day:
Washington Times: “What the president is proposing now has the aspect of a toddler putting a single foot beyond the water's edge at the beach for the very first time and then proudly reporting to everybody that he "swam in the ocean." If he really wants to swim with the economic tide, Mr. Obama should learn from the 1990s that government is not the engine of prosperity and that when it comes to saving taxpayer money, boldness works far better than puny half-measures.” - From the Washington Times editorial “ Obama’s fake freeze folly” in response to President Obama’s proposed federal spending freeze.
Today’s News Clips:
State News:
· Editorial: Weeding out boards won't be easy task, Asbury Park Press
· Christie warns A.C.’s finances will jeopardize business growth, NJ Biz
· Christie reviews transition team’s ‘bold’ proposals, NJ Biz
· Christie comes out swinging, Philadelphia Inquirer
· Pete McCarthy: DiCicco wasting no time getting to work in the Assembly, Gloucester County Times
National News:
· GOP lawmakers to try to block federal funds for 9/11 prosecutions, The Hill
· White House previews budget cuts, Politico
· Obama's $3.8 trillion budget heading to Congress, Washington Post
· Deficit to Hit All-Time High, Wall Street Journal
· New York Lawmakers Criticize Obama Bank Tax Plan, Wall Street Journal
· GOP idea: Slash cash for Gitmo shutdown, Washington Times
· Obama seeks $33 billion for Afghanistan troop rise, Reuters
· Five years, $5.08 trillion in debt, Politico
· Democrats squabble over jobs bill, Politico
· Editorial: Obama's fake freeze folly, Washington Times
· $100 Billion Increase in Deficit Is Forecast, New York Times
· Obama to Field Questions Posted by YouTube Users, New York Times
· Obama's $3.8 trillion budget calls for jobs assistance, tax changes, Washington Post
· Knives Are Drawn for Proposed Cuts, Wall Street Journal
State News:
Editorial: Weeding out boards won't be easy task
By Carl Golden
Asbury Park Press
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Gov. Chris Christie's willingness to plunge into the thicket of the dozens of government boards, commissions and agencies to clear out the underbrush of rules, regulations, conflicting missions and duplication of effort is long overdue.
While a major part of his administration's effort to identify savings, the review will also turn a spotlight on the operation of these bodies, most of which function with scant public or media attention, and determine whether they serve a desirable public purpose.
The boards and commissions were created over many years, usually through legislative acts to apply regulations and standards of conduct on a specific profession or occupation. They were necessary to assure that the regulations were enforced and that violators would be called to account.
They oversee professions ranging from acupuncture to architects, from audiology to chiropractic, from cosmetology to marriage counseling, from massage to opthalmics, from prosthetic suppliers to shorthand reporting. And that's a partial list.
Christie's order to scrutinize these bodies was driven primarily by the 11th-hour action of his predecessor to appoint members of his outgoing administration to various boards and commissions, enabling them to continue to accumulate service credits and remain in the public pension system.
Former Gov. Jon Corzine's actions were nothing new. He followed the precedent routinely practiced by his predecessors — Republican and Democratic. The practice is so deeply entrenched, in fact, that discussions about finding a "soft landing" for soon-to-be replaced administration officials are a common and accepted part of the transition process.
Read Full Article <http://www.app.com/article/20100131/OPINION/1310327/Weeding-out-boards-won-t-be-easy-task>
Christie warns A.C.’s finances will jeopardize business growth
By Andrew Kitchenman
NJ Biz
Monday, February 1, 2010
Gov. Chris Christie said that if Atlantic City doesn’t get its fiscal house in order, it will drive businesses away.
Christie said business owners, including those who do not own casinos, told him during the campaign about their concerns about how the city is governed.
Christie made the remarks last week in response to a report by State Comptroller Matthew Boxer that there are widespread management problems in the city, which range from pervasive waste — including $8 million in unspent bonds — to poor cash management.
Christie also held Atlantic City voters responsible, questioning why they haven’t voted for different officials after a number of corruption convictions.
“How many times do you have to get hit over the head?” Christie asked.
