Obama Seeks 100 Mil in Budget Cuts to Show Fiscal Responsibility

[Sergeant Bob]

Whoa! Dude! And you all thought he wasn't budget conscious. So what, some AF pilots is going to get a Raptor sans tail? If he keeps this up we'll be out of debt in, like, never?

Obama to gather Cabinet, seeking $100 million in cuts

By Suzanne Malveaux
CNN
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama returned to Washington on Sunday night with his eye back on his domestic agenda and a plan to save government money.
President Obama arrives by Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on Sunday.

President Obama arrives by Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on Sunday.

On Monday, Obama will gather his full Cabinet together for the first time as president and challenge it to cut a total of $100 million in the next 90 days, two senior administration officials said.

The officials spoke anonymously because the announcement had yet to come from the president, who returned Sunday from the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago.

The agencies would have to report how they saved on expenses after 90 days, the officials said.

A senior administration official described the edict as part of Obama's "commitment to go line by line through the budget to cut spending" and "reform the government."

As House and Senate lawmakers return from recess this week, they are expected to start reconciling their versions of the fiscal 2010 budget resolution. The president's budget request is $3.67 trillion.
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In context of the federal budget, $100 million in savings is a small amount, but the White House wants to demonstrate fiscal responsibility.

On Monday, Obama will offer examples of how various agencies have started cost-cutting measures, including:

• The Department of Homeland Security's plan to save an estimated $52 million over five years by purchasing office supplies in bulk.

• The Department of Agriculture's effort to consolidate 1,500 employees from seven locations into a single facility in 2011. It's estimated to save $62 million over a 15-year lease.

• The Veterans Affairs Department's move to cancel or delay 26 conferences, saving nearly $17.8 million. Veterans Affairs also will use video-conferencing to cut costs.

[red headed stranger]

It reminds of of those people who order a super size value meal with a diet soda. 

[Rudy Kohn]

This is an Onion article, right?  The CNN thing is a joke, right?  ...Riiiight?  Guys?

I wonder if Pres. Obama thinks that this will make all the TEA party supporters happy -- no, no, he can't be that dense.
Or maybe he's hoping we can't do addition and subtraction?

Let's say this becomes a priority.  He promises to reduce spending by $100 million every 90 days.  Let's say it works better than he says, and they cut $200 million every 90 days.  This comes out to a total spending cut of $3.2 billion over the course of his whole first term.
So, even if cutting spending at this rate becomes routine, it's still a drop in the bucket.

Realistically, I wonder if this will have any effect on his approval rating.

[makattak]

In context of the federal budget, $100 million in savings is a small amount, but the White House wants to demonstrate fiscal responsibility.

Yep.

It's like everything else the liberals do. It's all for the appearance.

It's the same with crime- they don't have to actually cut crime, just do something that demonstrates they are tough on crime.

I mean when the press will report as BIG NEWS that you just cut 1/13,000th of your spending for the year as "demonstrating fiscal responsibility" why bother doing anything real?

[MicroBalrog]

A story is told of a traveller bold
    Who, being in want of food,
Cut off and ate the tail of his hound,
Returned him the bone, and strangely found
    The brute had no gratitude!

[AZRedhawk44]

This is because people don't understand the difference between million, billion and trillion.

They just hear "illion" and realize it is a lot more money than they have... and beyond their comprehension.

Less than a hundredth of 1% of the budget. :|

[makattak]

This is because people don't understand the difference between million, billion and trillion.

They just hear "illion" and realize it is a lot more money than they have... and beyond their comprehension.

Less than a hundredth of 1% of the budget. :|

I just did the math. If I cut out one starbucks trip over the next 90 days, I'll have cut my budget by the same percentage.

[sumpnz]

At best he's just polishing a turd with that spending cut.  Note though that they have 90 days to get back with the proposal.  How much you want to bet that in that time something will come up to sufficiently distract the majority of Americans such that they forget all about this.  The cuts will probably never be made.  Not that it really matters either way.  Add a couple zeros to the number, repeat the process every 90 days (as Rudy mentioned) and then it will start be barely noticable after a couple years.  If he was chopping a net of 5-10% (no fair chopping 10% after adding adding 11%) of the total budget every quarter for the next year or two then I'd be impressed and would cease financial critisms of the guy.

[ronnyreagan]

If he was chopping a net of 5-10% (no fair chopping 10% after adding adding 11%) of the total budget every quarter for the next year or two then I'd be impressed and would cease financial critisms of the guy.

When is the last time that happened?
(Not a rhetorical question, I'm actually curious)

[StopTheGrays]

In the grand scheme of things related to the federal budget isn't $100 million considered a rounding error now?

[agricola]

Didnt he slate McCain for "only" cutting $11 billion of earmarks?

Besides, $100 million is probably the cost of one of his world tours, no?

[Matthew Carberry]

Paranoia activate...

CMP is obviously in play.

[MechAg94]

When he is seeking over $1 Trillion in budget increase, $100 million in cuts is a joke. 

[makattak]

I just learned he's proposing a $3.6 TRILLION budget.

Now even cutting a starbucks run is a bigger cut for me.

If I don't buy a snack at the gas station the next time we visit my wife's parents, I'll have made the same percentage cut from my budget.

[AZRedhawk44]

Paranoia activate...

CMP is obviously in play.

While anything is possible, it would be seen immediately as malicious and a budget deficit-oriented move in light of the following:

http://odcmp.com/about_us.htm

CMP RIFLE SALES. The federal law that established the CMP authorizes it to sell surplus military .22 rimfire and .30 cal. rifles and ammunition to qualified U. S. citizens who are members of gun clubs affiliated with the CMP. All purchasers must provide proof of having received gun safety or marksmanship training and pass an FBI NICS check. The principal rifles sold through this program have been WWII era M1 Garand rifles and WWI era M1903 rifles. The law mandates that proceeds from these sales “may be used only to support the Civilian Marksmanship Program.” Each year since its establishment in 1996, the CMP has produced an excess of revenues over expenses to fund its firearm safety, marksmanship training and competition programs and an endowment that will support future programs.

[sanglant]

It reminds of of those people who order a super size value meal with a diet soda. 

i know of at least one guy that does that, because a regular coke would probably put him in the hospital... he's a diabetic 

 

[sumpnz]

When is the last time that happened?
(Not a rhetorical question, I'm actually curious)

Well, Obama has talked about a "goal" to halve the deficit in 5 years.  Not that big of stretch when in your first month or so you commit the country to a tripling of the deficit.

[MechAg94]

Well, Obama has talked about a "goal" to halve the deficit in 5 years.  Not that big of stretch when in your first month or so you commit the country to a tripling of the deficit.

That seems to be his common theme so far in the first 100 days.

[makattak]

Well, Obama has talked about a "goal" to halve the deficit in 5 years.  Not that big of stretch when in your first month or so you commit the country to a tripling of the deficit.

And what frightens me is that he won't be able to do it.

He plans on "halving" the (now massively increased) deficit NOT through spending cuts. He plans on finding these "inefficiencies" and then taxing the economy with MASSIVE tax increases. (Much has been made of how much the government will "make" from the carbon credits and how they won't have the money to pay for their plans without those carbon taxes. Here's the thing: You won't have the money to pay for it if you DO pass all those taxes because the economy will have a MASSIVE contraction.)

[grey54956]

Perhaps the gov't needs a massive contraction...