Over $700B in “unobligated” funds sitting idle in Federal agency coffers
—Purple Avenger
…Meanwhile, more than $700 billion gathers dust in accounts all around Washington.
That’s right. An arcane budgetary category called “unobligated funds” includes money that Congress has appropriated for agencies and programs in every corner of the federal government. When that money goes unspent, it just sits there — like an ancient wooden chest on a Caribbean island, just waiting to be pried open……these unobligated funds “have not yet been committed by contract or other legally binding action by the government,” OMB explains……Senator Tom Coburn (R., Okla.) holds the treasure map…
Obama’s “stash” really existed. Who knew?
Posted by Purple Avenger at 02:54 PM New Comments Thingy
Obama Budget Proposal: Lost Of Spending, Lots Of Taxes, Lots Of Deficit And Debt
—DrewM.
Madness, simply madness.
$3.73 trillion — total spending this year (25 percent of GDP).
$46 trillion — total spending over the next decade.$8.7 trillion — total new spending over the same period.$77.4 billion — Funding allocated for the Department of Education, a 22 percent increase from 2010 levels, and a 35 percent increase from 2008 levels.
More from the horror story at the link.
How are we going to pay for this? Well, we’re not really but he will raise taxes a lot.
However, Obama also would rely heavily on new taxes, to a degree unacknowledged by administration officials in recent days. His budget request calls for well over $1.6 trillion in fresh revenue over the next decade, much of it through higher taxes on the wealthy and businesses.
Households with income of more than $250,000 a year would immediately see new limits on the value of their itemized deductions. And starting in 2013, they would lose the lower tax rates and other breaks that were enacted during the George W. Bush administration and recently extended.
The president proposes to hit businesses with an array of proposals he has offered in the past, including an end to subsidies for oil and gas companies, new taxes on hedge fund managers and a $30 billion fee on financial institutions aimed at repaying taxpayers for the federal TARP bailout.
The cuts target defense, heating assistance and community development grants and include a scale-down of the Pell grant program for college and vocational students.
Republicans are not amused.
“Failing to heed the warnings of economists and the demands of the American people, the President’s budget accelerates our country down the path to bankruptcy. Far from ‘living within its means,’ the President’s budget puts the government on track to nearly double in size since the day he took office — a direct result of his party’s reckless spending spree,” House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said. “His budget destroys jobs by imposing a $1.6 trillion tax hike, adding $13 trillion to the national debt and fueling uncertainty in the private sector,” he added.
Senate Budget Committee ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said, “President Obama has failed to lead in the face of this growing crisis. Today he submitted a budget to Congress that accelerates our dangerous trajectory. His budget increases spending every single year, eventually doubling the size of the entire government from what it was the day he took office.”“The president’s budget also doubles the national debt by the end of his term, and then triples it by the end of the decade,” he noted.
Obama is basically taking a pass on seriously dealing with the nation’s financial mess. Shocking, I know. He’s going to make Republicans go first and propose real cuts and a way to deal with entitlements. He’s hoping that the public will turn against the GOP and he can pretend to be the reasonable one heading into 2012. I’m not sure if that’s Change You Can Believe In or not.
Posted by DrewM. at 02:05 PM New Comments Thingy
