Stupid: $17 billion is a lot of money outside D.C., says Obama
posted at 4:00 pm on May 7, 2009 by Allahpundit
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Ed crunched the numbers on Obama’s ridiculous budget cuts this morning but I thought you’d enjoy video of The One insisting, with all apparent sincerity, that they’re really quite substantial once you remove, um, all relevant context. Watch here. It’s as supreme an insult to the intelligence of average Americans as anything he’s said thus far as president, including reminding people to wash their hands to avoid swine flu. To put the cuts in perspective, imagine a family that’s already deeply in debt realizing they’re on pace to spend $50,000 this year — and “scaling back” by foregoing one $250 purchase. One half of one percent. That’s what we’re talking about.
Actually, here’s an even better perspective. Remember, Bush’s last budget deficit was less than one quarter the size of what this year’s will be under Obama. And yet:
During his tenure, Mr. Bush also annually announced cuts. The list would carry over year after year as Congress, which zealously guards its spending powers, rejected most of the proposals.
Mr. Bush’s fiscal 2009 list included reducing or eliminating 151 discretionary spending programs, over which Congress has the most control, for a savings of $18 billion.
Bush cut more than Obama did. I’ll leave you to this clip of Judd Gregg on the Senate floor this afternoon invoking oceans and deserts to explain just how little The One achieved here, but if you can spare the time, read David Ignatius’s op-ed about the inevitable deepening of the social-security crisis once boomers who were too dumb to plan for retirement start demanding a hike in benefits to bail them out. Can’t wait for that presser, when Obama tells us an extra trillion really isn’t a lot of money inside D.C.
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They aren’t cuts. The money is just being moved around.
lorien1973 on May 7, 2009 at 4:03 PM
Hey, speaking of money, where the hell is that $800 billion “stimulus”? It must have gone somewhere, but my life hasn’t changed one bit.
forest on May 7, 2009 at 4:03 PM
AP, he told you he was going to go line by line.
youngO on May 7, 2009 at 4:04 PM
So it wasn’t dumb enough when Gibbs said it but his holiness had to repeat it?
Great now all the Obamanuts will chant it
Defector01 on May 7, 2009 at 4:04 PM
Embarrassing. The man has not a scintilla of shame…none!
Mason on May 7, 2009 at 4:05 PM
He’s pushed back full disclosure of the 787 billion to 2010 – you know, 2010 right after the elections of course. So there is unsubstantiated claims about it can be made.
lorien1973 on May 7, 2009 at 4:06 PM
Obama gets away with this because he believes the general public is irrecoverably stupid, and, from what I’ve observed . . . he’s right.
rplat on May 7, 2009 at 4:06 PM
Count yourself lucky. For many of us it’s getting worse. Much worse.
SPCOlympics on May 7, 2009 at 4:08 PM
Remember during the campaign when McCain wanted to stop all pork spending which was supposedly around $6 billion, and Obama said that wasn’t really that much money so what’s the big deal?
Ah, those were the days, eh?
Tman on May 7, 2009 at 4:09 PM
Dear Leader seems to like telling very sick jokes that aren’t funny at all.
But hey, the adults are in charge, right?
rbj on May 7, 2009 at 4:09 PM
In other words, “$17 billion is a lot of money to all you little people out there if flyover country.”
Such an elitist.
UltimateBob on May 7, 2009 at 4:09 PM
Posted something about this earlier but it had a CNN link so I think it got caught up in a filter — the professional association of certified fraud examiners estimates the loss of ARRA funds to fraudulent uses will be $55 billion — over three times the amount of these “cuts.”
DrSteve on May 7, 2009 at 4:10 PM
Obama gets away with this because he believes the general public is irrecoverably stupid, and, from what I’ve observed . . . he’s right.
rplat on May 7, 2009 at 4:06 PM
Stupid is as stupid does. And they do!
faol on May 7, 2009 at 4:10 PM
That`s right, you little people. You should be thankful!
ThePrez on May 7, 2009 at 4:10 PM
Notice that 17 is divisible by 34, which is the first 2 digits of the budget this year. So, the trick was to convince people that 17 is a significant portion of the budget. Hence, the easy division.
