BCT Editorial – 5/10/09

This page was last updated on May 11, 2009.

We’ve heard it before; Editorial; Beaver County Times; May 10, 2009.

The editorial subtitle is “Obama’s call to cut $17 billion will run into a wall in Congress.”

Times editorials like this are enough to make some folks want to wrap their heads in duct tape to keep them from exploding. We routinely read editorials cry crocodile tears about spending, yet Times editorials tend to support nearly every government-spending proposal that comes down the pike. Reading Times editorials about government spending & deficits is like reading the writings of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.

If you thought this editorial was about spending, I believe the editorial succeeded. The point was to provide cover for President Obama by saying, “look at all the other presidents who couldn’t cut spending” while completely ignoring the large overall spending increases Mr. Obama has pushed through and wants more of.

As for the $17 billion “cut” (less than one half of one percent of Mr. Obama’s $3.6 trillion budget), the editorial failed to note Mr. Obama laughed off cuts of this size during the 2009 election campaign. During the campaign, Mr. Obama routinely downplayed Sen. McCain’s pledge to wipe out $18 billion in “earmark” spending with descriptions like “only.” When Mr. Obama announced the $17 billion proposed cut, he had a different story, saying “Outside of Washington, that’s still considered a lot of money.”