[W]e can't simply move beyond this crisis; we have to address the irresponsibility that led to it. And that includes the failure to rein in spending, as well a reliance on borrowing –- from Wall Street to Washington to Main Street –- to fuel our growth. That's what we have to change. We have to do what families across America are doing: Save where we can so that we can afford what we need. […]
[I]t would be a terrible mistake to borrow against our children's future to pay our way today […]
That's also why we're restoring pay-as-you-go: a simple rule that says Congress can't spend a dime without cutting a dime elsewhere. This rule helped lead to the budget surpluses of the 1990s, and it's one of the most important steps we can take to restore fiscal discipline in Washington. […]
[T]he bottom line is this: We simply cannot continue to spend as if deficits don't have consequences; as if waste doesn't matter; as if the hard-earned tax dollars of the American people can be treated like Monopoly money; as if we can ignore this challenge for another generation. We can't. […]
What I will not welcome -– what I reject -– is the same old grandstanding when the cameras are on, and the same irresponsible budget policies when the cameras are off. It's time to hold Washington to the same standards families and businesses hold themselves. It's time to save what we can, spend what we must, and live within our means once again.
Here are some other words President Barack Obama spoke yesterday when unveiling his new $3.8 trillion budget proposal:
The budget includes…investments that will create jobs repairing roads and bridges, and tax breaks for retrofitting homes to save energy. […]
[I]t would be equally wrong to neglect [our children's] future by failing to invest in areas that will determine our economic success in this new century.
That's why we build on the largest investment in clean energy in history, as well as increase investment in scientific research, so that we are fostering the industries and jobs of the future right here in America.
That's why I've proposed a more than 6 percent increase in funding for the Education Department. […]
And that's why we eliminate a wasteful subsidy to banks that lend to college students, and use that money to revitalize community colleges and make college more affordable. This will help us reach the goal I've set for America: By 2020 we will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.
These are the investments we must make to create jobs and opportunity now and in the future.
Given that President George W. Bush's first budget clocked in at $1.9 trillion, I estimate that at current rates we will achieve Real Existing Fiscal Responsibility by approximately 2022.
