President Obama “Cowpie Budgeting 101”

On Thursday May 24^th, President Obama spoke to donors in Denver touting the fact that federal spending has increased less than 2 percent since 2009. Obama said,

“[Republicans] run up these wild debts and then when we take over, we’ve got to clean it up.”

Then on Friday, President Obama doubled down on his false assertions and took a shot at all-but-official Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. President Obama said,

“OBAMA: "I know Gov. Romney came to Des Moines last week. Warned about a prairie fire of debt. That's what he said, prairie fire. But he left out some facts. His speech was like a cow pie of distortion.” “"But what my opponent didn't tell you is that federal spending since I took office, has risen at the slowest pace of any president in almost 60 years. By the way, that generally happens. What happens is the Republicans run up the tab and then, we're sitting there, and they've left the restaurant, then they point and say 'Why'd you order all those steaks and martinis? “

THE FACTS: We used Discretionary Spending since these are the only items a President can influence unless he vetoes the entire appropriations bill.

Presidency	Avg. Annual % Outlay Increase/Decrease Discretionary Spending
Reagan 1st Term	7.6%
Reagan 2nd Term	0.8%
Bush 41 1st Term	2.8%
Clinton 1st Term	-0.6%
Clinton 2nd Term	6.9%
Bush 43 1st Term	10.5%
Bush 43 2nd Term	6.9%
Obama 1st Term	6.0%

President Obama and Democrats are going to try and blame President Bush and Republicans for the massive spending increase of 2009. But the truth is, President Bush wasn’t in office in 2009 and his Proposed budget of $3.1 Trillion was never brought to the floor under a Democrat controlled House & Senate. The Democratic Congress, confident Obama was going to win in 2008, passed only three of fiscal 2009′s 12 appropriations bills (Defense; Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; and Homeland Security) See Table 1 Below:

Table 1: Comparison of H.R. 2638 With Fiscal Year 2008 Enacted Levels (dollars in billions)	FY 2008 BA	Bush	Actual	2009 BA
		Proposal for	FY 2009 BA	vs.
		FY 2009 BA		2008 BA
CR Plus Anomalies	386	389.0	391.0	5.0
Defense Appropriations	479	492.0	488.0	9.0
Homeland Security Appropriations	37	37.6	42.0	5.0
Military Construction Appropriations	60	69.0	73.0	13.0
Emergencies ( Includes Subsidies for Auto Loan Guarantees)			10.0	10.0
Emergency Disasters			23.0	23.0
Base Discretionary Spending	943	987.6	1,027.0	84.0

Since President Bush only signed 3 Budget Appropriations for 2009, we will attribute those to his deficit accountability for 2009. His signed appropriations totaling $1.02 trillion were $84 billion over 2008 appropriations. President Obama along with a Democrat House& Senate added $411 billion in deficit spending to the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009. Since the economy was extremely weak in 2009, tax receipts were about $600 billion less than projected. In fairness we will place $300 in deficit tax receipts on President Bush’s watch and $300 billion on President Obama’s watch. This is beyond fair, since President Obama and a Democrat Congress enacted The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The primary objective for stimulus bill was to save and create jobs almost immediately. The approximate cost of the economic stimulus package was estimated to be $787 billion at the time of passage, but later revised to $831 billion.

Under President Bush, spending averaged 19.6 % of GDP. Under President Clinton, it was 19.8%. In 2012, after four years of Obama’s fiscal leadership, it is expected to be 24.3% of GDP!! President Bush and Republicans had no control whatsoever on the appropriations final say! They were not even allowed to offer amendments to the Supplemental Appropriations.

In March 2009, President Obama along with a Democrat House & Senate added $411 billion in deficit spending under the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009. President Obama and a Democrat Congress also enacted The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The initial estimated cost of the economic stimulus package was estimated to be $787 billion at the time of passage, but was later revised to $831 billion. The Federal Budget spending for 2012 is estimated at $3.8 trillion. The last Budget signed by President Bush appropriated $2.98 trillion in Federal spending. President Obama has increased the budget almost $1 trillion in just 4 years in office‼!  Mr. “Hope and Change” has officially become the Official Cow pie President!

It was a Democrat controlled House & a filibuster proof Senate that appropriated spending in 2009 that totaled $3.52 trillion!  This was a 17.9% increase over 2008 spending— the highest single-year percentage spending increase since the Korean War‼  The non-mandatory appropriations that President Obama and Democrats passed amounted to a staggering 45% increase in discretionary spending for 2009‼! (See Table 2)

