Obama's Second Term Agenda Blighted by Spending Cuts

Previously agreed cuts will hinder his plans

A thin wallet will limit Barack Obama's second term agenda, regardless of who wins the fiscal-cliff showdown, according to the Washington Post.

That's because various constraints on spending were already settled during the debt-ceiling crisis in 2011, according to the Post. Lawmakers will have to make cuts of ~$1 trillion over the next decade.

As for the current fiscal cliff crisis, White House aides are saying any new revenue from taxes will go towards deficit reduction, axing chances for new programs and ambitious expansion.

Spending will likely focus on smaller initiatives like repairs to infrastructure or small grants for blighted neighborhoods.

The lack of revenue is no small source of Democratic concern: scheduled cuts and restrictions on spending will likely cut into in programs viewed as crucial, ranging from college aid to programs for the poor.

And the cutbacks may get even bigger: Democrats are worried President Obama will still give away too much in revenue and entitlement spending in fiscal cliff negotiations.

Via the Washington Post

Should Obama argue for more spending?

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

I hope his plans are hindered by spending cuts. That would be good news. Who out there really believes this though?

[PNWest]

I don't. We are going to raise taxes on the rich and spend money putting the country back in good shape. I'm hoping that the GOP will listen to Rand Paul and just vote present instead of obstructing things. That way when things get better there will be no doubt that the Democrats were responsible for it. Unfortunately I don't expect the GOP to go along with Dr. Paul.

[Neo_NtheMatrix]

@PNWest - You don't think we've spent enough? What do you think we should spend on that we haven't already? Where would you get the money from to pay for your spending? I'm truly intrigued.

[PNWest]

@Neo_NtheMatrix I would cut military spending drastically, reduce foreign aid and farm aid. Continue unemployment benefits. Put money into beefing up the country's infractructure, ie roads, bridges, etc. I'd start a nationalized drug research program where the results would be instantly generic or at least low cost. I would build national medical schools (and hospitals) where poor but smart students could become doctors in exchange for doing 6 years of public service after graduation. I'd probably find a few more good causes if I thought about it longer. Oh yeah, I beef up Obama's DEATH PANELS and have conservatism classified as an incurable disease :)

[drpeeper]

@PNWest Cut Military spending- Yes, quot sending money to the countries we have defended since ww2. How would nationalized research/drugs be cheaper? As with everything in gov't we would have fraud, things would cost 4 times as much and be 75% less effective. Poor but smart students could be doctors? You mean like those from China, & India who come here with nothing and make it? It's called a work etic. And with Obamacare- Doctors will be in short supply here. Conservatism is incurable- as it is logic & common sense, you either have it or you dont. Thank God.

[PNWest]

@drpeeper At least we agree on some things. Currently doctors often leave medical school $250,000 in debt. That's horrible. I'd give away free tuition in exchange for 6 years service across America. As a conservative you know that there are many small towns without ANY doctors. A program like this would give them one.

[twinertia]

What a foolish notion! EVERY administration from here on in WILL be locked into the printing/borrowing blueprint that's built the current wreck. There's only one (1) way to get out of it, and the powers-that-be can't embrace it (for fear of watching their phony-baloney jobs crumble into obsolescence).

[FollowTheMoney]

True story, Legislation and litigation for profit.

[PuroChorizo361]

Takes money to make money. ; )

[martydotcom]

The concept of investment in the future is far beyond the intellectual capability of the hard right

[DrMoonshine]

Especially when technology bailed their asses out from past recessions and keeping them afloat.

[Thunderchicken]

But we don't have any money. We now borrow 46 cents of every dollar we spend.

[HughAkston]

@ DrMoonshine ......... I graduated from college three times. One of the things I noticed is that the Progressive types generally inhabit the arts, social science, and humanities department. Those that would pegged as right wing nut jobs or conservatives generally inhabit business and accounting, the pure sciences, engineering and applied sciences. ........the disciplines that bailed people out of the past recessions and are keeping a heck of a lot of people afloat.

