Obama in Casablanca: President Obama is shocked, shocked to learn there is a September Spending Spree in the federal government, leading agencies like the General Service Administration do things like blow $823,000 on a BS “training conference” in Las Vegas.
Chief of Staff Jacob J. Lew briefed President Obama before last week’s trip to South Korea.
Obama “was outraged by the excessive spending, questionable dealings with contractors, and disregard for taxpayer dollars,” Lew said in a statement to The Washington Post, calling for “all those responsible to be held fully accountable.”
And here I thought there was just no more room to cut discretionary spending. Ezra Klein told me the discretionary budget had been combed over so often it was already neat and trim like a well-tended lawn! …
P.S.: What’s worse, the idea that Obama is pretending to be surprised at routine government overspending, or the possibility that he actually is surprised? Put this down next to him learning that there is “no such thing as shovel ready projects.” …
P.P.S.: Yes, I know the big money is in entitlements, not in the discretionary budget. But before you cut grandma’s Social Security check, or her Medicare–and before you raise taxes–you have to convince voters you’ve really gotten the message to the GS-13s and 14s that we are in austere times and they can’t waste a dime. It’s serious! No funny business! … This is a message Obama has pointedly failed to get across. Go to Washington–it’s still Fat City and people are living like it’s Fat City, in part because they know D.C.-based columnists will always argue ‘the money’s in entitlements’ and defend them against cuts. …
More: For an explanation of the September Spending Spree, see the third item in Charles Peters’s “Tilting at Windmills” column here. …