Read Full Article <http://www.njbiz.com/weekly_article.asp?aID=80464>
Christie reviews transition team’s ‘bold’ proposals
By Andrew Kitchenman
NJ Biz
Monday, February 1, 2010
New Jersey businesses could find themselves operating in a very different state over the next four years if Gov. Chris Christie enacts some of the far-reaching set of proposals put forward by his 19 transition subcommittees.
Ideas range from requiring a supermajority of the Legislature to approve tax hikes to taking over the stalled and vacant Xanadu megamall project.
The labor report advocates taking the word “labor” out of the title of Department of Labor and Workforce Development, and refocusing the department on economic development. “The current name suggests a bias toward organized labor, and a change in the name will help the department more closely align with all stakeholders,” the report said.
The reports were “full of bold ideas,” Christie said.
“In the coming weeks, my cabinet and I will be consulting with subcommittee members, reviewing each of the reports, and carefully considering these recommendations for improvement and change,” Christie said.
The report on the Department of State envisions a hub for economic development activity that includes the state Economic Development Authority.
Read Full Article <http://www.njbiz.com/weekly_article.asp?aID=80442>
Christie comes out swinging
By Jonathan Tamari
Philadelphia Inquirer
Sunday, January 31, 2010
If there has been a theme to Gov. Christie's first two weeks in office, it has been this: Get ready for a fight, especially when it comes to money.
Christie already has blasted school-spending overruns, mismanagement in local government, high public salaries, and even Atlantic City voters. Executive orders and his first veto were followed by verbal smackdowns that conveyed their message in ways a simple signature cannot.
The governor has set himself up for battle with influential public-employee unions, and on Friday he flouted a long-standing Trenton tradition by skipping the state Chamber of Commerce's schmoozy train ride to Washington with lobbyists and lawmakers.
"The people of New Jersey did not elect me to come here and play nice-nice," Christie said in a recent radio appearance.
Christie promised change. Early on, the differences have been striking.
Last week he blocked a request for more money for an over-budget school project and railed against the $300,000-plus salary of the head of a sewage commission in North Jerse
Read Full Article <http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20100131_Christie_comes_out_swinging.html>
Pete McCarthy: DiCicco wasting no time getting to work in the Assembly
By Pete McCarthy
Gloucester County Times
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Assemblyman Domenick DiCicco isn’t wasting any time.
Just weeks into his first term serving the 4th District, the Republican from Franklin Township has already dropped two pieces of legislation.
One would require towns that are audited to fix any problems found or risk losing aid from the state.
The other is designed to better inform taxpayers about how they can file tax appeals.
Both are designed to create better transparency in government.
“I ran on transparency and accountability,” said DiCicco, who was successful in November’s election. “I think these are first steps, but they are first steps that I think will have an impact immediately.”
Some of his more “ambitious” proposals, DiCicco said, will get introduced in the coming months.
Read Full Article <http://www.nj.com/gloucester/voices/index.ssf/2010/01/pete_mccarthy_dicicco_wasting.html>
National News:
GOP lawmakers to try to block federal funds for 9/11 prosecutions
By Jordy Yager
The Hill
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Amid fears that the White House may move the terrorist trials connected with September 11, 2001, to the Washington, D.C., region, GOP lawmakers are planning to introduce legislation that would bar the use federal funds for their prosecution in any U.S. civilian court.
The move comes as the White House, met with growing opposition, has reportedly begun considering alternative locations to the originally planned federal district court in downtown Manhattan to try the professed 9/11 “mastermind” Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four co-defendants.
The legislation expected to be introduced early next week is sponsored by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), whose district borders Washington, D.C., and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and would prohibit funding for any Justice Department prosecution in civilian courts of a person being tried in connection with the 9/11 attacks.
Earlier this week, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) introduced a similar bill that would prohibit the use of federal funds to try within U.S. civilian courts any detainee being kept in the Guantanamo Bay prison.
New York Gov. David Paterson and, in a stark reversal, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Friday expressed their disapproval for holding the trials in the Manhattan court, mere blocks away from where the World Trade Center towers once stood, saying that it would cost the city and state hundreds of millions of dollars in security costs.
