The Budget

The U.S. budget was rolled out this morning -- $3.73 trillion -- and the reactions from the Republican side of the aisle have been less than pleased. Even Drudge's oversized red headlines dominated the website as it shouted, "Debt now totals entire U.S. economy."

Many are weighing in on the budget but I liked this succinct response from George Allen for U.S. Senate Facebook page. Gov. Allen wrote:

It is clear that President Obama is continuing to ignore the voices of We the People who are demanding that Washington rein in government spending.  Rather than tackle our fiscal crisis head-on, the President’s solution is to borrow more, tax more and allow Washington to continue to live beyond its means.

After bi-partisan rejection of a tax increase on families and job creators, President Obama’s looming tax increases will only act as a strong disincentive for businesses to plan expansion and create more jobs.  Rather than take more money from taxpayers, we need to execute our nation’s budget with the same discipline that small businesses and families use across the country.  We must work to reduce taxes on job creators, regulate the unelected regulators, unleash our plentiful energy resources to create more jobs and finally embrace a balanced budget, not lock in red ink as far as the eye can see.

What is coming down the pike was described by one money-cruncher as a looming train wreck, as reported by Bloomberg:

“It’s a slow train wreck coming and we all know it’s going to happen,” said Bret Barker, an interest-rate analyst at Los Angeles-based TCW Group Inc., which manages about $115 billion in assets. “It’s just a question of whether we want to deal with it. There are huge structural changes that have to go on with this economy.”

Time to turn back to my copy of Boomergeddon, Jim Bacon's brutally honest look at the financial future for Americans especially those who are now or soon will be entering the retirement ranks....