Copies of the U.S. government budget for fiscal year 2012 are stacked up at the U.S. Government Printing Office in WashingtonAlex Brandon
U.S. President Barack Obama has tabled a budget that will do nothing to assuage anyone worried about the soaring U.S. deficit and rapidly climbing debt. Once proposed additional investments in education, transportation infrastructure and research are factored in, Congress is looking at $3.7-trillion (U.S.) worth of spending plans for 2012.
Proposed cuts, the bulk of which come from the narrow 15 per cent of the budget allotted to non-security-related discretionary spending, amount to under $100-billion a year. And when it comes to tax increases, the administration isn't going any further than allowing the extended Bush tax cuts to die a natural death.
This is not anyone's idea of sound fiscal management, even if you accept the unproved notion that any serious tackling of the deficit will drive the still fragile economy off the nearest cliff. But it may well turn out to be exceedingly smart politics.
Why should Mr. Obama do the Republicans' work for them if it's going to bring him nothing in the political chess match? Thanks to their mid-term election triumph, the Republicans in Congress control the purse strings. So why not let them play the grinch and propose some serious belt-tightening? The only way to reduce the deficit substantially is by taking a weed cutter to the entrenched entitlements, dramatically reduce military spending, including closing marginal U.S. bases, and boost income and other taxes. A national sales tax would be a good start.
But as Mr. Obama and his strategists know full well, Republicans can't support higher taxes without the risk of following then-president George (Read My Lips) Bush the Elder into political oblivion. And they're not going to risk their political hides by pushing for cuts in any programs or services, including the military, that mean jobs or investment in their home districts. The result will be a standoff, with both sides looking for tiny reductions in that little 15-per-cent slice of the budget. And then they can both try running in the next election on platforms of fiscal rectitude. We'll see who has the last laugh then.