Read Full Article <http://thehill.com/homenews/house/78857-gop-lawmakers-to-try-to-block-federal-funds-for-911-prosecutions>
White House previews budget cuts
By Nia-Malika Henderson
Politico
Sunday, January 31, 2010
In a preview of President Obama’s FY2011 budget proposal, the White House said it was making “tough choices” to rein in the deficit, but also claimed the 120 programs that would be cut are ineffective or duplicative.
In all, Obama will propose eliminating or reducing 120 programs, according to a blog post by White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer, who said the cuts would net a savings of $20 billion—about one half of one percent of the proposed $3.8 trillion budget proposal set to be released on Monday.
Last year, the president proposed cutting 121 programs for a savings of $17 billion, while Congress ended up approving cuts of $6.8 billion.
At least three of the proposed cuts—slashing payments to states for mine and brownfield clean-ups and eliminating the advanced earned income tax credit—were rejected by lawmakers last year, suggesting that Obama will have a tough time wrangling with Congressional Democrats accustomed to getting federal funding for their projects.
A White House aide said that Obama’s budget includes “scores of cuts and reductions that are new,” including eliminating preservation programs at the National Park Service and streamlining the number of grant programs at the Department of Education.
“We are thankful for every penny that goes into the education budget, we understand that there is responsibility and wisely we are very concerned about how tough the economic environment is,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. “This economic turmoil that we are in pre-dates this president. There are still a lot of folks that are suffering, and I am confident that the president will do that best he can do.”
Still, “the cuts are going to hurt,” she said.
Read Full Article <http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/32259.html>
Obama's $3.8 trillion budget heading to Congress
By Lori Montgomery
Washington Post
Sunday, January 31, 2010
The $3.8 trillion budget blueprint President Obama plans to submit to Congress on Monday calls for billions of dollars in new spending to combat persistently high unemployment and bolster a battered middle class. But it also would slash funding for hundreds of programs and raise taxes on banks and the wealthy to help rein in soaring budget deficits, according to congressional sources and others with knowledge of the document.
To put people back to work, Obama proposes to spend about $100 billion immediately on a jobs bill that would include tax cuts for small businesses, social safety net programs and aid to state and local governments. To reduce deficits, he would impose new fees on some of the nation's largest banks and permit a range of tax cuts to expire for families earning more than $250,000 a year, in addition to freezing non-security spending for three years.
Despite those efforts, the White House expects the annual gap between spending and revenue to approach a record $1.6 trillion this year as the government continues to dig out from the worst recession in more than a generation, according to congressional sources. The red ink would recede to $1.3 trillion in 2011, but remain persistently high for years to come under Obama's policies.
For a more comprehensive deficit-reduction plan, Obama will rely on a bipartisan task force of lawmakers and budget experts, who will be asked to draft a package of tax hikes and spending cuts sufficient to slash deficits and stabilize government borrowing by 2015.
The budget blueprint, the second of Obama's presidency, comes as Republicans emboldened by recent election victories are fanning public outrage over government spending, and nervous Democrats are clamoring for more money to reduce a stubborn 10 percent unemployment rate. As both parties gear up for the November election, Obama's spending plan is designed to steer a middle course between those opposing goals and reassure angry voters.
The 2011 blueprint repeats many of Obama's grandest ambitions from his first budget, including an expensive overhaul of the nation's health care system, a dramatic expansion of the federal student loan program and far-reaching climate change legislation, congressional sources said. But with Obama's standing in the polls badly damaged by a bruising yearlong battle over health care, all three of those initiatives are stalled in Congress with no clear path forward.
Read Full Article <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/31/AR2010013101377_pf.html>
Deficit to Hit All-Time High
By Jonathan Weisman
Wall Street Journal
Monday, February 1, 2010
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama will propose on Monday a $3.8 trillion budget for fiscal 2011 that projects the deficit will shoot up to a record $1.6 trillion this year, but would push the red ink down to about $700 billion, or 4% of the gross domestic product, by 2013, according to congressional aides.
The deficit for the current fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30, would eclipse last year's $1.4 trillion deficit, in part due to new spending on a proposed jobs package. The president also wants $25 billion for cash-strapped state governments, mainly to offset their funding of the Medicaid health program for the poor.
