Teh One Who Knocks
09-09-2011, 02:02 PM
The Associated Press
http://i.imgur.com/Fv2AV.jpg
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's promise Thursday that everything in his jobs plan will be paid for rests on highly iffy propositions.
It will be paid for only if a committee he can't control does his bidding, if Congress puts that into law, and if leaders in the future -- the ones who will feel the fiscal pinch of his proposals -- don't roll it back.
Underscoring the gravity of the nation's high unemployment rate, Obama chose a joint session of Congress -- normally reserved for a State of the Union address -- to lay out his proposals. But if the moment was extraordinary, the plan he presented was conventional Washington rhetoric in one respect: It employs sleight-of-hand accounting.
Here's a look at some of Obama's claims and how they compare with the facts:
Obama: "Everything in this bill will be paid for. Everything."
The facts: Obama did not spell out exactly how he would pay for the measures contained in his nearly $450-billion American Jobs Act, but said he would send his proposed specifics in a week to the new congressional super committee charged with finding budget savings. White House aides suggested that new deficit spending in the near-term to try to promote job creation would be paid for in the future -- the "out years," in legislative jargon -- but did not offer specifics.
Essentially, the jobs plan is an IOU from a president and lawmakers who may not even be in office come 2013 and beyond when bills start coming due. Today's Congress cannot bind a later one on future spending.
Currently, roughly all federal taxes and other revenues are consumed in spending on various federal benefit programs, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans benefits, food stamps, farm subsidies and other social-assistance programs and payments on the national debt. Most everything else is done with borrowed money.
Obama: "Everything in here is the kind of proposal that's been supported by both Democrats and Republicans, including many who sit here tonight."
The facts: Obama's proposed cut in the Social Security payroll tax does seem likely to garner significant GOP support. But Obama proposes paying for the plan, in part, with tax increases that have already generated stiff Republican opposition.
For instance, Obama makes a pitch anew to end Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, which he has defined as couples earning more than $250,000 a year or individuals earning more than $200,000 a year. Republicans have adamantly blocked what they view as new taxes. As recently as last month, House Republicans refused to go along with any deal to raise the government's borrowing authority that included new revenues, or taxes.
Obama: "It will not add to the deficit."
The facts: It's hard to see how the program would not raise the deficit over the next year or two because most of the envisioned spending cuts and tax increases are designed to come later, when they could jeopardize the fragile recovery. Deficits are calculated for individual years. The accumulation of years of deficit spending has made a national debt headed toward $15 trillion.
Obama: "The American Jobs Act answers the urgent need to create jobs right away."
The facts: Not all of the president's major proposals are likely to yield quick job growth. One is to set up a national infrastructure bank to raise private capital for roads, rail, bridges, airports and waterways. Even supporters of such a bank doubt it could have much impact on jobs in the next two years. The idea is likely to run into GOP opponents who say such a bank would give the federal government too much power.
http://i.imgur.com/Fv2AV.jpg
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's promise Thursday that everything in his jobs plan will be paid for rests on highly iffy propositions.
It will be paid for only if a committee he can't control does his bidding, if Congress puts that into law, and if leaders in the future -- the ones who will feel the fiscal pinch of his proposals -- don't roll it back.
Underscoring the gravity of the nation's high unemployment rate, Obama chose a joint session of Congress -- normally reserved for a State of the Union address -- to lay out his proposals. But if the moment was extraordinary, the plan he presented was conventional Washington rhetoric in one respect: It employs sleight-of-hand accounting.
Here's a look at some of Obama's claims and how they compare with the facts:
Obama: "Everything in this bill will be paid for. Everything."
The facts: Obama did not spell out exactly how he would pay for the measures contained in his nearly $450-billion American Jobs Act, but said he would send his proposed specifics in a week to the new congressional super committee charged with finding budget savings. White House aides suggested that new deficit spending in the near-term to try to promote job creation would be paid for in the future -- the "out years," in legislative jargon -- but did not offer specifics.
Essentially, the jobs plan is an IOU from a president and lawmakers who may not even be in office come 2013 and beyond when bills start coming due. Today's Congress cannot bind a later one on future spending.
Currently, roughly all federal taxes and other revenues are consumed in spending on various federal benefit programs, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans benefits, food stamps, farm subsidies and other social-assistance programs and payments on the national debt. Most everything else is done with borrowed money.
Obama: "Everything in here is the kind of proposal that's been supported by both Democrats and Republicans, including many who sit here tonight."
The facts: Obama's proposed cut in the Social Security payroll tax does seem likely to garner significant GOP support. But Obama proposes paying for the plan, in part, with tax increases that have already generated stiff Republican opposition.
For instance, Obama makes a pitch anew to end Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, which he has defined as couples earning more than $250,000 a year or individuals earning more than $200,000 a year. Republicans have adamantly blocked what they view as new taxes. As recently as last month, House Republicans refused to go along with any deal to raise the government's borrowing authority that included new revenues, or taxes.
Obama: "It will not add to the deficit."
The facts: It's hard to see how the program would not raise the deficit over the next year or two because most of the envisioned spending cuts and tax increases are designed to come later, when they could jeopardize the fragile recovery. Deficits are calculated for individual years. The accumulation of years of deficit spending has made a national debt headed toward $15 trillion.
Obama: "The American Jobs Act answers the urgent need to create jobs right away."
The facts: Not all of the president's major proposals are likely to yield quick job growth. One is to set up a national infrastructure bank to raise private capital for roads, rail, bridges, airports and waterways. Even supporters of such a bank doubt it could have much impact on jobs in the next two years. The idea is likely to run into GOP opponents who say such a bank would give the federal government too much power.