Research Briefing

As Dems Plan Their Binge Spending For 2010, A Look Back At Their Record-Setting Binge In 2009

TODAY: “House Democrats Will Gather In Washington For Their Annual Issues Conference, With The Focus On Job Creation – An Issue Democrats Hope To Emphasize As They Head Toward The November Elections.” (Carl Hulse, “House Lawmakers Return To Focus On Jobs, Health Care,” The New York Times’s “The Caucus” Blog, 1/11/10)

INSTEAD OF CREATING JOBS, DEMOCRATS SET RECORDS WITH THEIR BINGE SPENDING IN 2009

Democrats Increased Size Of Government By 64 Percent Since Obama Took Office, Largest Increase In At Least 3 Decades. (White House Office Of Management And Budget, “Disetionary Budget Authority By Agency: 1976-2014,” Accessed, 12/11/09)

• Including Their $787 Billion Stimulus Bill In February Which Has Failed To Prevent Unemployment From Reaching Double Digits. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, Accessed 1/11/10)

• Their $410 Billion Omnibus Spending Bill In March Containing Over 8,500 Earmarks Worth $7.7 Billion. “President Barack Obama signed a $410 billion spending bill Wednesday … that includes more than 8,500 pet projects worth $7.7 billion.” (Jonathan Weisman and Greg Hitt, “Obama Outlines Plan To Curb Earmarks,” The Wall Street Journal, 3/12/09)

• And Their $450 Billion Omnibus Spending Bill In December That Increases Non-Defense Discretionary Spending By 12 Percent From Last Year. “The sweeping omnibus package ... reflects a 12 percent increase in discretionary spending over last year ...”. (H.R. 3288, Roll Call Vote #949; Approved 221-202; D 221-28; R 0-174 , 12/10/09; Jennifer Bendery, “Both Parties Pile Earmarks Onto Spending Bill,” Roll Call, 12/10/09)

Democrats Created Record Deficit Of $1.42 Trillion In FY 2009, Three Times More Than Previous Record Year Before. “The Obama administration has released new deficit numbers, and they are not pretty. The deficit for fiscal year 2009, which ended Sept. 30, came in at a record $1.42 trillion, more than triple the record set just last year.” (David Jackson, “Obama Team Makes It Official, Budget Deficit Hits Record. By A Lot,” USA Today’s “The Oval“ Blog, 10/16/09)

Democrats’ Budget Creates $9.1 Trillion In Debt Over Next Decade, Nearly The Amount Of Debt America Has Accrued In Its Entire History Up To July 2008 ($9.5 Trillion). (“An Analysis Of The President’s Budgetary Proposals For Fiscal Year 2010,” Congressional Budget Office , June 2009; Public Debt, www.treasurydirect.gov, Accessed 7/20/09)

AND THEIR MASSIVE NEW TAX SCHEMES …

Obama Wants To Impose Tax On Banks. “The Obama administration is considering imposing a fee on banks to help recover some of taxpayers’ costs of bailing banks out from the financial crisis, according to multiple reports on Monday. The White House said President Barack Obama wants to ensure that taxpayers are paid in full. ‘That’s the president’s goal,’ White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. He declined to provide details on how that might be done.” (Matt Spetalnick and Glenn Somerville, “White House Reported Mulls Bank Fee In Budget,” Reuters, 1/11/10)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi And Obama’s Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner Open To Stock Transaction Tax. “Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave her strongest endorsement yet of a global financial transaction fee Thursday after raising the issue directly with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in a conversation this week. … But after their phone conversation Wednesday, Pelosi told colleagues that the secretary indicated he was more open to some such fee than had been reported.” (David Rogers, “Pelosi Pushes Global Financial Fee,” Politico, 12/3/09)

