Monday, April 20, 2009

A drop in the bucket

President Obama's decision today to give his Cabinet secretaries 90 days to cut $100 million in federal spending rings hollow if you look at it in context. The Associated Press does a good job here to put the $100 he wants to save into a quick frame of reference.

Some of the Associated Press' examples of just what $100 million amounts to include the cost of less than half of one F-22 Raptor fighter jet and 1/10,000th of the government's operating budgets for Cabinet agencies.

The also AP points out Republican objections that the government will spend nearly $100 million a day for the next decade or so just to cover the borrowing costs of the recent trillion dollar stimulus bill President Obama forced through Congress.

It's telling that even the President himself is quoted in the article as saying this cost cutting won't accomplish anything:

"None of these things alone are going to make a difference, but cumulatively, they would make an extraordinary difference because they start setting a tone," the President said.

More information on this as it develops.

Posted by: Press Secretary


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