Table 2. Discretionary Spending by Agency	2008 Enacted	2009 Request	2009 Actual	2009 Actual Vs. Bush Request
Agriculture	21.8	20.8	32.2	11.4
Commerce	6.9	8.2	17.2	9.0
Defense	479.5	515.4	666.4	151.0
Education	57.2	59.2	155.4	96.2
Energy	23.9	25.0	70.6	45.6
Health and Human Services	71.9	70.4	110.5	40.1
Homeland Security	34.9	37.6	45.3	7.7
Housing and Urban Development	37.4	38.5	53.7	15.2
Interior	11	10.6	14.3	3.7
Justice	22.7	20.3	30.2	9.9
Labor	11.4	10.5	17.7	7.2
State and Other International Programs	32.9	38.3	26.4	-11.9
Transportation	15.5	11.5	67.9	56.4
Treasury	12	12.5	12.9	0.4
Veterans Affairs	39.4	44.8	49.2	4.4
Corps of Engineers	5.6	4.7	16.4	11.7
Environmental Protection Agency	7.5	7.1	14.8	7.7
Executive Office of the President	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.0
Judicial Branch	5.8	6.3	6.1	-0.2
Legislative Branch	4	4.7	4.6	-0.1
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	17.1	17.6	18.8	1.2
National Science Foundation	6	6.9	9.5	2.6
Small Business Administration	0.6	0.7	1.3	0.6
Social Security Administration	8	8.4	9.6	1.2
Other Agencies	8	7.2	9.3	2.1
Total Discretionary Spending	941.3	987.6	1,492	504.4

SOURCES:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BUDGET-2011-TAB/xls/BUDGET-2011-TAB-5-4.xls

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BUDGET-2009-BUD/pdf/BUDGET-2009-BUD-31.pdf

The final Bush budget proposal appropriated $3.1 trillion in government outlays. President Obama’s 2012 budget appropriates $3.8 trillion in government outlays. That is a $700 billion or 23% increase in federal spending! The Bush years saw a total $2.4 Trillion in deficit spending over 8 years or an average deficit of $298 billion per year. Conversely, President Obama has created $4.6 Trillion in deficit spending in just 4 years or an average annual deficit of $1.237 Trillion! The final conclusion comparing apples to apples, President Obama has increased the annual federal deficits by 315%! (See Table 3)

Table 3. Bush vs. Obama Deficits
BUSH YEARS	(dollar amounts in billions)
Fiscal Year	Receipts	Outlays		Surplus or Deficit (–)
2001	1,991.10	1,862.80		128.2
2002	1,853.10	2,010.90		-157.8
2003	1,782.30	2,159.90		-377.6
2004	1,880.10	2,292.80		-412.7
2005	2,153.60	2,472.00		-318.3
2006	2,406.90	2,655.00		-248.2
2007	2,568.00	2,728.70		-160.7
2008	2,524.00	2,982.50		-458.6
Partial 2009 H.R. 2638 (Includes $84 bil. Increased Discretionary + $300 bil. less tax receipts) (See Table 1)				-384.0
Totals 8 Years				-2,389.70
Average per Year	2,144.89	2,395.58		-298.71
OBAMA YEARS	(dollar amounts in billions)
Fiscal Year	Receipts		Outlays	Surplus or Deficit (–)
2009 (Includes $540 bil. Incr.Discretionary + $300 bil. less tax receipts) (See Table 2)	2,105.00		3,517.70	-1,028.60
2010	2,162.70		3,456.20	-1,293.50
2011	2,303.50		3,603.10	-1,299.60
2012 estimate	2,468.60		3,795.50	-1,326.90
Totals 4 Years				-4,948.60
Average per Year	2,259.95		3,593.13	-1,237.15

SOURCES:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BUDGET-2013-TAB/pdf/BUDGET-2013-TAB.pdf

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-111publ8/pdf/PLAW-111publ8.pdf

President Bush Proposed Budget Fiscal Year 2009
The United States federal budget for fiscal year 2009 began as a spending request by President George W. Bush to fund government operations for October 2008 – September 2009. President Bush’s Budget Proposal for 2009 showed Tax Receipts totaling $2.7 Trillion and Government Outlays totaling $3.107. The 2009 deficit is projected to be $407 billion, or 2.7 percent of GDP. For the near-term, the 2009 budget deficit is projected to equal 2.7 percent of GDP, with smaller deficits in the years that follow and small surpluses projected beginning in 2012. The Budget will maintain 2009 outlays as a share of GDP at close to the historical level of 20.6 percent by restraining non-security spending and entitlement growth. The Budget proposes sensible reforms to entitlement programs that result in savings of $16 billion in 2009, $208 billion over the five-year budget horizon and $619 billion over the 10-year horizon. In total, the Budget proposes to eliminate or reduce 151 discretionary programs, saving over $18 billion in 2009.”