[HughAkston]

Not necessarily guy. I'll agree there are some businesses that have high startup costs. However, there are a lot of businesses that don't require a lot of money to get started. I started my business ten years ago with one laptop computer, $500 to form a LLC, and a deposit of $100 in the bank. I'm still going. I still have the receipt for the $100 deposit in my wallet. I look at it every now and then. It reminds me that I'm nobody special.

[FFX_VA]

Hold it! Obama signed into law the sequestration cuts, medical tax hikes & spending, and promised to reduce the deficient. These are his agenda!!

[stepped_in_it]

Maybe Obama believed in the Mayan calendar dooms day predictions? Made promises he couldn't keep but figured he wouldn't have to keep them anyway!!

[FFX_VA]

@stepped_in_it Ur right, the world isn't ending & Obama's "chickens" are coming home to roost. Time to for him to man-up and take ownership of his mess.

[stepped_in_it]

@FFX_VA Well, maybe he can blame future presidential hopefuls! Maybe Nancy will lend him her physic....(pun intended)

[DARSB]

You're mistaken in thinking the President hasn't made moves to "reduce the deficient" - you don't see a Vice President Palin, do you?:-)

[FFX_VA]

@DARSB Empirical evidence shows he has failed terribly with his token efforts to reduce the deficit.

[FollowTheMoney]

Good, we can't buy our way out of this hole. At some point we have to pay our bills and balance the budget.

[FollowTheMoney]

This is all lip service anyway. The same old same old. A ten year plan that they fight over and renegotiate in the next election cycle, two years from now. No real solutions are offered. Flat tax, Down size government, Term limits, etc.....

[NO-BAMA]

$1 trillion of the next ten years??!!?!
Barry is blowing a trillion every year! What's these "savings" going to do for anything? Barry's whole liberal, attack on success and expansion of the "welfare" nanny state is what needs to go.
His goals and "The dreams of his father" need to be put where they belong. In a dumpster, right next to his wife's idiotic "obesity" agenda.

[Bobolinsky]

Didn't President Obama campaign on $800 B in "new revenue?" Then that turned into $1.6 B after the election?

Republicans caved on $800 B and now the talk has turned to no spending cuts until sometime to be determined... in the future... higher tax rates for Warren Buffett's secretary...

And now the talk is about spending increases?

Forget that we're not even talking about ACTUAL spending cuts. We're talking about a decrease in the increases in creases in spending that's built into baseline budgeting...

We're doomed.

[HughAkston]

I'm so convinced we're doomed, I'm sizing up other counties to move to. They can keep the Social Security. I know there are those that'll say good riddance to me. However, there are those that will be glad to have a guy like me around. I'm an American by an accident of birth. That however doesn't obligate me to stick around for the wreckage that will certainly come from decades of foolish policies and decisions. As I said before, when the USA reaches its obvious conclusion there will be only two types of people.....victims and spectators.

[FFX_VA]

He needs to pay-off the urban areas that brought him votes, it's the Democrate way. He cares more about politics than country.

[PNWest]

@FFX_VA As opposed to the GOP who have consistently put the interests of the large corporations and ultra-wealthy ahead of the country's.

[FFX_VA]

@PNWest Pure propaganda. Small business & farmers, yes they have consistently watched out for their interests.

[PNWest]

@FFX_VA Pure propaganda is what you feed to small business & farmers while you do the bidding of the mega-wealthy and large corporations.

[Jim49418]

During the debt ceiling crisis back in 2011, Obama and his administration agreed to come up with a budget to cut the deficit. He failed to do so, and now plans on taking us over the so-called fiscal cliff. We've allready heard him, and his die hard followers try to blame their own failures on the GOP.
Maybe this fiscal cliff wont be such a bad thing after all.
Sooner or later, we all know that our taxes are going to have to increase in order to pay off this massive debt.(it's going to happen)
It's the spending cuts that are whats needed in order to get out budget on track. Obama thinks that just by raising taxes on the top 2% will solve all of our problems,... he's wrong!

[Thunderchicken]

Should Obama argue for more borrowing?

