Budget Day up in the White House

"Barack Obama is caught between a rising deficit, stubborn unemployment and political paralysis"

President Obama heavily addressed the economic issues in the United States in his State of the Union speech last Wednesday. He explained that he has a budgeting plan, and I was simply convinced. However, fixing the budget is going to be a long and painful process, similar to removing cactus needles. The President is prepared to suffer and tried to be positive in his approach. He joked about his meeting his Republican congressmen, and followed through with that meeting. He discussed the budget and asked for their proposals. "According to the White House, the new budget cuts 120 programmes, with savings expected to total $20 billion." This new budget cuts programs such as funding for parks, as well as combining other programs.

President Obama addressed several other important issues such as increasing employment and organizing entitlements. He plans to give tax cuts to small businesses for hiring and raising pay for employees. "Small businesses would get a $5,000 tax credit for every worker hired. In addition, those who raise pay above inflation for existing workers will get a credit on their Social Security taxes, a payroll tax that adds a good deal to the cost of every worker." Obama wants to tackle entitlements through a "a deficit-reduction plan." This would have to pass in the Senate, and if not he will use an executive order.

All in all the President continues to work through these difficult issues with carefully thought out plans. Let's hope the partisan government can put aside petty grievances and personal interests and get something done.

Vocab

Entitlements- grant money provided by the government