You’d have to assume that President Obama and his team really do live in a different universe than this one, as the latest budget fails to rein in spending in any meaningful way:
The budget has 2012 spending falling a bit from record 2011 levels, but that’s because “stimulus” spending is winding down, war costs are supposed to fall, and unemployment benefits should decline as the economy improves. Let’s look at some of the new budget data (all data for fiscal years):
- Total federal spending jumped from $2.98-trillion in 2008 to $3.82-trillion in 2011. Obama’s budget has outlays at $3.73-trillion in 2012, but that’s still up 25% from 2008. Spending in 2011 is the highest share of GDP since the Second World War at 25.3%.
- Non-defence discretionary spending jumped from $522-billion in 2008 to $655-billion in 2011. Spending is supposed to fall to $611-billion in 2012, but that’s still up 17% from 2008.
- Defence spending jumped from $612-billion in 2008 to $761-billion in 2011. Spending is supposed to fall to $730-billion in 2012, but that’s still up 19% from 2008.
- Entitlement spending jumped from $1.59-trillion in 2008 to $2.19-trillion in 2011. The budget has entitlement spending at $2.14-trillion in 2012, which is up a huge 35% from 2008.
[. . .] In the administration’s mind, apparently absolutely nothing has changed on fiscal policy in the last year. Obama hasn’t shifted toward fiscal responsibility an inch. The Tea Party movement, the November elections, the government debt crises in Europe, and the Obama Fiscal Commission have all been totally ignored in the new federal budget.
Even in economic good times, this would be an irresponsible budget. It’s far worse as the US economy is still crawling out of a deep hole.