The same thing was done when Obama wanted 100 billion to go the IMF. He announced cuts of 100 million that same day. If you didn’t pay attention, it felt like a wash.
As it does here. If you aren’t paying attention.
You’ll have liberals in this thread, in moments, defending this idiocy.
lorien1973 on May 7, 2009 at 4:11 PM
Remember during the campaign when McCain wanted to stop all pork spending which was supposedly around $6 billion, and Obama said that wasn’t really that much money so what’s the big deal?
Ah, those were the days, eh?
Note he’s comparing the 18 billion to 300 billion in McCain’s tax plan. Now 17 billion is a big deal against 3 trillion.
CaptainObvious on May 7, 2009 at 4:13 PM
Further examples of the MSM trying desperately to make these ’savings’ look better than they actually are…
‘Bestest’ paragraph from the article…
“The administration’s budget for the Health and Human Services Department calls for spending $1.72 billion over five years “to fight health-care fraud and reduce improper payments.” The new spending will save $2.67 billion, according to the budget proposal.”
Did you hear that? We’re ACTUALLY going to spend $1.72 billion to THEORETICALLY save $2.67 billion, a savings of maybe $0.95 billion….that just makes so much ‘cents’, no? Bloomberg is so in the bag for this dirtbag President we have now, Amity Shlaes not withstanding.
dmh0667 on May 7, 2009 at 4:14 PM
Honestly, I just wanna smack him over the side of the head to let him know we’re not all stupid (unlike people like Henrietta and the chick waiting for her gas tank to be full)
youngO on May 7, 2009 at 4:15 PM
Why are you surprised? Government spends a billion dollars a year to have people do stuff for free. What? Exactly.
lorien1973 on May 7, 2009 at 4:15 PM
Everytime I see Judd Gregg’s name I read it as Judge Dread. Maybe I’m dyslexic.
shick on May 7, 2009 at 4:16 PM
Carville is stuttering his way through Hannity right now…
ladyingray on May 7, 2009 at 4:16 PM
Wow, it’s even more ridiculous than I thought. Good times.
Tman on May 7, 2009 at 4:18 PM
I hear he likes mustard on his hamburgers………
Seven Percent Solution on May 7, 2009 at 4:18 PM
ladyingray on May 7, 2009 at 4:16 PM
Just tuned in to that
youngO on May 7, 2009 at 4:18 PM
We’re screwed.
We are so screwed.
29Victor on May 7, 2009 at 4:20 PM
Democrats rely on disgustingly stupid and ignorant people for their power.
There cannot be “cuts” in a budget that does not exist.
If he were to propose a $10 Trillion dollar budget today, and then say tommorrow it will be “cut” to only $8 Trillion, the media will fall in line and claim he is cutting the budget by $2 Trillion dollars.
That’s all he’s doing here.
He honestly believes the american people are that stupid.
Sadly, he’s right.
roninacreage on May 7, 2009 at 4:20 PM
I will start taking Barry seriously, when he stops insulting my intelligence.
rockhead on May 7, 2009 at 4:20 PM
What a dope.
HornetSting on May 7, 2009 at 4:21 PM
The only way he’ll do that is if they put the text of the budget on his teleprompter.
It’s actually kind of distracting to watch him. That has to be intentional.
landshark on May 7, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Every day this gets worse, just when you think you’ve reached rock bottom we hit a new low.
Alden Pyle on May 7, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Moved to where is the bigger question. I heard his speech this morning and I know that he cut something like 6 million for a reading literacy program.
I guess reading is not important to the sheeple.
Knucklehead on May 7, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Let me rework AP’s example to a better way to play the political game and fool the masses:
Imagine a family that’s already deeply in debt. The husband realizes the family is on pace to spend $50,000. He falsely tells his wife that the family is on pace to spend $75,000 this year. A couple weeks later he tells the family he found out how to cut $25,000 in spending (a 33% decrease). The family praises him for his fiscal prudence and allows hime to continue manage the family’s finances without oversight.
Back to Obama. Annouce a super BIG budget with an amount of his choosing. Wait one month. Annouce some cuts. Media glorfies his prudence and the masses will ignore his incompetence.
