It is important that we do not allow those on the Right to diminish the accomplishments of this president. Inasmuch as many of us disagree with the President’s refusal to be left or liberal enough, he has accomplish much. The Right Wing Noise machine continue to mislead their followers by creating an alternate reality. They are making some inroads because we have not been sufficiently consistent and vocal in defending the President and refuting the lies.
President Obama notched substantial successes in spending cuts last year, winning 60 percent of his proposed cuts and managing to get Congress to ax several programs that had bedeviled President George W. Bush for years.
The administration says Congress accepted at least $6.9 billion of the $11.3 billion in discretionary spending cuts Mr. Obama proposed for the current fiscal year. An analysis by The Washington Times found that Mr. Obama was victorious in getting Congress to slash 24 programs and achieved some level of success in reducing nine other programs.
Among the president’s victories are canceling the multibillion-dollar F-22 Raptor program, ending the LORAN-C radio-based ship navigation system and culling a series of low-dollar education grants. In each of those cases, Mr. Obama succeeded in eliminating programs that Mr. Bush repeatedly failed to end.
"This is a very strong beginning for the president’s efforts to shape a budget that invests in programs that work and that ends programs that don’t," said Tom Gavin, a spokesman for the White House budget office. "The Congress has approved more than 60 percent of the president’s proposals, and that’s a high mark, that’s a strong beginning."
By comparison, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says Mr. Bush won 40 percent of his spending cuts in fiscal 2006 and won less than 15 percent of his proposed cuts for 2007 and 2008.
Mr. Obama’s cuts shine a bright spot in an otherwise dreary budget picture. The Congressional Budget Office said the deficit for fiscal 2010, which began Oct. 1, is building at a record pace, reaching $389 billion for those first three months.
Even though the president succeeded in winning a high percentage of his cuts, they still account for well less than one-half of 1 percent of the total federal budget.
Eliminating programs is tough, and proposed cuts barely get through Congress in some years.
EXCLUSIVE: Obama wins more spending cuts than Bush – Washington Times
