Obama’s Fiscal Fantasyland

The White House, relying on a recent news column, is portraying the President as a responsible budgeter and declaring an “Obama spending binge never happened.” The administration says “the president has demonstrated significant fiscal restraint.”

On the contrary, the past 3 ½ years demonstrate fiscal irresponsibility. The President’s last two budgets both received zero votes in the Senate. The President distanced himself from recommendations of his Bowles-Simpson task force. And proposing tax increases certainly does not equal fiscal responsibility. The President has acted recklessly, using the economic crisis to lock in stimulus spending levels for years to come.

Spending Was Supposed to Drop After the Recession

In January 2009, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued its Budget and Economic Outlook, which estimated spending levels from 2009 to 2019. This was the last CBO estimate before the President’s stimulus bill passed. It is illustrative to compare these CBO estimates to what has actually happened under President Obama.

CBO forecast that spending would fall as the economy recovered. As the charts below show, the White House’s recent rhetoric on Obama’s fiscal responsibility ignores the facts.

Sources: OMB Historical Tables, CBO January 2009 Budget and Economic Outlook, CBO March 2012 Analysis of the President’s 2013 Budget