FTFY

[seedtick]

What part of $16trillion and climbing does anyone not understand? Take the money saved by drawing down in Iraq and Afganistan to pay down the debt and QUIT SPENDING.

[artjeb]

NO. borrowing in to the future is NONSENSE.
Who can see what the future holds ? Thats what the govt has been doing for decades & where has it gotten us ?
Right where we are BROKE

[Jack-Black]

Just one more stimulus package will do it.

[commonsense51]

You must be kidding, Obama spent more than any president in our history his first four years and how did that spending do for jobs? This guy has no clue how to create jobs so who in their right mind would want him to spend even more? He has no vision or plan for the future, just more Government control of the people. His next control policies will be energy which will make our electric bills go up just so he can tell the wacko environmentalists he did something for them to justify their voting for him.
All we can hope is to hand cuff his socialist agenda for four years while our nation treads water and goes no where.

[Thegrif]

In the hole and still wanting to spend money, unbelievable.

[Sharpshooter]

I thought his agenda was to SPEND more money. The people who elected him are actually worried about him not having the money to spend? WTF? Did they figure he had another stash of money to toss them like chewed old bones to mongrels?

Oh well, he'll just blame Bush and call the mint to print up some more $100 bills to hand out.

[texas_cutie75]

Sickening isn't it?

[Sharpshooter]

@texas_cutie75 Breaks my heart.... cell phones being shut off...people having to go to work... Oh the humanity!

[texas_cutie75]

You mean to tell us that the POTUS is not going to get what he wanted?? Oh no. Instead of cutting Medicare (oldsters) and defense, the salaries of all those in political postions should be altered! The country definitely needs to apply term limits as well!!

[Tolpuddle]

I find it unbelievable that such a huge mass of people seize upon a talking point instead of choosing to view an entire problem, like, oh, I dunno, a minority of people in Congress that chooses to ignore doing what the people elected them to do? Each person in office was elected to do the will of the people. Not one of them were elected to do what their politics dictate. I also find it unbelievable that a huge group of people will comment on something they obviously know jack all about, like, I dunno, how our Government ACTUALLY works? There were no Kings nor Queens elected to any office in Washington. The power in Washington is divided into thirds between the House, the Senate and the Pres. If one says no, it's no. And the House has been the House of No for the last 4 years.

As for spending cuts, why are the only cuts being looked at are the social programs that benefit the aged and disabled? Why aren't pork additions being considered for every bill passed. Why are so many bills passed that are loaded with pork that the rest of the country knows nothing about considered? see here - http://www.congress-summary.com/B-112th-Congr... Bills do NOT get passed unless there's a little somthin' somethin' added in for others. Why do we give grants to study things like "the sex life of college girls" or grants to build a friggin underpass for turtles? Don't laugh. They're actual grants. Why aren't these types of things being looked at by Congress to cut? Why are we allowing major corps to NOT pay taxes and even get refunds to boot when they have a good many of their jobs overseas? Why are we as intelligent [I'm assuming but apparently I'm wrong on many counts] even arguing this point? Why are we allowing many of these wealthy people to shelter their dollars offshore to avoid paying taxes. Our laws dictate we pay x amount of taxes on each dollar earned. Don't like it, move somewhere else.

As for the empirical evidence mentioned, bullshit. Your evidence is incomplete and you know it . If you don't, why are you even speaking?

Like I already said, way to many are arguing when they haven't a friggin clue what they're talking about beyond headlines or what Rush Limbaugh tells them. They're evidently happy being led around by their nose ring with talking heads holding the lead rope.

Obama won. Get over it. If you can't go buy a block of cheese to go with your whine.

[VeryLameduck]

How does he expect to reach a deal when he's asking for an unlimited debt ceiling? This guy needs to at least pretend to be a diplomat.

[Vance1]

We borrow 42 cents of every dollar Washington spends today

Our Children and Grand children surely wont have the same America that we all had

What a shame!!!

[IMAQT]

We are now up to 46 cents on every dollar is now spent. We are right around the corner where our budget will be 50% tax and 50% borrowed. Future generations will look back to us as the most greedy of all American generations in our history and the partisan hacks here will still be blaming the other side.