Comments on: Can President Obama’s Budget Really Cut the Deficit in Half by 2013?

By: Really?

Really? — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:16:06 +0000

Are you impressed with his “budget cuts” and fiscality?

By: Changes to Student Loans on the Way « Credit Cards, Credit Reports, and Debt Topics

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:56:37 +0000

[...] budget takes place, more and more nuggets about how he plans to cut costs — and the federal deficit by 2013 — are coming to light. One of the latest ways may affect student [...]

By: Miranda Marquit

Miranda Marquit — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:36:54 +0000

Unfortunately, most of the overleveraged companies are not filing for bankruptcy and their execs aren’t being jailed for fraud. They’re taking their golden parachutes and getting government handouts. The government operates rather similarly to these businesses now. It’s sad. But you are right about personal finances. If we ran personal finances this way (and some have) we’d be left on our own.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:45:17 +0000

Only in fairy tales will this happen. There aren’t enough rich people in this country to pay for all the spending, and don’t tell me they won’t change their behavior to avoid paying taxes. $3,550,000,000,000– have we lost our minds? Stupid is stupid no matter who is running the country. Middle class, get ready to ante up!

Let me put it this way….. if you ran your personal finances like this, you’d be filing for bankruptcy; or a corporation, the officers would be jailed for fraud. Lehman went out at leverage ratio north of 30:1. What is the leverage ratio of the US Government? Maybe it is an irrelevant question since the government owns the printing presses. But it does illustrate just how fraught with risk and poorly thought out this plan is.

By: Barack Obama Unveils 2010 Budget | Forex Trading Data For Forex Brokers

Barack Obama Unveils 2010 Budget | Forex Trading Data For Forex Brokers — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 03:23:56 +0000

[...] The idea is that by 1013, assuming the economy is recovering and increased revenues are coming in, the yearly deficit can be cut in half. [...]

By: Possible Changes to the Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction : Yielding Wealth

Possible Changes to the Mortgage Interest Tax Deduction : Yielding Wealth — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:30:32 +0000

[...] part of his efforts to cut the annual federal deficit in half by 2013, Barack Obama knows he needs to raise revenues. And one way to do this is to pay less in tax [...]

By: Mortgage Interest Deduction Could be Capped at 28% Tax Bracket - Mortgage Rate News

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:59:45 +0000

[...] good idea of what President Obama hopes to accomplish. Indeed, he has said that his has a goal to reduce the yearly budget deficit by half by the end of this term in [...]

By: Miranda Marquit

Miranda Marquit — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:18:35 +0000

I think that Obama is hoping for a combination of things to help get the deficit down. I did mention the increased revenue for the end of the Bush tax cuts, and the savings from the Iraq War. I also think they are banking on the economic stimulus package working. I believe that you are right when you say it will mostly be an accounting cut.

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:09:52 +0000

As a commenter said on a post I wrote on a similar topic – “Even senior administration officials acknowledge that the budget does not contain $2 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade. Instead, the figure represents Obama’s total efforts at deficit reduction, including tax hikes on families making over $250,000 a year. It also includes hundreds of billions of dollars “saved” by not continuing to spend $170 billion a year in Iraq”

I think this was referenced from the washington post, so YES Obama can cut the budget deficit, but it may be an accounting cut rather than an actual cut.

By: Miranda

Miranda — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:39:50 +0000

I think you make a good point, Manshu! A lot of this will depend on whether the economic stimulus manages to be a success.