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President Obama sent Congress a $3.73 trillion budget Monday.

The president, visiting a school in Baltimore, said his budget reflects "tough choices and sacrifices." Obama said more will need to be done to address long-term shortfalls but described his spending plan as a "down payment" toward that effort.

"If we're going to walk the walk when it comes to fiscal discipline, these kinds of cuts will be necessary," he said.

White House Budget Director Jack Lew hit the news shows early to defend the president's proposal, saying the budget makes "real cuts" while investing in priority programs.

"By the middle of the decade, we're paying our bills," Lew said.

But the projected savings would be dwarfed by the $7.21 trillion in cumulative deficits over that 10-year period.

"We have no plan in this budget to pay down debt or ever come close to balancing it," said Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee.

The new estimates project the deficit for the current year will surge to an all-time high of $1.65 trillion. From there, the deficit in 2012 would dip to $1.1 trillion, giving the country a record four straight years of $1 trillion-plus deficits.

Though administration officials say the president will fulfill his pledge of cutting the deficit he "inherited" in half by the end of his first term, his 10-year projections show the figure persistently hovering above the already-high $458.6 billion deficit on the books in 2008, former President George W. Bush's last full year in office. Obama's 2012 budget projects the imbalances never falling lower below $607 billion.

"How is that living within your means?" Sessions said Monday.



for the record, the 2011 budget (even though one wasn't officially passed) was $3.8 trillion. the 2010 budget was $3.55 trillion. the 2009 budget was $2.7 trillion. the 2008 budget was $2.66 trillion, and the 2007 budget was $2.4 trillion.

least we're moving in the right direction...

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Only in government can you save by spending more ... reduce debt by increasing it.

(And we wonder what happened to morality?)

This ****'s gotta stop.  In 2012, we need to clean house again.  Else, these idiots are going to drive us off a cliff and tell us it's a joy ride.

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FIFTEEN NEW TAX HIKES IN OBAMA'S BUDGET TO FUND HIS RECKLESS SPENDING SPREE

Over the last two years, the president has regularly touted his fight to lower taxes for Americans. In fact, his latest budget proposal offered up today is being billed as a package of tough cuts. But buried within the budget’s rhetoric and numerous pages are actually a healthy amount of increases — tax increases, that is. 15 of them.

The folks over at Business Insider note “the budget contains as much as $1.5 trillion in hikes over ten years,” thanks to some diligent sleuthing by the group Americans for Tax Reform.

Here are the hidden increases:

    * Raising the top marginal income tax rate (at which a majority of small business profits face taxation) from 35% to 39.6%.  This is a $709 billion/10 year tax hike

    * Raising the capital gains and dividends rate from 15% to 20%

    * Raising the death tax rate from 35% to 45% and lowering the death tax exemption amount from $5 million ($10 million for couples) to $3.5 million.  This is a $98 billion/ten year tax hike

    * Capping the value of itemized deductions at the 28% bracket rate.  This will effectively cut tax deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions, property taxes, state and local income or sales taxes, out-of-pocket medical expenses, and unreimbursed employee business expenses.  A new means-tested phaseout of itemized deductions limits them even more.  This is a $321 billion/ten year tax hike

    * New bank taxes totaling $33 billion over ten years

    * New international corporate tax hikes totaling $129 billion over ten years

    * New life insurance company taxes totaling $14 billion over ten years

    * Massive new taxes on energy, including LIFO repeal, Superfund, domestic energy manufacturing, and many others totaling $120 billion over ten years

    * Increasing unemployment payroll taxes by $15 billion over ten years

    * Taxing management capital gains in an investment partnership (“carried interest”) as ordinary income.  This is a tax hike of $15 billion over ten years

    * A giveaway to the trial lawyers—not letting companies deduct the cost of punitive damages from a lawsuit settlement.  This is a tax hike of $300 million over ten years

    * Increasing tax penalties, information reporting, and IRS information sharing.  This is a ten-year tax hike of $20 billion.

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yeah, and he's still out there talking about how he's lowered taxes.

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how do you guys think this budget battle is going to play out? obviously the house is going to push for more cuts, and i think as the march 1st deadline approaches (when the government will run out of money we don't have), of course we're going to hear from the media how they're trying to hold the country hostage. does this mean time is on obama's side?

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Originally Posted by Dødherre Mørktre:
how do you guys think this budget battle is going to play out? obviously the house is going to push for more cuts, and i think as the march 1st deadline approaches (when the government will run out of money we don't have), of course we're going to hear from the media how they're trying to hold the country hostage. does this mean time is on obama's side?

From a negotiating/political perspective both sides have to be able to declare a win.  So B.O. has loaded the budget up with more than he'll accept and recognizes that he'll get less ... but will still get some of what he wants.

From a "let's get real" perspective this is an "obamination".  He's spending a **** load more ... a new record deficit ... and is insane enough to declare that he'll reduce the deficit by raising taxes.

FIFTEEN NEW TAXES!!!

I mean ... does it sink into people what this means?

Of course, he'll bluster about making "evil, rich people" pay more and "evil, capitalistic businesses" paying more and not raising taxes on us common people.

And that's a crock of ****.

Anytime you raise a business expense, it's consumers who pay the price ... us.

Then, take one of the fifteen new taxes ... this one ... do we realize what this means?

Capping the value of itemized deductions at the 28% bracket rate. This will effectively cut tax deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions, property taxes, state and local income or sales taxes, out-of-pocket medical expenses, and unreimbursed employee business expenses. A new means-tested phaseout of itemized deductions limits them even more. This is a $321 billion/ten year tax hike

This is a tax on people and small businesses.  It's going to limit what you can itemize on your tax returns.

Take my small business for example ...

I'm doing good right now because I took a risk and because of the sweat equity I've put into the business.  However, there are no guarantees.  Since I'm an entrepreneur, it could go south at any time.  

So let's suppose that happens and I have a bad year this year.  Let's suppose that I only earn enough revenue to pay the bills ... to cover expenses.  If I'm reading this correctly, Barry's going to screw me even more because I no longer will be able to write them off at full value ... he's going to limit them to 28%.

This is going to screw a lot of people ... severely cripple the source and backbone of our economy ... small businesses.  Folks will be less likely to take an entrepreneurial risk.  Others will go out of business.  It's a huge job killer.

So this is Barack Hussein Obama.  The saviour of the world.  A f*cker who's never been in business.  Hell, he's never even run a lemonade stand.

And yet, I'm still appalled by how he's wrecking this nation.  

Why should I be surprised?

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The incompetence and arrogance is beyond belief.

Listen to this guy ... admitting the budget is full of ****.

Hey Timmy!  Since you ask, do you want to know the plan?

The plan is to get rid of you and all the other out-of-control idiots who're spending us into oblivion and are running us into the ground.

Now, will you support it?

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i loved seeing paul ryan bust this imbeciles chops.

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From the Ways and Means Committee ... BO's budget contains $1.9 TRILLION in new taxes.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=71756574

Hopenchange!