NB: I know Obama Phone wasn’t started under Obama…it is the meme I’m referring to above.

I’m gonna’ save so much money by not buying a yacht next year that I’m going to not buy TWO yachts! If I keep this up, I’ll be rich soon!

gregbert on December 5, 2012 at 1:37 PM

And with the money I save by not buying two yachts, I’ll be able to reduce my personal financial deficit while also investing in a new car.

It’s nice of the WSJ to print this, to bad the people who elected Pres Obama don’t read the WSJ.

LincolntheHun on December 5, 2012 at 12:46 PM

Yeah…they need to go on Comedy Central, advertise on every show that Obama made a guest appearance. That’s where his base is…at home, watching mindless drivel on TV.

Those wars are already being unwound and everyone knows the money will never be spent.

I’m gonna’ save so much money by not buying a yacht next year that I’m going to not buy TWO yachts! If I keep this up, I’ll be rich soon!

But if there was ever a time to break the old paradigm, it’s now. Demand real cuts, and let the executive agencies whine about what they can’t do. I think you would find surprisingly broad public support from everyone except the special interests, who will never be happy without more money for their pet causes.

This is the ground to fight Obama on. If businesses are having to lay people off left and right, why should the federal government be immune to spending cuts?

Let’s simply eliminate this accounting gimmick once and for all.

psrch on December 5, 2012 at 12:49 PM

Not to mention the borrowing from FICA tax surpluses to lower the official deficit number while simultaneously claiming that we still have trillions in the Social Security “lockbox”. My father, who is a CPA, is fond of saying, “If I used the same accounting practices as the federal government, I’d be sitting in jail!”

It’s nice of the WSJ to print this, to bad the people who elected Pres Obama don’t read the WSJ.

LincolntheHun on December 5, 2012 at 12:46 PM

Perhaps the WSJ could publish in the form of a comic book….

That’s assuming they can read.

The most absurd current example is Mr. Obama’s claim that his “$4 trillion” plan reduces the deficit by about $800 billion over 10 years by ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And then when Obama proposes to increase spending by $200 billion or whatever, he claims that he’s actually cutting it by $600 billion.

Let’s not forget that the “one-time” “stimulus” has also been folded into the baseline, so that Obama can claim to be holding spending more or less constant while actually spending the equivalent of a new stimulus every single year.

That, incidentally should be the response to anyone who claims that we need a new stimulus because the first one wasn’t big enough. We’ve had four “stimuluses” already – what more do you want?