See Update II below.

In introducing his sloppy, bloated cheeseburger of a budget yesterday, Barack Obama’s speech reveals more than one might think. While speaking to the Center for Technology in Baltimore, Obama mentioned the word “cut” a grand total of twice three times:

That’s why, when I was sworn in as President, I pledged to cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term. The budget I’m proposing today meets that pledge -– and puts us on a path to pay for what we spend by the middle of the decade. We do this in part by eliminating waste and cutting whatever spending we can do without.

As I start — as a start, I’ve called for a freeze on annual domestic spending over the next five years. This freeze would cut the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade, bringing this kind of spending — domestic discretionary spending — to its lowest share of our economy since Dwight Eisenhower was President.

How many times did Obama mention “invest” or “investments” — in other words, new spending?  Six Four times as often (12).  And how many times did Obama say “win the future”?  Five times, all of them tied to Obama’s desire to “invest,” and four in the final two paragraphs:

What’s true for Brenda’s family is true for the larger American family: Education is an investment that we need to win the future — just like innovation is an investment that we need to win the future; just like infrastructure is an investment that we need to win the future. And to make sure that we can afford these investments, we’re going to have to get serious about cutting back on those things that would be nice to have but we can do without.

That’s what families across the country do every day –- they live within their means and they invest in their family’s futures. And it’s time we did the same thing as a country. That’s how we’re going to get our fiscal house in order. That’s how we’ll grow our economy and attract new jobs to our shores. And that’s how America we will win the future in the 21st century.

We’re going to “get our fiscal house in order” by “investing” six four times as often as cutting?  Dude … that’s a real WTF moment.

Update: The word “cut” appears three times, not two, as HA reader Matt W pointed out.

Update II: It looks like I may have searched on “cuts” rather than “cut”.  There are actually eleven instances of the form of the word “cut”, still one less than forms of the word “invest,” but more than two or three.  Jeff D pointed out my search error in an e-mail.

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