Copies of the U.S. Government budget for Fiscal Year 2012 are stacked up at the U.S. Government Printing Office in Washington, Monday, Feb. 14, 2011.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)WASHINGTON – With President Barack Obama’s release Monday of a budget proposal for next year and the House planning to vote this week on a Republican plan for deep spending cuts this year, the nation is getting its clearest view since the president took office of the parties’ competing visions of the role of government, the urgency of addressing the deficit and the best path to long-term economic success.
Obama used his budget for the fiscal year 2012 and beyond to make the case for selectively cutting spending while increasing resources for areas like education and clean energy initiatives that hold the potential for long-term payoffs in economic growth. With this year’s deficit projected to hit a record, $1.6 trillion, he laid out a path for bringing down annual deficits to more sustainable levels over the rest of the decade.
Republicans said it was not nearly enough to address chronic fiscal imbalances and reduce the role of the federal government in the economy and society.
Neither party has put forward any specific proposals to begin grappling with the most pressing long-term budget problem: the huge costs in the Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security programs as the population ages and medical costs rise, a bill that could overwhelm the government and crimp the economy if not addressed.
“We’re doing things that are the most painful and of least long-term economic value because we’re not willing to do the things that everybody, at least privately, agrees are necessary,” said Vin Weber, a Republican Party strategist and former congressman.