WashJeff on May 7, 2009 at 4:22 PM
OT: Holder says US to keep GITMO prisoners…
Hahahahahahahaha! Oops, they did it again…..
BobMbx on May 7, 2009 at 4:22 PM
Acorn will still get its payback….anyone catch that dope Acorn Spokesman on Beck? Crackpot.
HornetSting on May 7, 2009 at 4:23 PM
landshark on May 7, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Heh! “I, uh, jumped the gun a bit. Go ahead, move it up”
youngO on May 7, 2009 at 4:23 PM
If my wife were to spend $3847.86 on groceries today, & then exult that she saved $1.83 with coupons, I’d say she’s become Obamized.
jgapinoy on May 7, 2009 at 4:23 PM
More proof that he’s a complete idiot…he seems to be buying his own BS.
AUINSC on May 7, 2009 at 4:24 PM
Wow! We went this far without turning this in the obivious joke?
WashJeff on May 7, 2009 at 4:25 PM
Milkin’ it!
CynicalOptimist on May 7, 2009 at 4:25 PM
I got a huge paycut today.
I asked for a $10/hr raise this morning, and this afternoon was told it would only be $5/hr raise.
I can’t believe my evil SOB boss cut my pay in these tough economic times!!!
roninacreage on May 7, 2009 at 4:26 PM
C’mon, people. We all know he inherited this from the previous administration.
/sarc
Doughboy on May 7, 2009 at 4:27 PM
$17 billion is a lot, no matter where you are, or who you are.
On the other hand, $3.6 trillion is an insult. I debacle. A travesty. A slap in the face of every American, that will be saddled for years, and years, to repay it, and keep up with the next big spender, who adds to it.
capejasmine on May 7, 2009 at 4:27 PM
Not only that, but a budget is just a plan, a target…they are just about always “overspent”.
ladyingray on May 7, 2009 at 4:27 PM
Take a good look UAW workers. This is what you do in hard times. Not rip off your fellow Americans, so you can continue to live high on the hog, while others suffer, lose, and go without.
capejasmine on May 7, 2009 at 4:29 PM
Hey… I remember during one of the debates Obama said that McCain’s desire to eliminate earmarks was small potatoes, and it was in the same range as what Obama is talking about here. I think that it was during one of the debates. Perhaps it would be a good contrast to this ridiculousness.
Illinidiva on May 7, 2009 at 4:29 PM
The GOP should load up his budget with earmarks and force Obama to veto it.
roninacreage on May 7, 2009 at 4:30 PM
And the “cuts” Ogabe has proposed are going to be restored by congress critters; and that’s why he picked those programs to be “cut.” Ogabe is not going to even let that ridiculously small amount be “cut” because their might be a member of one of the great, aggrieved minorities in one of those programs.
Again, these programs were picked to be “cut” be Ogabe because he knows precisely that they won’t be cut.
Branch Rickey on May 7, 2009 at 4:30 PM
It’s time to Gut Check and admit the Possibly Race-Related Truth: Obama is an unintelligent flunkie of those who created him and continue to direct him.
Good at photo-ops if you’re already included to approve of his image, but a stupid, poorly-educated clown who can’t reason and can hardly function without TOTUS.
If you are Race-Obsessed, like many Dems and all moonbats, then yes, he is smarter than many White Devils, but overall is a non-smart person with a toothy grin and several serious defects in his personality.
oh, and a puppet of Soros, too…………
Janos Hunyadi on May 7, 2009 at 4:31 PM
No, BHO gets away with it because the MSM are still carrying the water and they have forgotten that their job is to keep ALL the corrupt-o-crats somewhat honest, including ‘Teh One’.
belad on May 7, 2009 at 4:31 PM
Huh?
roninacreage on May 7, 2009 at 4:31 PM
Quick turn on the boob tube.
Turbo Timmy is talking stress tests.
Knucklehead on May 7, 2009 at 4:33 PM
If 17 billion is a lot of money outside Washington, what does that say about the 3.5 trillion dollar budget?
I don’t care about what I would think of 17 billion dollars, it is the proportion of the cut to the actual budget that matters. Idiot.
