Cavuto Whines About Obama Saving $100 Million
Reported by Ellen - April 21, 2009 -
Guest Blogged by Dan
Neil Cavuto seems so determined to criticize the Obama administration that he can't seem to make up his mind whether to attack them for saving money or for not spending it fast enough.
In a FOXBusiness.com column yesterday, Cavuto wrote,
"When it's a big deal committing the government to save a hundred million bucks...Deal over. Game over. U.S. over."
Okay, the USA is ruined when the government wants to save $100m. Not that I understand the logic here, but this is premise one.
Although it could be contended that cutting $100m beats NOT cutting $100m, Cavuto complained that $100m isn't enough cutting and therefore not worth doing at all.
"Because while I commend President Obama demanding his Cabinet secretaries find waste and cut it, the sad truth is 100 million bucks won't cut it.$100 billion, maybe.
$1 trillion, definitely.
But not this. Not now."
But then Cavuto goes on to complain that the Obama administration has not spent enough:
"...And not when you've committed virtually all those secretaries to spending so much money so fast, that they can't.They simply can't.
You heard me right.
They're spent, trying to spend.They can't keep up with all this dough.
I kid you not. Of the nearly $800 billion in stimulus voted on, take a wild guess how much has been spent?
$500 billion? $400 billion? $200 billion?
Try $60 billion smackers.
And actually, that's "agreed-to-be-spent" money. And largely for pre-committed highway work and the like."
So now cutting waste is something to be sneered at along with being careful about spending taxpayer money. Isn't this heresy in Foxland?
Cavuto continues:
"So ask yourself this question, if these guys have trouble getting the money out, something they're usually pretty good at, what makes you think they'll rein the money in, something they're notoriously bad at?It'd be like the fat guy wearing darker clothing to look like he's losing weight, when he isn't.
When the government uses shady math to look like it means what it says about fiscal discipline, when it doesn't.
Fat chance either makes any progress."
Generosity forces us not to snigger when Cavuto and the Republicans talk about "shady math." But where is the "shady math" here? President Obama asks for $100m in cuts. It's not like, say, trying to hide the cost of a war in Iraq off-budget. $100m is the goal.
But Cavuto is opposed. It's not clear what he's opposed to, whether it be the attempt to cut $100m from the budget or the stimulus spending in general, or that the stimulus spending isn't fast enough.
Or maybe he's just opposed to the Obama administration.
