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Obama Breaks His Pledge on the Budget

By Debra Sanders, SF Chronicle, February 16th 2012 -

In February 2009 — having signed into law his $787 billion stimulus package — President Barack Obama made a pledge to the nation. “Contrary to the prevailing wisdom in Washington these past few years,” the president noted, “we cannot simply spend as we please and defer the consequences to the next budget, the next administration or the next generation.” Obama already had noted that he’d “inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit — the largest in our nation’s history.” A month into office, Obama announced, “Today I am pledging to cut the deficit we inherited in half by the end of my first term in office.”

He meant well, but it isn’t going to happen.

This week, the administration presented a $3.8 trillion budget. The 2012 fiscal year will close with a $1.3 trillion deficit; the deficit for 2013 is expected to be $900 billion. And that’s assuming Obama can push through $1.5 trillion in tax increases, mostly on the rich, over 10 years — which no one expects to happen.

There’s no appetite to pass the Obama budget in the Democratic-led Senate. White House chief of staff Jack Lew even told CNN: “You can’t pass a budget in the Senate of the United States without 60 votes, and you can’t get 60 votes without bipartisan support. So unless Republicans are willing to work with Democrats in the Senate, (Majority Leader) Harry Reid is not going to be able to get a budget passed.”

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http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/02/16/president_obama_punts_on_us_deficit_113142.html