The Republican-led House has proposed cutting $61 billion in the next five months from President Obama's Fiscal Year 2011 Budget, which has a whopping $1.3 trillion deficit. This budget was supposed to be approved last October, and was recently given a two-week life extension to keep the Federal Government running. So, talk of deficit reduction is a good thing. What's being cut? Not so good.
Andrew Fieldhouse, of the Economic Policy Institute, points out that most of the Republican budget cuts are in the non-defense discretionary budget. These cuts will result in a loss of 800,000 jobs, while preserving the Bush tax cuts. Is this what we really want? As Fieldhouse puts it:
The issue comes down to a question of priorities. If we can afford tax cuts for the middle class and the wealthy and corporations offshoring jobs, we can afford to keep teachers in the classroom and cops on the street. Budgeting is about tradeoffs. Trading an estate tax cut for the wealthiest one-quarter of one percent of Americans--a costly provision in the tax compromise--for budget cuts in child nutrition, grants for college tuition, and food safety (all in the Republican budget) is a really bad trade for the middle class.
What the Republicans, Democrats and Fieldhouse ignore is cuts in the largest budget item: defense-related security spending, which was $891 billion in the FY 2011 budget. It was greater than Social Security ($730 billion) and Medicare/Medicaid ($788 billion).
Furthermore, $61 billion in cuts isn't much compared to the FY 2011 $1.3 trillion deficit. Congress next has to tackle Obama's recently submitted $3.7 trillion budget for Fiscal Year 2012, which will create an unnecessary $1 trillion deficit.These deficits will get added to the $14 trillion Federal debt, taking it well over the $14.8 trillion U.S. GDP, or total economic output of the United States last year.
Bottom line? Our Federal elected officials are not focused on job production OR deficit reduction. Who will make them focus? The same people who will suffer if they don't -- you, me and our children and grandchildren.
Where Does Your Money Go?
- FY 2012 Budget and Spending Primer
- How a $14 Trillion Debt Will Cut Your Standard of Living
- Why the Recession Hurt the Middle Class the Most
| 
(Photo Credit:Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
Comments