Below is a summary table of Mandatory and Discretionary Spending laid out in the Bush 2009 Proposal:

Mandatory spending: $1.89 trillion (+6.2%)

Discretionary spending: $1.21 trillion (+4.9%)

SOURCES:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BUDGET-2009-BUD/pdf/BUDGET-2009-BUD-31.pdf

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BUDGET-2009-BUD/pdf/BUDGET-2009-BUD-7.pdf

President Obama Actual Budget Fiscal Year 2009

H.R.1105 Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (PUBLIC LAW 111–8—MAR. 11, 2009)

Since Democrats controlled the House & the Senate in 2008, a full budget appropriations bill was not allowed to come to the floor in either chamber. They waited until Barack Obama was sworn into office and the budget itself was not approved until March 2009 by the 111th Congress and signed into law by Barack Obama on March 12, 2009 nearly 6 months after the fiscal year began. Due to the financial crisis and weakened economy, the actual 2009 budget resulted in Tax Receipts totaling $ 2.105 Trillion which was $595 billion less than President Bush budget projections. However, the actual Government Outlays signed into law by President Obama came to $ 3.518 which was $411 billion higher than President Bush proposed. The Federal Government spending outlays for 2009 reached levels of 24.7% of GDP. The 2009 deficit was projected by President Bush to be $407 billion, or 2.7 percent of GDP. With the decrease in Tax Receipts and the increase of Government Spending enacted by a Democrat Congress and President Obama, these factors led to a Federal Deficit of $1.413 trillion for 2009 or 10% of GDP.

Let us also be reminded, Harry Reid’s Senate has yet to bring a budget to the floor for the last 3 years‼

The Last Time Senate Democrats Passed a Budget...

• Since Senate Dems last passed a budget, Facebook has grown from about 200 million users to 900 million users.
• Last time the Senate Democrats passed a budget, the only people “occupying” Wall Street worked there.
• Last time the Dems passed a budget, we had yet to send FLOTUS and her entourage to Spain. For $467k.
• The last time Dems passed a budget, Bernie Madoff was a free man.
• Osama bin Laden, Moammar Gaddafi, and Kim Jong-il were alive the last time the Democrats passed a budget.
• Last time the Senate Democrats passed a budget, "ObamaCare" wasn’t a household word.
• When the Senate Dems last passed a budget, Elena Kagan had never served as a judge.
• John Edwards was paying $400 for a haircut last time the Dems passed a budget.
• Last time the Democrats passed a budget there was no such thing as an iPad.
• Last time the Dems passed a budget, Fast and Furious was just a movie.
• The last time the Democrats passed a budget, we were paying $1.83 for a gallon of gas.

President Obama has already started his class warfare by asking for taxes on the wealthy to be raised to cut deficits. Ironically, when President Bush cut taxes in 2003, tax receipts went up every year until Obama took over. In 2003, Tax receipts totaled $1.8 trillion. The last year Bush was in office, tax receipts had increased to $2.5 trillion. Liberals love to blame Bush tax cuts as the cause of deficits. However, the tax cuts actually added $700 billion in revenues over the next 5 years.

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MSM continues to Carry the Water for President Obama

“Do not buy into the B.S. that you hear about spending and fiscal constraint with regard to this administration,”

White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters on Air Force One on Wednesday. Carney went on to cite a MarketWatch column by Rex Nutting, purporting to show that “under Obama, federal spending is rising at the slowest pace since Dwight Eisenhower brought the Korean War to an end in the 1950s.”

On Tuesday May 22^nd, The Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch commentary written by Rex Nutting tried to claim that President Obama’s spending binge never happened. He incorrectly used OMB and CBO numbers to calculate his piece. I will highlight and correct the errors below.

FALSE CLAIM #1:

“In the 2009 fiscal year — the last of George W. Bush’s presidency — federal spending rose by 17.9% from $2.98 trillion to $3.52 trillion. Check the official numbers at the Office of Management and Budget.”

FACTS to CLAIM #1: President Bush proposed a budget of $3.107 trillion for 2009, which was only a 4% increase from the $2.982 budget of 2008. President Obama along with a Democrat controlled House & Senate added $411 billion under the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009. Along with the Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the 2009 Federal spending outlays rose to $3.52 trillion. There is no possible way this can be attributed to President Bush.

FALSE CLAIM #2:

“In fiscal 2012, spending is set to rise 0.7% to $3.63 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate of the budget that was agreed to last August.”

FACTS to CLAIM #2: Using the numbers provided by Nutting and the OMB cited above, the actual projections for 2012 Federal Spending Outlays are $3.796 trillion.  That is a 5.3% increase of over 2011 spending levels.

FALSE CLAIM #3:

FACTS to CLAIM #3:

Presidency	Avg. Annual % Outlay Increase/Decrease Discretionary Spending
Reagan 1st Term	7.6%
Reagan 2nd Term	0.8%
Bush 41 1st Term	2.8%
Clinton 1st Term	-0.6%
Clinton 2nd Term	6.9%
Bush 43 1st Term	10.5% *
Bush 43 2nd Term	6.9%
Obama 1st Term	6.0% *

*  Following 911, Defense & Homeland Security accounted for 60% of the increased Discretionary Spending in Bush 1^st Term.

*  In 2009, President Obama with a House Majority and a Filibuster Proof Senate passed Discretionary Spending Appropriations that were 54% higher than the previous year!