In case you missed the announcement, Obama has told his cabinet officers to find ways to cut $100 million from the federal budget. (But wouldn’t that spending help to stimulate the economy?)
Responding to the U.S. News story on this breathtaking development, Professor Don Boudreaux makes it clear that this is just a disgusting bit of political theatrics.
Editor, U.S. News & World Report
Dear Editor:
You report that President Obama today “challenged” his cabinet to “cut the
budget by $100 million” (“Obama to Cabinet: Cut $100 Million from Budget,” April
20).
What courage. A President who proclaims the importance of making “hard choices”
calls upon his government to trim away a whopping one thirty-six-thousandth of
its projected expenditures for the year – or, alternatively reckoned, one
twelve-thousandth of it projected budget deficit.
To put this budget “cut” in perspective, suppose that the typical American
family, earning $50,000 annually, plans this year to run a budget deficit
similar in proportion to its income as the deficit that Uncle Sam will run in
proportion to his tax take. Such a family would plan to spend $75,000. Now
suppose that this family, seeking to signal its commitment to financial
prudence, promises spending cuts equal in proportion to its budget to the cuts
that Mr. Obama announced today.
This family would declare ? surely with much fanfare – that it will reduce its
planned expenditures by $2.09! Perhaps it might promise to survive the year
with one less gallon of gasoline or with one less cup of coffee.
Who would take such a gesture to be anything other than audacious sarcasm by the
chronically irresponsible?
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
