In an effort to restore some of the public’s confidence about government spending, President Obama on Monday directed members of his cabinet to help cut $100-million from the federal budget. While it’s a nice thought, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the president’s gesture is hollow.
Grassley says, "So 100-million is a good start, but it’s a spit in the ocean for the problems we face with the budget that was adopted two weeks ago which will increase the national debt by three times."
Obama said he wants to show the American people that the federal government can spend taxpayer money wisely. Grassley, a Republican, says he applauds the gesture and hopes the president will make more serious moves to curb runaway spending.
Grassley says, "If he continues down the road that he said he was going to go during the campaign of reviewing every program in the government and getting rid of or cutting back programs that aren’t accomplishing what they’re supposed to accomplish, then that’s the best way to do it."
The federal deficit increased by about $192-billion last month alone, so Grassley says a cut of $100-million is pretty insignificant in the big scheme of things, yet it’s a step in the right direction.
"There’s a lot of little programs that can be eliminated, but those programs are not going to solve this long-term budget problem we have," Grassley says. "That’s reform of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid is a big part of that, but another big part of it is — not increasing spending the way we have recently."
Iowans in several cities statewide took part in last week’s national "Tea Party" movement, demonstrations to protest massive government spending. Their "tea" stood for "taxed enough already."