Posted by
Billy on Tuesday, January 26, 2010 6:01:01 PM
Under mounting pressure to rein in mammoth budget deficits, President
Obama will propose in his State of the Union address a three-year freeze on
federal funding that is not related to national security, a concession to public
concern about government spending that could dramatically curtail Obama's
legislative ambitions.
The freeze would take effect in October and limit the overall budget for
agencies other than the military, veterans affairs, homeland security and
certain international programs to $447 billion a year for the remainder of
Obama's first term, senior administration officials said Monday, imposing sharp
limits on his ability to begin initiatives in education, the environment and
other areas of domestic policy.
The spending freeze would affect only about one-eighth of the nation's $3.5
trillion budget, the bulk of which is devoted to entitlement programs such as
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, which are responsible for much of the
future increase in spending. It would not restrain funding for the $787 billion
economic stimulus package Obama pushed through Congress early last year, nor
would it apply to a new bill aimed at creating jobs, which Democrats have
identified as their top priority in the run-up to November's congressional
elections.
(If this report is correct and Obama does want to cut spending good. If this is some kind of political trick or spending will be covered up that is not the way to go. However if Obama is trying to cut spending everyone including those on the right should give him a thumbs up. Read more on this issue President
to propose 'spending freeze'.)