That is why I will ask my new team to think anew and act anew to meet our new challenges.... We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way.In April, Obama boldly announced that his cost-cutting efforts would save $100 million, and in a mere 90-days (six months into his presidency), the administration would produce a report itemizing the results of these heroic efforts to guard our tax dollars.
"We've got to earn their trust. They've got to feel confident that their dollars are being spent wisely."Well, 90 days has come and there is no report in sight. Not the best way to earn our trust.
Another way to earn our trust is to stop aggrandizing your desire to cut costs. Obama is patting himself on the back for saving $100 million -- out of a $3.6 trillion budget! His campaign pledge to delve line-by-line saved a whopping 3%.
Obama increased federal spending by $500 billion over President Bush's last bloated budget, then brags about cutting a measly 3%.
As expected, the White House is always open to its critics.
"Only in Washington, D.C., is $100 million not a lot of money," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.In the context of a $3 trillion dollar budget, an $800 billion "stimulus" bill, a $90 billion "supplemental" budget, a $1.5 trillion health care proposal, and innumerable bailouts, $100 million dollars in cost-cutting is not a lot of money. But, it is a huge insult to the American taxpayer.
Senator Mitch McConnell said it best:
"Any amount of savings is obviously welcome," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said in April. "But [$100 million is] about the average amount we'll spend every single day just covering the interest on the stimulus package that we passed earlier this year."
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