• That Some House Dems Say Would Be Large “Burden On Our Fragile Economy” And Create More Job Loss. “Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y), Mike McMahon (D-N.Y) and Debbie Halverson (D-Ill.) are asking members to sign on to a ‘Dear Colleague’ letter, claiming its impact would go well beyond the Wall Street fat cats everyone’s so angry at these days.  ’The imposition of such a tax would place a huge new tax burden on our fragile economy and could drive up an already high 10.2% unemployment rate. It also may have serious unintended consequences on our financial markets by raising the cost of credit and private investment for businesses and governments alike,’ the letter says.”  (Victoria McGrane, “Dems Sour On Stock Transaction Tax,” Politico, 11/30/09)

Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board Chair, Paul Volcker, Laying The Groundwork For National Sales Tax. “My tax philosophy would be if we can’t deal with our expenditure loan with the present tax system, we’ve got to think about changing the tax system … When you think about changing the tax system, given the problem that we started out talking about, you’ve got to talk about some tax that hits consumption.” (Henry J. Pulizzi, “Volcker: Carbon Tax VAT Should Be On Table If Cost Cuts Insufficient,” Dow Jones Newswires, 9/29/09)

• That Would Increase Cost Of Almost Everything, Hit Poorest Americans Hardest. “Highly visible, it would increase the cost of just about everything, from a carton of eggs to a visit with a lawyer. It is also hugely regressive, falling heavily on the poor. (Lori Montgomery, “Once Considered Unthinkable, U.S. Sales Tax Gets Fresh Look,” The Washington Post, 5/27/09)

Obama Pushing National Energy Tax Legislation That Could Mean Nearly 1 Million Jobs Lost Per Year. “Overall, a cap-and-trade system that reduces annual GDP by 0.34 percent per year can be expected to reduce U.S. employment by roughly 964,900 jobs per year ...” (Andrew Chamberlain, “Who Pays For Climate Policy?,” Tax Foundation, 3/09)

WILL BE USED FOR EVEN MORE BINGE SPENDING IN 2010, NOT DEFICIT REDUCTION

FY 2010 Off To Worse Start Than Last Year, With $390 Billion Deficit In First Three Months. “The federal budget deficit was about $390 billion in the first quarter of fiscal year 2010, CBO estimates in its latest Monthly Budget Review—$56 billion more than for the same period in fiscal year 2009 despite reduced spending related to turmoil in the financial markets.” (Douglas W. Elmendorf, “CBO Estimates A Federal Budget Deficit Of $390 Billion For First Quarter Of Fiscal Year 2010,” Congressional Budget Office’s “Director’s Blog” Blog, 1/7/10)

• With Deficit In FY 2010 Expected To Reach Record $1.5 Trillion. (White House Office Of Management And Budget, “Mid-Session Review: Fiscal Year 2010,” 8/25/09)

Dems Rushing To Get $2.5 Trillion Government-Run Health Care Experiment Passed. Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT): “Just for a second -- health care reform, whether you use a ten-year number or when you start in 2010 or start in 2014, wherever you start at, so it is still either $1 trillion or it’s $2.5 trillion, depending on where you start...” (Sen. Max Baucus, Floor Remarks, 12/2/09)

• Which David Broder Wrote “Are Budget-Busters.” “While the CBO said that both the House-passed bill and the one Reid has drafted meet Obama’s test by being budget-neutral, every expert I have talked to says that the public has it right. These bills, as they stand, are budget-busters.” (David S. Broder, Op-Ed, “A Budget-Buster In The Making,” The Washington Post, 11/22/09)

House Democrats Already Forced Through $174 Billion Stimulus II. “The House narrowly passed Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) $174 billion jobs bill Wednesday, only after Pelosi and other party leaders yelled, pleaded and cajoled reluctant Democrats worried over deficit spending. The vote was 217-212. No Republicans voted for the bill, and 38 Democrats voted against it.” (Mike Soraghan and Jared Allen, “House Narrowly Passes Pelosi’s $174B Jobs Bill,” The Hill, 12/16/09)