President Obama to call for 5-year freeze on non-military government spending in SOTU speech.

[Better Believe It]

Official: Obama to call for 5-year spending freeze
President to propose freeze on non-security, discretionary spending in State of the Union
msnbc.com news services
January 25, 2011

A White House official says President Barack Obama will call for a five-year freeze in non-security, discretionary spending during his State of the Union address.

The official says the proposal will be part of the president's plans to reduce the deficit that he will outline in Tuesday's primetime address. The official says Obama will also call for lawmakers to back a five-year plan put forth by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to save $78 billion in defense spending.

"In areas outside the freeze, we also will be looking for cuts and efficiencies," a senior White House official told NBC News. "For instance, the president is putting forward a five-year plan put forward by Secretary Gates to achieve $100 billion in defense savings."

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly ahead of the president's speech.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41255084/ns/politics-white_house

[Lorien]

1. Oh, Fuck. nt

[Better Believe It]

3. We'll see. Maybe Obama won't include that in the address.

That would be the "smart" thing to do.

[FogerRox]

12. Yup, it'll have a contracting effect on the economy, unless balanced with job Stim spending.

[defendandprotect]

2. We need a freeze on MIC spending -- and to cut the MIC budget in half -- !!!

[ThomCat]

8. YES!

:applause:

[liberal N proud]

4. Military spending is what got us into this fucking mess

Two wars and outrageous military projects, the sacred cow.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. The Pentagon/MIC is the most sacred of America's sarcred cows.

And, the real "Third Rail" of American politics.

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” H.L. Mencken

[bluestateguy]

6. You are certainly right

but to be fair Gates and Obama have recommended $78 billion in cuts and we will be out of Iraq by year's end.

Of course, those cuts are likely to be gradually erased by Congress as the lobbyists start working on them one by one.

Sometimes I think G.W. Bush was sort of right: "if this was a dictatorship it'd be a heck of a lot easier" .

[laconicsax]

7. Wasn't this McCain's campaign position? n/t

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[WinkyDink]

10. "$100 billion in defense savings." Yikes! One drone will be without a wing!

[leftstreet]

13. Every time the MIC & Congress meet, a drone gets its wings

Okay...that was cheesy

:o

[Sparky 1]

22. LOL! Very clever!

[WinkyDink]

28. It was AWESOME!

[truedelphi]

17. Hey give 'em a little credit -

It could be cutting back as much as a wing and a half!

[ljm2002]

11. So the "shared sacrifice"...

...will not include the bloated military budget.

Gosh, imagine that.

[ProSense]

14. "The freeze wouldn’t apply to spending for...

Obama Said to Call for 5-Year Federal Spending Freeze

<...>

The freeze wouldn’t apply to spending for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Homeland Security, the Defense Department or interest payments on the national debt. Discretionary spending outside security accounts for about 14 percent of Obama’s budget.

<...>

[truedelphi]

16. Social Security is already taking its big hit via the

The fact that no employee or employer contributions will be made in 2011. This will set the fund back by 120 Billion dollars, and that fact will be conjugated in such a way that all Americans will be instructed to see, again and again on the news, that Social Security is now a drain on the Social Security fund - all those pesky Baby Boomers retiring soon, and they continue to demand, demand demand.


This "drain," created at the same time the Ultra Rich were given their four percent extension of Bush tax cuts, will fire up the Social Security critics to point out that the SS system is broken.


ABC "News" has already encapsulated this argument, several times, for evening news viewers, and it is only January 25th.

[ProSense]

18. "The fact that no employee or employer contributions will be made in 2011. "

What?

It's a 2 percent decrease for employees only. There will be no "hit" to Social Security. From the bill:

<...>

"(1) TRANSFERS TO FEDERAL OLD-AGE AND SURVIVORS INSURANCE TRUST FUND.—There are hereby appropriated to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund established under section 201 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401) amounts equal to the reduction in revenues to the Treasury by reason of the application of subsection (a). Amounts appropriated by the pre- ceding sentence shall be transferred from the general fund at such times and in such manner as to replicate to the extent possible the transfers which would have occurred to such Trust Fund had such amendments not been enacted."

PDF

Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Trust Funds Receipts

[Statistical]

19. Nothing in that post is true.

[truedelphi]

21. My figures for the actual cut back were inaccurate.

But the entire reason for why this cut was made is as I said it is:

To make it possible to say that the Social Security Fund is not taking in as much money as the demanding Baby Boomers are insisting on - that is truly what these actions are about.

And ABC has indeed already run with this slant on the situation.

[Lorien]

30. "Homeland Security, the Defense Department" the very departments they NEED to apply to

ass backwards, all the way.

[truedelphi]

15. K & R. Corr has an interesting spiel over on YouTube that will offer people

More information in Fifteen Minutes than we get from a decade's worth of SOTU.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85RZ_h6Gys0

I am appreciating his phrase of "Robin hood policies in reverse"

The phrase totally sums up what Obama's message of "We must cut all the spending except military spending for next five years."

[DainBramaged]

20. Why not a 5 year freeze on defense spending?

Oh wait, the Right won't allow that....

[Owl]

26. Better yet would be a major 5 year reduction on defense spending.

[Lorien]

31. It's not just the Right who loves defense spending

not by a long shot.

[Odin2005]

23. CUT THE FUCKING DEFENSE BUDGET YOU FUCKERS!!!

[Initech]

25. +100000000000000000

[Bluebear]

27. untouchable for this "liberal" President

[blindpig]

24. That is obscene.

Sanctified Imperialism. This says what the United States of America is about.

[Lorien]

29. Hey, murdering 700+ innocent Pakistanis and over a million innocent Iraqis

ain't cheap! (Well, not as cheap as providing health care and jobs for all Americans, anyway). What's important in America? Death and corporate PROFIT$$$$$$!!!!

Have we had enough yet?