|
|
June 18, 2013
|
|
|
|
 Budget Lies Aren’t Helping the DeficitPosted on Feb 11, 2010By David Sirota Last month, President Barack Obama proposed to freeze government spending on everything other than defense, veterans’ benefits, homeland security, Medicare and Social Security. The New York Times reported that administration officials depicted the initiative as proof of the president’s “seriousness about cutting the budget deficit.” Such spin may fly in Orwell’s Oceania or Washington, D.C., but if you happen to live in the real world, basic arithmetic tells a far more accurate tale about what is “serious”—and what is not. The nondefense discretionary spending that Obama aims to reduce now totals $477 billion a year—or just 14 percent of the federal budget. Freezing this outlay would save $25 billion a year, or about 2 percent of the annual $1.4 trillion deficit. Had this plan been part of a governmentwide belt-tightening effort, the White House might have been able to call itself “serious about cutting the budget deficit” anywhere other than in a fantasy land. But the announcement came as the Politico reported the administration was telling defense contractors of its commitment to “steady growth in the Pentagon’s budgets”—budgets so distended by wars and outdated weapons systems that they now top $700 billion a year. The good news is that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she does “not think the entire defense budget should be exempted” from deficit-cutting initiatives, and rightly so. Short of eliminating every department in the nondefense discretionary budget (Education, Health and Human Services, Labor, to name just a few), she knows there’s not enough money in that budget category to dent the deficit. She understands, in other words, that getting “serious” about deficit reduction means beginning the frank conversation about Pentagon bloat that the White House refuses to initiate. Advertisement For 30 years, Republicans and conservative Democrats have precluded factual debates about spending priorities. They’ve done this for three reasons: They seek to protect defense-industry campaign contributors; they fear an electoral backlash against cuts to mandatory programs like Social Security and Medicare; and they are afraid to antagonize the wealthy with pragmatic tax legislation to shore up these mandatory programs (for instance, they avoid bills that would apply Social Security taxes to all income—not just income below $106,000). Hence, these lawmakers deviously portray nondefense discretionary programs as the cause of our deficit. Their favored instrument of deceit is the malicious tale of loafers supposedly getting rich off these programs and driving us into debt—the tale that Obama’s budget proposal implicitly reinforces. These fantasies, no matter how untrue, achieve two objectives: (1) They get the middle and working classes fighting each other for budgetary scraps, rather than fighting the plutocrats feasting on real budget meat, and (2) they lobotomize the electorate. A new Rasmussen survey tells that latter story: When asked if they believe that defense, Social Security and Medicare alone now make up half of all federal spending, 20 percent of Americans said they did not know and 44 percent said no. That’s two-thirds of national poll respondents too brainwashed to realize the truth—too blinded by mythology to accept that most federal spending has nothing to do with the nondefense discretionary programs that Obama and his Reaganite predecessors have cited as a prime deficit culprit. Thus, even if Congress rejects this particular budget freeze proposal, long-term damage has already been done. In adding a Democratic president’s name to deceptive propaganda, Obama has helped perpetuate mass ignorance by short-circuiting the national discussion we need to have—the discussion about defense spending and taxes that the country requires and the deficit demands. David Sirota is the author of the best-selling books “Hostile Takeover” and “The Uprising.” He hosts the morning show on AM760 in Colorado and blogs at OpenLeft.com. E-mail him at ds@davidsirota.com. © 2010 Creators.com  TAGS:
|
Bank of America Lied to Homeowners and Rewarded Foreclosures, Ex-Employees Say
Email 
Print
Share
Email to a friend
Newsletter 
Like Us
Follow Us
Get Our Feed
Tags|Bazaar|Podcast|About Us|Contact Us|User Agreement|Privacy Policy|FAQ: Comments and Moderation | Google+
© 2013 Truthdig, LLC. All rights reserved.
By ofersince72, September 7, 2010 at 11:47 pm Link to this comment
Most of you have all seen pictures of Nigeria and
Equador and the shape that the International Investors
have left them and many, many other countries around the
world. Their habitat , drinking water and soils all
ruined, leaving them to starve to death.
We are next, largest debtor nation in the world.
Report thisWhat happened in the Gulf of Mexico and what is happening
in areas where they are fracking natural gas is just
a preview of what is coming to America as we bicker among
ourselves the Maddow/Olberman vs Beck/Palin show.
They own us now, get it??? They don’t care about you
professing conservativism at all, nor do they care about
you so called liberals at all.
You all had better find some common ground real quick
and understand who your real enemy is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!$$$$$$$
By ofersince72, September 7, 2010 at 11:39 pm Link to this comment
Our air ain’t fit to breathe
Our water ain’t fit to drink
Our food ain’t fit to eat
They are fracking Natural gas from the ground, robbing
precious drinking water while contaminating it.
They are pouring all sorts of petro-chemicals on the
food we eat, while lacing our fields with genetically
engineered crops. and making it impossible for the public
to get vegetable seed.
Both the East Coast and the West Coast have some many
breathing epidemics they don’t even report them anymore.
And here we are with the Maddow/Olberman vs Beck/Palin show.
Report this(I won’t count all the hundreds of thousands of innocent
people we are responsible for killing since few in
America really give a rat’s ass about anyone but themselves.)
By P. T., February 13, 2010 at 1:10 am Link to this comment
With unemployment so high, we need bigger deficits for now, not smaller. Obama knows that, but he is playing games. To minimize opposition to government spending, he is throwing money at the Pentagon (military Keynesianism).
