Related News
Obama proposes domestic spending freeze over 5 years
Source: Xinhua |
January 26, 2011, Wednesday
|
Online Edition
Online Edition
IN his State of the Union Address last night, US President Barack Obama proposed annual domestic spending freeze for the next five years, which he said would reduce the deficit by more than US$400 billion over the next decade.
The proposal "will bring discretionary spending to the lowest share of our economy since Dwight Eisenhower was president," Obama said at the House of Representatives, which is now controlled by Republicans following their overwhelming win in the midterm elections.
"I recognize that some in this Chamber have already proposed deeper cuts, and I'm willing to eliminate whatever we can honestly afford to do without," said Obama. "But let's make sure that we're not doing it on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens. And let's make sure what we're cutting is really excess weight."
House and Senate conservatives recently proposed cutting US$2.5 trillion from the federal budget over 10 years. Just hours before the president's speech before Congress, the House voted to slash spending this year to 2008 levels or less, a campaign promise Republican leadership made during the midterm elections.
"Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine," he said. "It may feel like you're flying high at first, but it won't take long before you'll feel the impact."
The programs Obama targeted for a freeze represent around 12 percent of the US budget. In the coming months, Congress will debate fiscal 2012 spending and Obama's proposal.
Democrats and Republicans are expected to fight hard over federal budget and deficit reduction measures in the coming months. The continuing budget resolution is to expire by early March and both parties have to negotiate a new one to fund the federal government through the rest of the fiscal year which ended September.
The US federal deficit, which recorded US$1.42 trillion in fiscal year 2009, dropped to US$1.29 trillion dollars in fiscal year 2010. It is widely expected that the figure will continue to top US$1 trillion dollars in 2011.
On the other hand, the US national debt now stands at nearly US$13.9 trillion. That's only US$400 billion below the US$14.3 trillion federal debt ceiling set by Congress.
The proposal "will bring discretionary spending to the lowest share of our economy since Dwight Eisenhower was president," Obama said at the House of Representatives, which is now controlled by Republicans following their overwhelming win in the midterm elections.
"I recognize that some in this Chamber have already proposed deeper cuts, and I'm willing to eliminate whatever we can honestly afford to do without," said Obama. "But let's make sure that we're not doing it on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens. And let's make sure what we're cutting is really excess weight."
House and Senate conservatives recently proposed cutting US$2.5 trillion from the federal budget over 10 years. Just hours before the president's speech before Congress, the House voted to slash spending this year to 2008 levels or less, a campaign promise Republican leadership made during the midterm elections.
"Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine," he said. "It may feel like you're flying high at first, but it won't take long before you'll feel the impact."
The programs Obama targeted for a freeze represent around 12 percent of the US budget. In the coming months, Congress will debate fiscal 2012 spending and Obama's proposal.
Democrats and Republicans are expected to fight hard over federal budget and deficit reduction measures in the coming months. The continuing budget resolution is to expire by early March and both parties have to negotiate a new one to fund the federal government through the rest of the fiscal year which ended September.
The US federal deficit, which recorded US$1.42 trillion in fiscal year 2009, dropped to US$1.29 trillion dollars in fiscal year 2010. It is widely expected that the figure will continue to top US$1 trillion dollars in 2011.
On the other hand, the US national debt now stands at nearly US$13.9 trillion. That's only US$400 billion below the US$14.3 trillion federal debt ceiling set by Congress.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
