Obama's 2012 Budget

I don't like the Obama administration's proposed budget. Not really because of anything specific in it, but because of what it has become. The administration spent the last 3 years starting out by meeting the republicans halfway on nearly everything in the spirit of getting things done only to be ignored by the entire GOP. That sentiment is now gone and is replaced by a rather bold and good proposal that is, nevertheless, now partisan. 

From a specifics standpoint, however, I like the budget. It tackles job growth and the deficit in a vastly better manner than any GOP proposal. The Obama budget is very much softer on middle-income earners and below while the GOP wants to shift the burden downward which would tighten up their ability to spend and stifle job creation, throwing us back into a recession. The budget is heavy into encouraging job growth and consumer confidence while at the same time setting up for long term budget deficit cutting without suddenly throwing countless government employees out into the street. There are numerous spending freezes in many areas, cuts in others, decreases in projected growth and increases in revenue as well. A fairly balanced and reasonable approach. Deficit spending and debt for governments are not an inherently bad thing. People like to compare the federal budget to household budgets and such comparisons are not correct in any sense at all. It is more about the trend. When a household budget is overspending cuts have to be made, usually immediately, sometimes drastically. When a government is overspending, this cannot be done. Doing so means people losing jobs and flooding the job market with more job seekers for the same amount of openings making it harder for everyone to find work. Even if you assume the cuts create a surplus and allow for a decrease in taxes, this extra revenue won't be reflected in the private sector immediately the way the job seekers will appear, instead it will take place over a much longer period while consumer spending will drop due to the increase in unemployment. Cutting government spending, ie public sector jobs, requires a scalpel and a gradual trend that spares the economy from aforementioned harsh twists and turns. As the economy improves, unemployment decreases and people are again earning money, revenue improves and thus helps shrink the deficit or turn it into a surplus without actually raising rates at all.

Cheers to the Obama administration for actually taking a stand, it is just sad that it has come at the cost of bipartisanship.