WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama, whose health-care and economic stimulus initiatives threaten to dramatically inflate the federal budget deficit, heralded a new push Saturday to cut wasteful spending in government.
The president said that in coming weeks he would announce the elimination of “dozens of government programs.” And he would ask his Cabinet secretaries Monday for specific proposals to slash their departments’ budgets — promising “no sacred cows and no pet projects.”
“As surely as our future depends on building a new energy economy, controlling health-care costs and ensuring that our kids are once again the best educated in the world,” Obama said, “it also depends on restoring a sense of responsibility and accountability to our federal budget.”
The president’s declaration, delivered in his Saturday radio address, comes at a time when the administration is working to build support for his budget and his ambitious — and potentially very costly — domestic policy agenda.
Obama did not say how much money he hoped to save.
Since Democrats pushed through the $787-billion stimulus package in February, Republicans on Capitol Hill have accused the administration and its congressional allies of being profligate spenders.
On Saturday, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., kept up the attack.
“When will all this spending and borrowing end?” McCarthy said in the GOP’s weekly response.
Under President George W. Bush, a budget surplus inherited from the Bill Clinton administration was turned into years of multibillion-dollar deficits. Republicans recently have been working to reclaim the mantle of fiscal responsibility.
Obama has contended that investments in expanding access to health care, improving schools and addressing global climate change will save money in the long term. But the president Saturday sought to highlight more immediate efforts as well.
He said that “every program, every entitlement, every dollar of government spending” would be examined.
The president also hinted at broader efforts to cut fraud and abuse in the $500-billion Medicare program and to end tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
