From the Senate Republican Policy Committee, some interesting facts that put the Obama administration’s $17 billion in spending cuts in context:
· $17 billion is less than one half of 1% of the entire $3.55 trillion FY10 budget.
· CBO estimates that interest costs will be over $172 billion for FY10, or ten times what the administration is proposing to save.
· $17 billion is about 2% of the $787 billion stimulus bill passed on February.
· $17 billion is less than 5% of the interest expense created by the stimulus bill.
· CBO has projected that legislation signed by President Obama has added $422 billion to FY2010 deficit, about 25 times the FY2010 savings proposed in this budget.
· The Federal government has already provided up to $173.4 billion in financial assistance to AIG, or ten times what the administration is proposing to cut from the budget.
· The Federal government has already provided almost $36 billion in TARP aid to the auto industry, or twice what he administration is proposing to cut from the budget.
· Since President Obama has taken office, total U.S. debt has increased by over $600 billion. $17 billion is less than 3% of new debt created during this administration’s first 105 days.
· Agencies reported improper payment estimates of $72 billion for fiscal year 2008 for a select group of programs. This represents about 4 percent of the $1.8 trillion of reported outlays for the related programs.