DWSC on May 7, 2009 at 4:33 PM
I don’t know what the problem is…17 > 3.4 so this is great news! /s
trs on May 7, 2009 at 4:34 PM
He probably could have saved another $17 billion by doing nothing.. just letting GM and Chrysler fail.
rw on May 7, 2009 at 4:35 PM
From and AP press release at 4:15 Eastern:
Higher interest rates are coming. The recovery will stop before it it is fully going.
WashJeff on May 7, 2009 at 4:35 PM
Well, thinks it, believes it and says it… it’s gotta be true… in his mind… like some people believe that they’re Napoleon…or that the Lunar Walk was staged in a Hollywood set… or that algore invented the Internet and was the primer for “Love Story”…. By the way, the moon is cheese….
CynicalOptimist on May 7, 2009 at 4:36 PM
So with this logic, inside of D.C. $17 billion is hardly anything, just chump change.
So, what was he able to cut? Hardly anything, just chump change.
garry on May 7, 2009 at 4:36 PM
Unsustainable.
Prepare yourselves.
BadgerHawk on May 7, 2009 at 4:38 PM
They aren’t cuts. The money is just being moved around.
Agreed. How can you cut out money that doesn’t really exist? It’s like not buying a 60″LCD TV that you can’t afford, then saying you cut into your lifestyle by doing so.
RWLA on May 7, 2009 at 4:39 PM
Loins girded.
forest on May 7, 2009 at 4:40 PM
Unsustainable.
Prepare yourselves.
BadgerHawk on May 7, 2009 at 4:38 PM
Loins girded.
forest on May 7, 2009 at 4:40 PM
And ass cheeks clenched.
RWLA on May 7, 2009 at 4:41 PM
For those that have not seen this visualization back when they said they were going to pull 100 Million.
It would now be NINE STACKS… How dumb.
SkinnerVic on May 7, 2009 at 4:44 PM
He went over it line by line. Check mark off that promise.
He never promised he’d make good decisions line by line.
AnninCA on May 7, 2009 at 4:44 PM
The only problem with that strategery is that The Precedent might not veto the budget.
ladyingray on May 7, 2009 at 4:47 PM
Please PLEASE make this budget be the Obama equivalent of HillaryCare
Defector01 on May 7, 2009 at 4:48 PM
Some people can’t read /sarc without the tag.
ladyingray on May 7, 2009 at 4:49 PM
This guy is so irritating, I just can’t stand looking at / hearing him.
marklmail on May 7, 2009 at 4:50 PM
FIFY
But it’s not a problem now because I bought a used printing press from the Federal Reserve on Ebay.
Dusty on May 7, 2009 at 4:51 PM
Welcome to the United States of Chicagoland. Fraud, deception & shamelessness.
BHO Jonestown on May 7, 2009 at 4:52 PM
$17 billion
40% of these cuts were recommended by President Bush. Obama is taking credit for them. This is like bailing New Orleans with a coffee can
seven on May 7, 2009 at 4:54 PM
Hey, I just saved myself $36 billion by deciding not to spend it. MAKE ME TREASURY SECRETARY!!.
Wait, there’s another $25 billion I saved just this second. I’m a freakin’ financial GENIUS.
Man, I could keep this up all day and save trillions!!
MAKE ME PRESIDENT!!!
mr.blacksheep on May 7, 2009 at 4:54 PM
With a $1.5trillion deficit, that amounts to a cut in office supplies. He only insulted a little less than half of us. The morons who voted for him probably think that he’s a budget hawk now.
orlandocajun on May 7, 2009 at 4:55 PM
LOL – the three letter word “J – O – B – S” are yours!
Branch Rickey on May 7, 2009 at 4:56 PM
I heard about this cut this morning. It’s like somebody steals your truck and the next day brings back the spare.
multiuseless on May 7, 2009 at 4:57 PM
I expect him to give us Cosmo Castorini’s “it costs money because it saves money” coppyer pipe spiel any day now.
Brat on May 7, 2009 at 5:05 PM
Obama has no idea what it’s like being an American.
bluelightbrigade on May 7, 2009 at 5:11 PM
This moron certainly doesn’t intend to underestimate the stupidity of the voters he bought and paid for.
notagool on May 7, 2009 at 5:16 PM
Investors aren’t drinking the Kool-Aid.
rockmom on May 7, 2009 at 5:22 PM
This would be something to celebrate if he hadn’t already spent us into an abyss. This is like plugging the titanic with a piece of juicy fruit.
scalleywag on May 7, 2009 at 5:24 PM
Indonesian Ministry of Education Press Release: It’s not our fault.
