Broken Promises: Spending


NET SPENDING CUT

PROMISE: Obama Repeatedly Promised A Net Spending Cut By Going “Line By Line” Through The Federal Budget, Eliminating Programs That Don’t Work

Obama Said That His Plan Was “Cutting More Than I’m Spending So That It Will Be A Net Spending Cut.” OBAMA: “And what I’ve proposed, you’ll hear Senator McCain say, well, he’s proposing a whole bunch of new spending, but actually I’m cutting more than I’m spending so that it will be a net spending cut.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks During The Second Presidential Debate, Nashville, TN, 10/7/08)


 Obama: “Now, What I’ve Done Throughout This Campaign Is To Propose A Net Spending Cut.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks During The Third Presidential Debate, Hempstead, NY, 10/15/08)

 Obama: “Every Dollar That I’ve Proposed, I’ve Proposed An Additional Cut So That It Matches.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks During The Third Presidential Debate, Hempstead, NY, 10/15/08)

Obama Said That He Would “Eliminate A Whole Host Of Programs That Don’t Work.” OBAMA: “We need to eliminate a whole host of programs that don’t work. And I want to go through the federal budget line by line, page by page, programs that don’t work, we should cut. Programs that we need, we should make them work better.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks During The Third Presidential Debate, Hempstead, NY, 10/15/08)

 Obama: “We’ve Got To Eliminate Programs That Don’t Work, And We’ve Got To Make Sure That The Programs That We Do Have Are More Efficient And Cost Less.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks During The First Presidential Debate, Oxford, MS, 9/26/08)

Obama Said As President “I Will Go Line By Line To Make Sure We Are Not Spending Money Unwisely.” OBAMA: “But let’s go back to the original point. John, nobody is denying that $18 billion is important. And, absolutely, we need earmark reform. And when I’m president, I will go line by line to make sure that we are not spending money unwisely.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks During The First Presidential Debate, Oxford, MS, 9/26/08)

 Obama: “I Want To Go Line By Line Through Every Item In The Federal Budget And Eliminate Programs That Don’t Work And Make Sure That Those That Do Work, Work Better And Cheaper.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks During The Second Presidential Debate, Nashville, TN, 10/7/08)

BROKEN: Obama Has Racked Up Four Trillion Dollar Deficits And Increased Spending By 20 Percent

The Washington Times: “Far From Keeping His Promise, This Is The Largest Peacetime Increase Ever In Government Spending.” (Editorial, “Obama’s Record Of Broken Promises,” The Washington Times, 1/19/10)

Federal Outlays Have Increased By 20.4 Percent Percent Since Obama Took Office. The federal government spent $3.1 trillion in FY2008 in inflation adjusted dollars. Under Obama, in FY2012 the federal government spent $3.8 trillion dollars. (“Table 1.3 – Summary Of Receipts, Outlays And Surpluses Or Deficits In Current Dollars, Constant (FY2005) Dollars, And As Percentages Of GDP: 1940-2016,” Office Of Management And Budget, Accessed 4/12/12; “Budget Of The United States Government, Fiscal Year 2013,” Office Of Management And Budget, 2/13/12)

 Obama Proposed FY2013 Budget Calls For Increasing Government Spending Well Above Historical Norms. From 1969 To 2008 The Federal Government Spent An Average Of 20.6 Percent Of GDP, Obama’s Proposed FY2013 Budget Calls For Spending 22.8 Percent Of GDP By FY2022. (“Table 1.2 – Summary Of Receipts, Outlays And Surpluses Or Deficits As Percentages Of GDP: 1930-2016,” Office Of Management And Budget, Accessed 4/12/12; “Budget Of The United States Government, Fiscal Year 2013,” Office Of Management And Budget, 2/13/12)

“This Is The Fourth Straight Year That The Deficit Will Exceed One Trillion Dollars, All Under President Obama.” (Erik Wasson, “CBO Says 2012 Deficit Has Reached $1.17T,” The Hill, 9/10/12)

 Obama Had Already Racked Up The Three Largest Deficits In U.S. History. “The U.S budget deficit for fiscal year 2011 is $1.299 trillion, the second largest shortfall in history. The nation only ran a larger deficit for the 2009 fiscal year, which included the dramatic collapse of financial markets and a huge bailout effort by the government.”(Erik Wasson, “Treasury Announces 2011 Deficit Is Second Highest In History,” The Hill’s “On The Money”, 10/14/11)

Congressional Budget Office: The Deficit So Far This Fiscal Year Has Reached $1.17 Trillion. “CBO estimates in its Monthly Budget Review that the Treasury Department will report a deficit of $1.17 trillion for the first 11 months of fiscal year 2012, almost $70 billion less than the deficit at the same point last year.” (“Monthly Budget Review,” Congressional Budget Office, 9/10/12)

 FY2009: The Federal Budget Deficit Was $1.413 Trillion, The Highest In U.S. History. (“Monthly Budget Review: November 2011,” Congressional Budget Office, 11/7/11)

 FY2010: The Federal Budget Deficit Was $1.294 Trillion, The Third Highest In U.S. History. (“Monthly Budget Review: November 2011,” Congressional Budget Office, 11/7/11)

 FY2011: The Federal Budget Deficit Was $1.299 Trillion, The Second Highest In U.S. History. (“Monthly Budget Review: November 2011,” Congressional Budget Office, 11/7/11)

 FY2012: The OMB Predicts The Deficit Will Be $1.211 Trillion, The Fourth Highest In U.S. History. (Office Of Management & Budget, “Mid-Session Review: FY2013,” The White House, 7/27/12)