I think no time soon. I am pretty sure that Obama will get a week or so pass for instance when the Supreme Court nominee dominates the headlines for a week or so.
Still we have a major problem
From Contentions:
Don’t Mention the You Know What Jennifer Rubin - 05.17.2009 - 8:47 AM
Robert J. Samuelson wonders when Obama’s budget will be labeled “irresponsible”?
From 2010 to 2019, Obama projects annual deficits totaling $7.1 trillion; that’s atop the $1.8 trillion deficit for 2009. By 2019, the ratio of publicly held federal debt to gross domestic product (GDP, or the economy) would reach 70%, up from 41% in 2008. That would be the highest since 1950 (80%).
The Congressional Budget Office, using less optimistic economic forecasts, raises these estimates. The 2010-19 deficits would total $9.3 trillion; the debt-to-GDP ratio in 2019 would be 82%.
But wait: Even these totals may be understated. By various estimates, Obama’s health plan might cost $1.2 trillion over a decade; he has budgeted only $635 billion.
Samuelson contends these figures have been “ignored” because of the promised tax cut to 95% of Americans and the immediate economic crisis. But neither Republicans nor the tea party protests have ignored this. It is the focus (together with their bailout-animus) of their ire toward the administration. And independent voters haven’t ignored it either, registering disapproval in poll after poll about the growth in spending and debt.
The groups that have ignored it — the Democrats in Congress and the media cheerleaders – are committed to ignoring it because it looms as a barrier to enactment of the new New Deal. The notion that we can’t afford what we have already committed to spend, let alone anything more, is a dilemma they’d rather sweep under the rug.
The president let’s it slip out now and then that the growing deficit is ”unsustainable,” but unless he’s prepared to once again disappoint his base it will continue to be the least discussed and most important economic issue of his presidency.
This again is a major problem that the media it seems to me has not broadcast to the nation nearly enough.
Some progress are being made. For instance we are hearing less of "Well Bush had deficits" so what is the big deal. The difference is night and day.
Speaking of Bush and his supposed Fiscal" no responsibility" Socail Security is the elephant in the room. Bush's efforts to reform Social Security was a little bit more than just put the funds in the market. He pleaded with both sides to put their ideas on the table and lets solve this issue. Democrats and yes Congressional Republicans had no appetite for that political firestorm. Now we know that Social Security is in much more worse shape than we thought. How will that be solved.
What is of concern about the budget is not so much what we have spent now but that we have not even got to the meat of the funding of Obama's biggest plans. How will this be funded? How will it be funded on top of a demographic problem as to the U.S no one wants to talk about.
People of a more liberal bent are going to have address these questions. Further this affects State and local Governments. At some point their available tax base starts to shrink because of the all these Federal projects. What will have to be cut there?
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