What is President Obama proposing regarding non-security discretionary federal spending?
President Obama will propose Congress freeze “non-security” federal spending for the next three years, senior administration officials said Monday. The term “non-security” is broad. It will exempt costs of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, all other Pentagon spending, as well as the foreign aid, and the budgets of the Veterans Administration and Department of Homeland Security. The freeze, therefore, will apply to the annual spending on day-to-day government programs that does not include mandatory spending on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid,. Spending on these three programs alone this year is projected to equal 8.7 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Program or 59 percent of all federal spending. Officials defended an approach that held entitlement spending harmless. “It can’t be right to say because this is only one component of addressing the problem that, don’t worry about it and let it rip,” a top official said. “Imposing discipline here is one part (of the solution).” In
Obama to Propose 3-Year “Non-Security” Spending Freeze President Obama will propose Congress freeze “non-security” federal spending for the next three years, senior administration officials said Monday. The term “non-security” is broad. It will exempt costs of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, all other Pentagon spending, as well as the foreign aid, and the budgets of the Veterans Administration and Department of Homeland Security. The freeze, therefore, will apply to the annual spending on day-to-day government programs that does not include mandatory spending on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid,. Spending on these three programs alone this year is projected to equal 8.7 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Program or 59 percent of all federal spending. Officials defended an approach that held entitlement spending harmless. “It can’t be right to say because this is only one component of addressing the problem that, don’t worry about it and let it rip,” a top official said. “Impos
Under mounting pressure to rein in mammoth budget deficits, President Obama will propose in his State of the Union address a three-year freeze on federal spending that is not related to national security, a concession to public concern about government spending that could dramatically curtail Obama’s legislative ambitions. The freeze would take effect in October and limit the overall budget for agencies other than the military, veterans affairs, homeland security and certain international programs to $447 billion a year for the remainder of Obama’s first term, senior administration officials said Monday, imposing sharp limits on his ability to begin initiatives for education, the environment and other areas of domestic policy. Although the freeze would shave no more than $15 billion off next year’s budget — barely denting a deficit projected to exceed $1 trillion for the third year in a row — White House officials said it could save significantly more during the next decade. Sources:
