Budgeting 101, part II

Column

Last time we left off with mentioning the $1 trillion deficit in the president's proposed Budget beginning Oct., 1, 2012.

The proposal is heavy on taxes and light on spending reforms. New taxes include the expiring of the so-called Bush tax cuts, which he endorsed and got Congress to extend, for families earning more than $250,000, bringing the estate tax (death tax) to 2009 levels and limiting oil and gas company subsidies.

A new initiative is to increase the tax rate on dividends from the present 15 percent to 39.6 percent on households making more than $250,000; that should really increase investment money.

On the spending cut side the administration proposed cutting mail delivery to five days. Looking at ways to reduce the cost of coining pennies and nickels and new restraints on veterans' benefits.

Once again he has moved the goal posts for deficit reduction to the year 2018. So much for any of the promises this president utters. If he is as some claim the smartest man in the room then he should have known he couldn't deliver on them.

The fact is he knew but chooses to make the claims to sound fiscally responsible but has acted the complete opposite. Then we have the Buffet Rule which would raise taxes on the wealthier among us, those making more than one million dollars a year to pay a minimum 30 percent while eliminating deductions for this group.

The problem is that if the AMT is repealed then the new tax rates will not bring in enough revenue to cover the cost of repeal; can anyone spell "deficits"!  

While all the talking heads on TV will discuss this pro and con the fact is that it will never see the light of day in the Congress. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has stated he will not bring the president's proposal to the Senate for a vote.

Remember last year the president's budget failed in the Senate 97-0. So is this just theatrics from the White House? Tim Geithner, Treasury Secretary, in testimony last week got caught in the web of non-believable statements one after the other. And that is this administration a compilation of non-believable statements geared to saying what they think the masses want to hear.

Forget about actions that will give that statement life that doesn't matter when all you believe in is keeping power. Divide the country as the administration promotes class warfare to maintain its grip on power is the root of this Alinsky worshiping administration.

Why, if this is such a great budget proposal, doesn't Reid rush this to a vote which he can pass with his majority in the Senate, unlike what the Chief of Staff to the president stated on national TV, that it required 60 votes in the Senate. Someone ought to educate the Chief of Staff as to what the rules in the Senate are.