President Obama Defends His Austere Budget Proposal: No More 'Running Up the Credit Card'

After a flood of criticism, President Obama held a press conference on Tuesday during which he defended his new budget proposal. After approving tax breaks for the rich late last year as part of a deal with Republicans that allowed the president to extend unemployment benefits, many see the austere measures in Obama's budget proposal as unfair to the poor. The president defended his budget, which contains many cuts affecting the needy, stating confidently that his plan realistically address our current economic problems. The New York Times reports:

The president said his budget, the third of his presidency, reflects a new and changed reality in the country's economic situation and allows for a greater focus on spending cuts and attention to the deficit.

"The economy is now growing again. People are now hopeful again," Mr. Obama said, speaking at his first news conference of the year. "In that environment, now that we are out of the depths of the crisis, we have to look at these long-term problems and these medium-term problems." [...]

On the budget proposal, which he released on Monday, Mr. Obama compared the cuts he has proposed to the kind of belt-tightening that many families have had to make during the economic downturn.

Share Tweet

"We're not going to be running up the credit card any more. That's important and that's hard to do," the president said. "I recognize that there are going to be plenty of arguments in the months to come and everybody is going to have to give a little bit."

Asked about cuts to some of the programs that Democrats care deeply about, Mr. Obama acknowledged frustration with the number of Americans who are still suffering economically. He also mentioned that he had received many letters from people who are struggling.

But he said that his ability to help the country recover economically over the long term will do more to help those individuals.

"My job is to make sure we're focused over the long term. Where do we need to go?" Mr. Obama said.

While it's great that President Obama is thinking long term -- which is clearly what leaders were not doing when they allowed lack of oversight to fuel the sub-prime mortgage crisis -- it is curious that the targets of his attempts at saving money are society's weakest. The president just signed off on a bill that extended the Bush-era tax cuts, which Democratic Representative Jim McDermott called "a huge giveaway to the super-rich in these tough economic times" (Bloomberg Businessweek). At the same time, Obama's budget cuts call for:

1. The impoverished to contribute more for basic heating and cooling needs in extreme weather,
2. Cuts to education spending (which is already on the rocks),
3. Making already bootstrapped community service organizations look for economic support elsewhere, and
4. Literally taking food from the mouths of babies through slashing funding for anti-hunger organizations.

Is that really intelligent long-term thinking?

http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,entry&id=983396&pid=983395&uts=1297877334

http://cdn.channel.aol.com/cs_feed_v1_6/csfeedwrapper.swf

Obama Books Round Up

Dreams of My Father (Nonfiction) by Barack Obama
Crown, $14.95
IIt all started here. Obama wrote this book before he took the stage at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 and delivered his now famous "Red State/Blue State" speech. And it was poignant then. After his speech, his publisher re-released it, and it became a No. 1 seller. It hit the best-seller's list again last year. This book gives tremendous insight into the background of Obama and the relationship he had with his father -- a man he met only once and was never there to raise him. In spite of that (or perhaps because of his father's lack of attention), young Obama rose above it and used the experience to propel him into the future.

FR36811 AP

BlackVoices.com

Obama Books Roundup

What Obama Means (Nonfiction) by Jabari Asim
William Morrow, $21.99
This is a history book, which chronicles how other figures, from athletes to civil rights leaders, have impacted this country and the world. And the author looks at what Obama's presidency will mean to history as well. This book officially hits shelves on Inauguration Day.

Obama Books Roundup

Fleeced (Nonfiction) by Dick Morris
HarperCollins Publishers, $26.95
This could be categorized as comedy, but the author is dead serious. It's a fun read and a very nasty take on what would happen if Obama were elected -- gloom, doom, end of the world and all of that. Well, we're still here. So far, so good.

Obama Books Roundup

Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama (Nonfiction) by Gwen Ifill
Doubleday, $24.95
She caught some flack after hosting the vice-presidential debate because of this book. But she carried out her duties as the pro that she is, and in this book (which she was working on before Obama won the nomination), Ifill delivers a balanced account of how the political landscape has changed because of Barack Obama.

Obama Books Roundup

The Audacity of Hope (Nonfiction) by Barack Obama
Three Rivers Press, $14.95
There are so many books on the market about Barack Obama. But this is the only one by the man himself that talks about his vision, his plan for America and why he decided to run for the highest office in the land.

Obama Books Roundup

The Case Against Barack Obama (Nonfiction) by David Freddoso
Regnery, $27.95
This author specializes in political books with a slant. And this one definitely has its perspective. It demonizes, discredits and downgrades Barack Obama. The tag of this book is: "The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favorite Candidate." I'm a big proponent of reading opposing views. This is as oppositional as they come.

Obama Books Roundup

Yes We Can (Nonfiction) by Scout Tufankjian
PowerHouse Books, $29.95
The only independent photographer to chronicle Barack Obama from before he announced his presidential run to the night he actually won, Tufankjian captures some of the most candid and moving images of Obama and his family. The pictures tell the story, but more through those who Obama touched during his campaign than the Obamas themselves. This is a true slice of Americana.

Obama Books Roundup

Yes We Can (Children's Nonfiction) by Garen Thomas
Feiwel & Friends, $6.99
This biography is the children's version of the rise of Barack Obama. Here is another best seller to add to your child's library. This is not a picture book; it's a real bio for children that is a mix of history, rich anecdotes and quotes from Obama, as well as political and newsworthy discussion points.

Obama Books Roundup

The American Journey of Barack Obama (Nonfiction/History), foreword by Edward M. Kennedy
Little, Brown, $24.99
For those collecting Obama memorabilia and slices of this historic time, this book should be a part of the package. Produced by the editors of Life magazine, which many of us remember as one of the best magazines to chronicle history and well, life. This book is wonderfully and beautifully done.

Obama Books Roundup

Barack (Children's Picture Book) by Jonah Winter (Ag Foster, illustrator)
Harper Collins, $17.99
This is an old-fashioned children's book chronicling the life of the next president of the United States. It's a 32-page picture book for ages 4-8 and a great way to give your child a slice of history.

Obama Books Roundup

I wonder if Obama has considered what will happen when the poorest of the poor become desperate for adequate food and quality education. What will be the end result if millions freeze in winters to come, or expire due to unbearable summer heat? How safe will our society feel overall if the disenfranchised chafe under the increasing frustrations of their position, as the social services that used to tend to their needs slowly dissolve to be replaced by cold austerity?

Very recently, British paper The Guardian UK outlined that by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans and businesses by just 10-15%, we could balance the budget without resorting to these life-destroying proposals. The readers of Black Voices voted that this is the best way to deal with our economic situation, with 76% agreeing that taxing the rich is preferable to cutting basic human services. Plus, this is a sentiment reflected on other leading sites. But instead of enacting this simple measure, the president has delivered greater tax breaks to the rich, at the cost of harming the people in society who need economic support the most.

President Obama: This is not the change we believed you would bring. These cuts will only create a more harsh economic environment for millions in the short term, leading people to go to desperate extremes, or sink into a spiritual depression that could harm our culture permanently. When people are financially desperate, they either resort to crime or riot. Could preserving tax breaks for the wealthy to slash support for the poor be worth these violent extremes?

In the long-term, if this budget is passed, we will just have to wait and see if this belt-tightening will be worth the erosion of equal opportunity and faith in a fair society.

Related: Obama's wackiest budget cuts (CNN Money)