During his first press conference this Monday President Barack Obama said:
Look, I would love not to have to spend money right now. This notion that somehow I came in here just ginned up to spend $800 billion, that wasn’t — that wasn’t how I envisioned my presidency beginning.
Really? Then why is the only thing Obama is fighting for in the conference between the House and Senate versions of the stimulus bill is the new spending? The Wall Street Journal reports:
The White House is seeking to restore funding cut by the Senate for schools, health insurance and computerizing health records as the economic-stimulus plan headed into a final round of negotiations in Congress, with top lawmakers struggling to bring the price of the two-year package down to $800 billion.
…
To make room for added spending, the White House, joined by House Democratic leaders, is pressing to scale back certain Senate-passed tax breaks, including measures intended to boost auto and home sales.
Eliminating tax cuts so that the plan can include more spending. If that isn’t proof that President Obama hates to spend money we don’t know what is.
