The Obama Budget - Too Much, Too Little or Just Right?

You can read all about Obama's proposal for the 2010 budget online, but at 142 pages, it is quite a lot to swallow.

I am amused by the commentary about it and I think we can learn a lot by stepping back and looking at the range of what is being said.

There are claims that too much is being spent and the deficit will rise. There are comments that not enough is being spent. Some think that Obama's attempts to also plan to shrink the deficit are in error.

I find that when comments come in from all sides (too big, too small, too many tax cuts, too many tax raises, etc.) the plan is probably in the right space.

About the only thing that most people agree upon, even Democrats (begrudgingly) is that Obama is trying to take on too many things at once. That it is an overwhelming number of activities that will pull the president in too many directions. I believe they are correct...for most presidents. Obama is smart and seemingly able to surround himself with a lot of capable people who are there for more than their loyalty. Almost everything in his budget is an echo of a campaign promise. It also appears that he is aware that the most effective time for a president to enact legislation is in his first year in office. By putting a lot of his ideas directly into the budget rather than launch them as separate legislative issues is actually quite brilliant. The Budget is a non-binding document and therefore can not be subject to a filibuster.
What the Congressional and Senate Budget and Appropriations Committees wind up putting forth and agreeing on remains to be seen. As time moves, on we also will see if Barack Obama's desire to take on everything at once is viewed as the second coming of FDR or leaves everyone with heartburn.


It is not certain if this will work, if this is the right mix, or how it could be improved upon. One thing we know is that Barack Obama will not go down in history confused with Herbert Hoover.