Spending Freeze to be based on the 2010 Obama budget...and so,

[FrenchieCat]

I'm trying to figure out if that's a truly bad thing, as some have intonated,
without really telling us anything more than that isn't what we want.

What we know and what we don't know.

My understanding is that this spending freeze will deal with budgetary areas
that are neither mandatory spending nor defense related.

In addition, it is supposed to be flexible within each departments,
and maybe even broader than that (we don't totally know), like flexible overall.

In either case, back in February of 2009, what we do know is that
the 2010 budget was heralded as clearly showing exactly the right progressive priorities,
by just about every progressive economist out there.
They loved it.

and even we loved it.....that I clearly remember (it was only a year ago after all)

February 27, 2009
Op-Ed Columnist

Climate of Change
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Elections have consequences. President Obama’s new budget represents a huge break, not just with the policies of the past eight years, but with policy trends over the past 30 years. If he can get anything like the plan he announced on Thursday through Congress, he will set America on a fundamentally new course.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/opinion/27krugman.html?_r=2&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

Paul Krugman praises President Obama's new budget proposal
By John Amato Saturday Feb 28, 2009 7:00pm

Paul Krugman's latest column praises President Obama's new budget big-time. I haven't seen Paul that excited in a long while.
http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/paul-krugman-praised-president-obamas-n

and Krugman wasn't the only excited one.

I even recall clearly that the budget was the saving grace
of the stimulus package, which many criticized as too small.

In contrast the 2010 budget increased spending by 8% for Bush's prior 2009 budget,
and made the increases in all of the right places.


So I'm trying to figure out, is it automatically bad news to freeze
to 2010 levels?

And if so, why do you think this?


See for yourself,

The + or - sign next to each department is how much
the Budget for that department grew or shrank
going from Bush to Obama in terms of priority.....

Now, do you notice anything?


$78.7 billion (-1.7%) - Department of Health and Human Services
$72.5 billion (+2.8%) - Department of Transportation
$52.5 billion (+10.3%) - Department of Veterans Affairs
$51.7 billion (+40.9%) - Department of State and Other International Programs
$47.5 billion (+18.5%) - Department of Housing and Urban Development
$46.7 billion (+12.8%) - Department of Education
$42.7 billion (+1.2%) - Department of Homeland Security
$26.3 billion (-0.4%) - Department of Energy
$26.0 billion (+8.8%) - Department of Agriculture
$23.9 billion (-6.3%) - Department of Justice
$18.7 billion (+5.1%) - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
$13.8 billion (+48.4%) - Department of Commerce
$13.3 billion (+4.7%) - Department of Labor
$13.3 billion (+4.7%) - Department of the Treasury
$12.0 billion (+6.2%) - Department of the Interior
$10.5 billion (+34.6%) - Environmental Protection Agency
$9.7 billion (+10.2%) - Social Security Administration
$7.0 billion (+1.4%) - National Science Foundation
$5.1 billion (-3.8%) - Corps of Engineers
$5.0 billion (+100%) - National Infrastructure Bank
$1.1 billion (+22.2%) - Corporation for National and Community Service
$0.7 billion (0.0%) - Small Business Administration
$0.6 billion (-14.3%) - General Services Administration
$19.8 billion (+3.7%) - Other Agencies
$105 billion - Other
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_United_States_federal_budget


So please before we pass judgment, let's think about this,
wait for some details, and make sure we know what we are talking about.
let's be intelligent about our discussion on this ....
because it may not be what you think it is.