To get the deficit down by the middle of the decade, Mr. Obama will be relying on cuts that have previously been proposed without success, on cooperation from a wary Congress and on a yet-to-be set up debt commission to suggest politically difficult choices.
At the same time, Mr. Obama is under pressure to address the country's continued high unemployment rate. And he will propose increases in spending for priorities such as education and domestic scientific research. All of this raises questions about how much progress the president is likely to make in trying to fulfill his pledge to half by 2013 the $1.3 trillion deficit he inherited.
The budget embodies Mr. Obama's larger predicament of needing to contain the deficit without harming the economy, which remains fragile. The deficit has become a major political issue, as antigovernment activists swing independents against what they describe as Mr. Obama's big-government policies and Republicans try to regain the mantle of fiscal responsibility after the Bush years saw surpluses swing to deficits.
Read Full Article <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704722304575037470289762694.html>
New York Lawmakers Criticize Obama Bank Tax Plan
By Corey Boles
Wall Street Journal
Sunday, January 31, 2010
A group of New York House lawmakers criticized a plan by President Barack Obama to levy a tax on large banks with the aim of recouping taxpayer money spent on the Treasury’s financial market-rescue program.
The administration estimates the tax could raise about $90 billion over the next decade. The Troubled Asset Relief Program — which was introduced in 2008 to help ailing banks in the global financial crisis and later expanded to include a few other firms — has been estimated by the Treasury Department to cost taxpayers $117 billion, although that amount could fall if companies such as General Motors Co. accelerate repayments to the government.
A letter sent to the president and signed by two Democratic and one Republican lawmaker warns that the tax could have a “crippling effect on New York’s economy.”
“The proposed bank tax will ultimately cause New Yorkers to continue to suffer economic hardship at a time when the citizens of New York can least afford it,” Rep. Gregory Meeks, (D., N.Y.), a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee who signed the letter, said in a statement.
The other lawmakers who signed the letter were Reps. Peter King, a Republican, and Michael McMahon, another Democrat.
Read Full Article <http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/01/31/new-york-lawmakers-criticize-obama-bank-tax-plan/>
GOP idea: Slash cash for Gitmo shutdown
By Joseph Curl
Washington Times
Monday, February 1, 2010
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Sunday threatened to try to cut off the cash the Obama administration will need to shut down the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and hold terrorism trials in U.S. courts.
A day after the White House abruptly changed course and said it was reconsidering its decision to hold a terrorism trial in downtown New York, the Kentucky Republican mocked the Obama administration for citing former President George W. Bush as a precedent for holding such trials on U.S. soil.
"The only time this administration ever cites the previous administration for a precedent is to mention that there was some terrorists tried in U.S. courts. We now know that was a mistake. That was a mistake by the previous administration," Mr. McConnell said.
"Three years ago, we passed military commissions legislation for the specific purpose of trying foreigners captured on the battlefield. They ought to be tried in these military commissions. They also ought to be detained at Guantanamo," he said.
Asked whether he would tell the president, "You are not getting the money," Mr. McConnell said: "Yes, absolutely. And I think that will be done on a bipartisan basis. And the sooner the administration figures out that whatever domestic support they had for this is totally collapsing."
Read Full Article <http://washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/01/gop-idea-slash-cash-for-gitmo-shutdown/print/>
Obama seeks $33 billion for Afghanistan troop rise
By Caren Bohan
Reuters
Monday, February 1, 2010
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will ask the Congress on Monday for an additional $33 billion in the current 2010 fiscal year to fund a troop increase in Afghanistan, the White House said
Obama announced in December he was adding 30,000 more U.S. troops to the Afghan war effort to join the 68,000 already fighting a resurgent Taliban.
The $33 billion request would come on top of about $130 billion that Congress has already approved for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars through September 30, 2010.
Obama's proposed budget, which will be released at 10 a.m. EST, will also include a request for $159.3 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for the 2011 fiscal year that begins October 1.
Read Full Article <http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6101VN20100201?type=politicsNews%3FfeedType%3DRSS&feedName=politicsNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FPoliticsNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Politics+News%29>
Five years, $5.08 trillion in debt
By David Rodgers
Politico
Monday, February 1, 2010
President Barack Obama’s new $3.83 trillion budget—on its way to Congress Monday— anticipates an even worse deficit this year than last and no big improvement until the economy improves and the nation sheds the crushing costs of two wars overseas.
