Posted by
Buster Foghorn on Thursday, February 04, 2010 7:50:53 PM
“On you depend the fortunes of America. You are to decide the important questions upon which rests the happiness and the liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves." Joseph Warren
President Obama offered to kick the budget-cutting can to Congress. They said no. And then the President, at the State of the Union, said that if Congress won’t pick up the job of doing serious work on his budget, why—he will kick the can to a commission to do the politically unpopular and difficult work of bringing his spending back to reality. [See the New York Times interactive chart: Obama’s 2011 Budget Proposal. The chart shows how much was spent last year and the percent of increase as well as setting out the spending for all the different categories: in some cases it is breathtaking how high the proposed increases are and in other cases it is striking how many new categories are being funded.]
But to show his good faith and his seriousness of purpose, the President announced his attention grabbing, draconian freeze on spending. Oh yes, that freeze only begins next year and it only covers 17% of the budget items. Of course, that freeze only becomes effective if Congress takes its job seriously.
As our debt explodes beyond the ability of most Americans to find a realistic way to understand the staggering debt burden, I read an excellent reminder of the duty of our political class from President Reagan in his First Inaugural Address. Mr. Reagan shared a quote from one of our original founders:
On the eve of our struggle for independence a man who might have been one of the greatest among the Founding Fathers, Dr. Joseph Warren, President of the Massachusetts Congress, said to his fellow Americans, "Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of.... On you depend the fortunes of America. You are to decide the important questions upon which rests the happiness and the liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves."