Let's take a wild guess which programs won't be touched. Probably the same which were supported by the "you voted for me" reward program known as the stimulus.
"The public wants to know that we're willing to be very aggressive on spending. They're willing to invest, but they also want to know that you're going to wear the green eyeshades," Emanuel said in an interview Monday. "That's exactly what's happening here."
Previous administrations have asked agency heads to justify programs, but budget analysts said they could not recall a time when agencies had been ordered to volunteer programs for elimination. To encourage cooperation, Obama also will ask Congress for new authority to let agencies keep half the savings they identify, administration officials said. The agencies could then put the cash toward higher priorities rather than surrendering it all for deficit reduction, as is typical.
It is hard to say which programs are likely to attract the ax. Administration officials frequently refer to dozens of duplicative programs scattered across government. In a speech he is set to deliver Tuesday, Orszag will point to 110 programs dedicated to advancing science and math education, more than 100 to youth mentoring, and more than 40 to employment and job training.
"This redundancy wastes resources and makes it harder to act on each of these worthy goals," Orszag will say, according to an advance copy of the speech.
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When did Republicans ever CUT discretionary spending in Washington? Rejoice, Jim! The Democrats are going to be cutting said spending - I'll take you down to change your voters registration.
Reminder: No Republican president has balanced his own budget since Eisenhower did over 50 years ago - and he was a Keynesian.
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