Dusty on May 7, 2009 at 5:26 PM
It is ridiculous, no doubt about it.
But Allah, it is not fair to make a crack at boomers not smart enough to plan for retirement. A lot of those boomers who did plan, saw a substantial part of that retirement disappear this year. Not only that, some people are doing well to retire without debt. Not everyone makes that much money. The country is full of decent hard working people who pay their bills and never ask for anything and a lot of those people do not make enough money to save back thousands and thousands of dollars to live on for years and years. It is just not possible. They don’t make that kind of money.
Terrye on May 7, 2009 at 5:28 PM
And some of us weren’t “too dumb to plan”, some of us lost it all and are starting over.
scalleywag on May 7, 2009 at 5:32 PM
Great minds! We must have typed that at the same moment.
Yea, I resent that remark.
scalleywag on May 7, 2009 at 5:34 PM
Same old bait and switch. Increase our debt by trillions and then show a cut of less than 1 percent and expect applause. He thinks were all idiots and can’t do math. We are not all as dumb as his tax cheat’s.
hillbilly on May 7, 2009 at 5:36 PM
The big lie here is that Paygo is not finding $1 of savings for every $1 in extra spending. If that were the case, the federal budget would remain flat. What Paygo really is is for every $1 increase in spending there must be an accompanying $1 increase in revenues, i.e. taxes.
But you silly wabbits, TEA parties are for crackpots!
scrub_oak on May 7, 2009 at 5:52 PM
scalleywag:
Ah yes, these whipper snappers don’t know what it is like to be looking at the abyss when time is running out.
I left home at 17, went to school, got married, started a farm, went through the farm crisis, got a divorce, lost a lot in the divorce and started over at 40..and so it goes. Sometimes life just does not cooperate.
Anything can happen…like they say, the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.
Terrye on May 7, 2009 at 5:52 PM
Feh…he does this crap all the time. Increases spending 10 fold then rails against how he’ll cut deficit spending in years 5 through 8. God help us…we’re so f-ing screwed.
Wyznowski on May 7, 2009 at 5:53 PM
Yes,,, but I listened to Rush today, and during the top of the hour CNN radio news, they said that Obama is going to use the money they saved “for other purposes.”
This was said two different times. The second time I heard this, the newscaster said Obama made cuts in the budget and will divert that money to things like education. So,, in Obama land,, cutting the budget means taking money from one pork project and diverting that money to something else!!!
JellyToast on May 7, 2009 at 5:53 PM
Does barackito Obamalini think that most Americans do not know that a trillion is a 1,000 times a billion?
MB4 on May 7, 2009 at 6:04 PM
Given the number of attendees at the tea parties, Obama and the Dems are fools if they don’t believe that this shell game will probably increase the size of the next protests exponentially. The people are not as stupid as Obama and the media delude themselves into thinking. Those who are saddled with this debt, the taxpayers, still outnumber the takers in America. Age, political affiliation, sex, marital designation, and veteran status will matter even less than they did in the April 15 protest. We outnumber them.
onlineanalyst on May 7, 2009 at 6:06 PM
Yea, never thought I’d be starting over at my age, either. Same thing, economy went sour, down went the business, then the home, and off ran the husband. I miss the business and the home hahahaha. It’s tough and I wouldn’t wish all that on anyone.
scalleywag on May 7, 2009 at 6:09 PM
Who the Hell does Obama really stand with anyway? What has he and his cohorts done to help anyone who is less fortunate? How can anyone with a conscience take so much money from working people and saddle their children and grand children with almost unimaginable debt in order to give it to UAW cronies and mega failure wall street millionaires, like those at Goldman Smacks, and yet still call himself a liberal? The man is so two-faced it is almost surreal.
KentAllard on May 7, 2009 at 6:12 PM
Yea, he figures we’re too stupid to figure that out, either. Duh.
scalleywag on May 7, 2009 at 6:12 PM
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