Report thisBy alamo1950, February 12, 2010 at 9:17 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
But but but we need all those aircraft carriers and bases on Guam, Okinawa, Germany, Japan… cause you never can tell when thousands of 90-year-old never-say-die Jap and Nazi troops will come careening out of the jungles and Bavarian alps, rolling their wheelchairs in a mass kamikaze charge to avenge Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Dresden… not to mention the dire threat that the ghost of Kruschev will join with a horrible stinking undead Stalin to send their hoarded Red propjet bombers over the pole carrying death and destruction that must be met by mutually assurred destruction of ten thousand warheads arising from our trillion dollars worth of subs and nukes simmering neath the waves. How could we ever think about spending for child healthcare in dire times like these?
Report thisBy liecatcher, February 12, 2010 at 7:57 pm Link to this comment
Budget Lies Aren’t Helping the Deficit
Posted on Feb 11, 2010 By David Sirota
Hey David Sirota:
Report thisWhat you left out would have made your good article a
meaningful & powerful reality check.
Missing was the fact that “IN AMERICA DEMOCRACY IS A
USEFUL FICTION”. This would have provided perspective
so that those waiting for the Fascist Oligarchs
running
America to throw them a bone don’t hold their
breaths.
Maybe a little more specifics about how the Military
Industrial Conspiracy works, using John Murtha as an
example would help. Or, you might have just come out
and said that Bush3 is continuing perpetual wars & is more concerned about U.S. hegemony than we the people,&
the U.S. can’t even pay the interest on the deficit
which can never be paid. The word Obamageddon would
also help if you pointed out that Bush3 is Government Sachs’ lapdog & licks their boots and kisses their asses.
By G.Anderson, February 12, 2010 at 7:09 pm Link to this comment
“Hence, these lawmakers deviously portray nondefense discretionary programs as the cause of our deficit. Their favored instrument of deceit is the malicious tale of loafers supposedly getting rich off these programs and driving us into debt—the tale that Obama’s budget proposal implicitly reinforces.”
Yes, how inconvienient, the eaters have needs. Unfortunately, those in charge have greed, and they have been eyeing social security, medicare, and the safety net for years, because it would make us more exploitable by them and they would be able to spend more on those that donate to their campaigns.
We have a government of Me, Me, Me, Me, Me, Me, Me, Me, Me… they never do anything unless they benefit from it…
That’s why nothing is getting done now, and while our country is moving sideways, the polichickens are trying to figure out how to make money on what their about to do, and how to make it seem like it’s for out own good.
That’s where the media comes in. Last night on the news there was a story about a Duck that taught a little boy how to walk…But nothing about how the Dems and Republicans are gutting the jobs program to make it more acceptable…
..and nothing about, where people will be able to go to get into a breadline after their done doing nothing.
Report thisBy ofersince72, February 12, 2010 at 5:41 pm Link to this comment
Here is another gross in justice that is also be ing
ex tended by to Oh?bama admin.
DN just did a piece on charter schools.
Supposedly the fix for our education system
PRIVATIZE IT !!!!!!
because we have seen so well how privatizing
normal functions of the government work
Now they are going to take our tax money,
and turn it over to private companies to educate
our children.
More social-ism for the rich.. In the name of
education this time…who would argue with that notion?
If we believe, we are dumb now….just wait..
At one time ,America had the best and most cost
Report thisefficient education system ANYWHERE ......
Our good NEO CONS AND THEIR BUDDIES THE NEO LIBS
started ripping apart this great education system
several decades ago….
I forgot what what they blamed the failure of our
public education on…....IT WAS ANOTHER LIE YOU
CAN BET YOUR SWEET AMERICAN ASS ON.
By ofersince72, February 12, 2010 at 4:36 pm Link to this comment
Chalmer made a statement in an interview about
a decade ago…...
GET WHILE THE GETTIN IS GOOD…there ain’t no
Report thispolitical fix.
By vertica111ift, February 12, 2010 at 2:00 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Yes I seem to recall Obama saying something about transparency and the real cost of the war. He meant 2 wars right ? I just finished reading Chalmer’s Johnson’s “Nemesis” and am now plugging along into his “Blowback”. Concurs in many ways with what you are saying. The truth will set us free but we’ve been chowing on lies for so long and the tipping point is so close we may be un redemable. The stakes are colossal. So are the odds.
Report thisBy ofersince72, February 12, 2010 at 8:49 am Link to this comment
Good Article in my eyes…
Social Security was made part of the Annual
Federal Budget to mask the “Defense” spending
It was done by a Republican and a Democrat
Reagon was pres….O’Neil was the House Speaker
Take that out of the Annual Budget again like it
Report thisis supposed to be and was meant to be
and clearly you can see two thirds of our budget
goes to “Defense”.
By KISS, February 12, 2010 at 5:45 am Link to this comment
“Democratic president’s name to deceptive propaganda”
Report thisIn other words all presidents Lie and Obama is not any different. Who woulda thunk it?
Since Eisenhower Social Security has been hit by every president, especially the repugs. Anything FDR proposed has been the target of the repugs, and blue dog dimmos. Tax the rich? Ain’t never gonna happen until we get a progressive in the WH.
So who is worse dum-ass Sara, or lying Barrack? Seems to matter naught who wins the next presidency.