Punting Decisions

John Campbell | March 11, 2010 12:00 PM

Since taking office, President Obama’s Administration has been singularly obsessed with passing a government takeover of healthcare. In times like these, one would think that the President and his team would have other buzz words and topics on their mind rather than a wildly unpopular expansion of government. I can think of several things…to start, how about, jobs, the economy, or the deficit?!

Yesterday, the Treasury Department released its latest budget numbers, and the story is told in a trail of red ink. In February, the federal government ran a deficit of nearly $221 billion, 14% higher than the previous record set in February of 2009.

As you might know, the fiscal year of the U.S. Government begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. Now, 5 months into the new fiscal year, the government’s budget deficit totals nearly $652 billion which is 10.5% higher than this time last year. This is absolutely beyond sustainability.

Recently, I had the opportunity to question Dr. Peter Orzag, President Obama’s Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Peter is smart and intellectually honest, and what I wanted to know, is why the President chose to submit a budget to Congress that actuarially does not work, it simply doesn’t...I’ll let the video speak for itself.