Pundits and analysts are using several different methods to determine the spending outcomes presented by President Obama during his SOTU.
Tucked inside the less specific topics the President covered such as jobs, the federal budget, and military operations was an obvious conclusion that the president is seeking billions of dollars in new spending. The new spending will come from reductions in military spending and higher taxes.
The reason for cutting back on military spending, we were told, was tw0fold: to bring a end to costly wars and as a responsible act to bring down government spending.
Fresh analysis just released by a National Taxpayer Union study tallied at total $20.7 billion in new spending in the SOTU, which will be offset by defense cuts and tax increases (read the full study here).
Some highlights:
- President Obama proposed 18 items with a potential impact on federal expenditures: 3 that would reduce the federal budget, 8 that would increase it, and 7 whose effect was too vague to be estimated.
- The largest single cost was the President’s infrastructure proposal. Based on his plans outlined in the American Jobs Act, the projects contained in this initiative would amount to over $11.07 billion annually.
- In short, for every dollar he hopes to save in domestic programs, Obama is counting on saving 128 dollars in defense.
This administration is not cutting military spending as a way to close up fiscal obligations but as away to find new ways to increase spending with “cost unknowns.” Instead of peace dividends and relief to the nation’s mounting debt, tax payers will be asked to foot the bill for further government spending and bureaucratic growth. As a consequence, our debt will grow and our military strength will necessarily weaken.
“President Obama laid out an agenda that was more about ‘soldiers to subsidies’ than ‘swords to plowshares,'” said NTUF Senior Policy Analyst Demian Brady. “Even as he reaps fiscal rewards from completed military missions – such as fewer borrowing obligations going forward – the President’s domestic proposals continue to grow in their budgetary cost and burden on everyday economic activity.”
Moreover, NTU’s study concluded that last year President Obama asked for approximately $21 billion dollars in new spending. The fact that he is asking for the same amount shows above all else that his public words run opposite of his actual agenda.