It’s a bleak, nerve-wracking landscape for any White House, but the president is still betting on significant new spending for education and clean energy initiatives, including billions in loan guarantees for the nuclear power industry.
He would hire thousands of new personnel to process veterans’ claims faster, and amid everything else, wants billions to resolve the complaints of soldiers and airmen exposed to Agent Orange in the Vietnam War.
But behind the brave face, Obama’s budget anticipates that Iraq and Afghanistan war funding will hover near $160 billion for both 2010 and 2011— far more than he had hoped when elected and only modestly less than in the last years of the Bush Administration.
The strain shows itself in the new deficit projections, far worse than what the White House forecast in its first budget at this time a year ago.
Read Full Article <http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=87D7B86B-18FE-70B2-A86D11DD1F52ECA4>
Democrats squabble over jobs bill
By Manu Raju and Meredith Shiner
Politico
Monday, February 1, 2010
Democrats from the president on down say jobs are their No. 1 priority, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid expects to announce details of a bill this week. But a squabble among Senate Democrats is complicating early efforts to bring a bill to the floor.
Sens. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and Dick Durbin of Illinois have been working intensely on a jobs bill for more than a month, talking with relevant committee leaders and other members and dispatching aides to dozens of other meetings in the hopes of crafting a bill that could get through the Senate quickly.
And when they walked into a meeting in the office of Reid (D-Nev.) on Jan. 22, they thought they were about to cross the finish line — the Dorgan-Durbin plan would be blessed by the small group of senators in the room, presented to the full Democratic Caucus on Jan. 28 and then taken straight to the floor for a vote.
But Montana Sen. Max Baucus had other ideas.
The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, where the health care bill was debated for months last year, surprised the senators gathered in Reid’s office by suggesting he wanted a chance to mark up portions of the bill under his committee’s jurisdiction before it went to the floor, according to several people who attended the meeting.
Read Full Article <http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=87BABBE3-18FE-70B2-A880C71A1C2076E0>
Editorial: Obama's fake freeze folly
Washington Times
Sunday, January 31, 2010
President Obama made a big deal last week about his purported federal spending freeze, but not enough has been said about how meager the supposed savings actually are. Historical context shows that any savings from this public-relations gimmick will be tiny. Frugality, apparently, is a concept Democrats have a hard time understanding.
The Obama freeze is projected to "save" $15 billion from expected spending next year. This is not a cut of $15 billion in existing spending, but only a decision not to raise spending (to match inflation) on certain accounts. Those accounts supposedly are to be frozen for the following two years as well, but they are being frozen only after a decade-long spending orgy that included an 8.2 percent increase in domestic discretionary spending this year. And they don't apply to any new purported jobs bill or to any other new item on the president's priority list.
Now, let's consider the $15 billion itself. By most people's reckoning, that's a big number. By government reckoning, it's child's play. In 1995, for instance, Congress rescinded - took back - $18.9 billion that had been signed into law but not yet doled out. Whereas the Obama plan is a mere pledge not to let government grow by $15 billion in certain programs, the 1995 rescissions actually cut about $19 billion from existing programs. And that was back when the dollar was worth far more. That $18.9 billion then would be worth $26.6 billion today.
That amount was trimmed from a budget of about $1.5 trillion, making it a real, honest cut of 1.27 percent. The Obama freeze is from a much larger budget of about $3.6 trillion, meaning a paper "savings" of barely more than four-tenths of a single percent.
Read Full Article <http://washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jan/31/obamas-fake-freeze-folly/print/>
$100 Billion Increase in Deficit Is Forecast
By Jackie Calmes
New York Times
Monday, February 1, 2010
WASHINGTON — The additional tax cuts and public works spending that President Obama has proposed to spur job creation would add $100 billion to this year’s deficit, bringing it to nearly $1.6 trillion, according to an administration official.
A deficit of that size for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30 would be about $150 billion greater than last year’s deficit, which was the highest since World War II.
Measured against the size of the economy, a $1.6 trillion shortfall would equal almost 11 percent of the gross domestic product. Economists generally consider annual deficits above 3 percent to be unsustainable.
Last week, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected that this year’s deficit would be more than $1.3 trillion without further spending or tax cuts. Mr. Obama’s proposed $100 billion stimulus package, which includes tax credits for small businesses that make new hires and money for infrastructure projects, is less than a $154 billion package that the House approved in December but more than a measure the Senate is drafting.
Read Full Article <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/us/politics/01budget.html>
Obama to Field Questions Posted by YouTube Users
By Brian Stelter
New York Times
Sunday, January 31, 2010
On Monday, President Obama is scheduled to sit down in the library of the White House residence for his first interview since his State of the Union address.
The interviewer? The United States of YouTube.
In a first-of-its-kind group interview, Mr. Obama will read and watch questions submitted by YouTube users and answer them in a live Webcast. “It’s a way to give people access to the president that feels more participatory,” said Macon Phillips, the Obama administration’s director of new media.
YouTube, which is owned by Google, will allow people both to submit questions and to vote for their favorite ones, “so we get a stronger signal about what the crowd is interested in,” said Steve Grove, the head of news and politics at YouTube and a former reporter for The Boston Globe.
Read Full Article <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/us/politics/01youtube.html>
Obama's $3.8 trillion budget calls for jobs assistance, tax changes
By Lori Montgomery
Washington Post
Monday, February 1, 2010
The $3.8 trillion budget blueprint President Obama plans to submit to Congress on Monday calls for billions of dollars in new spending to combat persistently high unemployment and bolster a battered middle class. But it also would slash funding for hundreds of programs and raise taxes on banks and the wealthy to help rein in soaring budget deficits.
To put people back to work, Obama proposes to spend about $100 billion immediately on a jobs bill that would include tax cuts for small businesses, social-safety-net programs, and aid to state and local governments. To reduce deficits, he would impose new fees on some of the nation's largest banks and permit a range of tax cuts to expire for families earning more than $250,000 a year, in addition to freezing non-security spending for three years.
Despite those efforts, the White House expects the annual gap between spending and revenue to approach a record $1.6 trillion this year as the government continues to dig out from the worst recession in more than a generation, according to budget documents released Sunday by the White House. The red ink would recede to $1.3 trillion in 2011 but remain persistently high for years to come under Obama's policies.
For a more comprehensive deficit-reduction plan, Obama will rely on a bipartisan task force of lawmakers and budget experts, who will be asked to draft a package of tax hikes and spending cuts to slash deficits and stabilize government borrowing by 2015, administration officials said.
The budget blueprint, the second of Obama's presidency, comes as Republicans emboldened by recent election victories are fanning public outrage over government spending, and nervous Democrats are clamoring for more money to reduce a 10 percent unemployment rate. As both parties gear up for the November election, Obama's spending plan is designed to steer a middle course between those opposing goals and to reassure angry voters.
Read Full Article <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/31/AR2010013101377_pf.html>
Knives Are Drawn for Proposed Cuts
By Greg Hitt and Neil King Jr.
Wall Street Journal
Sunday, January 31, 2010
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama's plan to reduce the deficit faces a tough battle on Capitol Hill, and prospects for a rapid return to fiscal austerity remain slim.
Mr. Obama, responding to growing public concern over deficit spending, will propose as part of his fiscal 2011 budget to freeze basic government spending, outside of national security programs. He also plans to appoint a commission to recommend ways to reduce the deficit.
But Republicans are skeptical. Special-interest groups are lining up to protect their own share of the budget. And even some top Democrats are breaking with their president to float their own ideas on how to tackle the deficit.
With so many cross-pressures, New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg, the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, said he saw little chance of Congress and the White House making a serious dent in the deficit this year. "There will be a lot of political posturing, but absolutely no substantial action," he said in an interview.
White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer on Sunday said the president understood the difficulties of dealing with the deficit. "Of course it won't be easy," he said. "It is going to require tough choices and a willingness of both parties to come together to make those choices." He said Mr. Obama hoped that Republicans would participate in the presidential commission on debt that would soon be created.
Read Full Article <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704343104575033212051806270.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5>
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