It's Time To Play Everyone's Favorite Game: Name That Budget!!!

So, I've had enough of the tabloid he said she said crap being cycled by most media outlets at the moment during this meaningless portion of the election cycle...

How about we talk about something relevant to the election, like handling of the budget?

Currently, the US is $16T in debt, and has $1T deficit in spending. The next president, in addition to having to close that budget gap, will also have to deal with the baby boom retirement, as well as the expanding size of the entitlement programs. It's safe to say, the next president should be someone who knows how to balance a budget, and handle fiscal matters well.

One candidate, Mitt Romney, has proved he can manage and balance a budget on multiple occasions... He has done so in business, non-governmental organizations, and he has done so in government.
- He balanced the budget for Bain Capital for 18 years, and at Bain & Co for 2 years.
- He balanced the budget for the Salt Lake City Olympics for 3 years.
- He balanced the MA budget for 4 years.
- Additionally he's sat on the boards of many other organizations helping them balance their books, including his local parish.

Furthermore, since what Romney did for business at Bain Capital was to balance the budgets of other companies, he took on the job of balancing other budgets for companies that weren't even his own, and thus has an additional world of knowledge on the matter.

Even without that consideration, he's proven 27 years of balancing budgets as an executive...


However, when you search the other candidate's history, can you name 1 single budget he has balanced, ever?

The only budget that I'm aware that Obama has ever been the executive over is the US budget. He signed just 1 budget in now his 4th year in office. He's proposed 4 budgets now, and has effected 5 of them. His record thus far has been abysmal in that regard. He increased Bush's last budget from $2.7T to $3.1T, adding $400B to the deficit. Then in his first proposed budget, he drastically increased spending, without the revenue to compensate, and increased the deficit to $1.4T, and it has remained over $1T every year so far... and thus added nearly $5T to the debt, raising it up to $16T...

Does Obama have any experience whatsoever managing and/or balancing a budget? Please, if he's balanced the budget of any large organization, name it for me...

IndepCentristMA said:

Does Obama have any experience whatsoever managing and/or balancing a budget? Please, if he's balanced the budget of any large organization, name it for me...

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What was Romney's/Bain's tax policy? Did Romney ever use offshore bank accounts to help foreign corporations evade US taxes? Will cutting tax revenue to an absolute minimum help balance the budget? What about Bain's foreign policy? How many terrorists did Romney kill while at Bain? What was Romney's environmental policy at Bain? While at Bain, did Romney work to maximize employment, or was he just trying to make a fast buck?

Wasn't Romney constitutionally required to balance the MA budget? Hasn't every single MA governor balanced the MA budget?

the difference of all that being, of course, that private investment companies are not supposed to have foreign policies.

Presidents, however, are very much supposed to have some kind of experience running.... something. And they are definitely supposed to be competent enough to propose serious budgets.

cpwill said:

the difference of all that being, of course, that private investment companies are not supposed to have foreign policies.

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Indeed, the point is that running a private equity firm isn't very good experience for being president.

well I suppose that depends on whether or not you think that the main focus of the president in January 2013 should be on the economy, or on foreign policy.



if ya'll want to cede economic superiority to Romney in order to argue that Obama has almost got the foreign policy thing figured out, and should really be given another chance...

well, I can only encourage you to make that argument as loudly and as often as possible.

cpwill said:

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Exactly...

AdamT said:

What was Romney's/Bain's tax policy? Did Romney ever use offshore bank accounts to help foreign corporations evade US taxes? Will cutting tax revenue to an absolute minimum help balance the budget? What about Bain's foreign policy? How many terrorists did Romney kill while at Bain? What was Romney's environmental policy at Bain? While at Bain, did Romney work to maximize employment, or was he just trying to make a fast buck?

Wasn't Romney constitutionally required to balance the MA budget? Hasn't every single MA governor balanced the MA budget?

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How many terrorists, commies, marxists and radicals did Obama associate with? How many radical BLT churches of bigotry did belong to? How many years of heavy drug usage did Obama have? How many budgets has Obama balanced.?

How many did Romney?

game over.. your dbag hero Barry Hussein Obama is a fn loser scumbag..hes not fit to park my car

AdamT said:

What was Romney's/Bain's tax policy? Did Romney ever use offshore bank accounts to help foreign corporations evade US taxes? Will cutting tax revenue to an absolute minimum help balance the budget? What about Bain's foreign policy? How many terrorists did Romney kill while at Bain? What was Romney's environmental policy at Bain? While at Bain, did Romney work to maximize employment, or was he just trying to make a fast buck?

Wasn't Romney constitutionally required to balance the MA budget? Hasn't every single MA governor balanced the MA budget?

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Yes, Massachusetts, along with 39 states, have laws in their constitutions to balance the budget. That does not mean they always end up successfully doing it, however. If the budget had been balanced before he arrived, then he would not have been facing a $3B deficit when he came into office--the largest budget deficit in MA history. Your comment regarding this aspect of the budget belies the real financial crisis MA was facing when Romney took office. His predicessor, Jane Swift, a Republican, who had Replaced Paul Celucci, a Republican, when he resigned... Both of them were abject failures with abysmal records regarding the budget and government spending during their administrations. Swifts major accomplishment in office was giving birth... says a lot about her governing, doesn't it...

Still, the fact of the matter is, Romney balanced the $3B deficit in his first year, and by the end of the second, the financial situation in MA had recovered so greatly, that we had built up a $2B rainy day fund (which could've helped during the last recession if the Democrats in the legislature had left it for its true purpose, but instead, they squandered it away immediately)... He continued to balance the budget for all 4 years, even saving a projected budget deficit when he was leaving office from ever materializing as a deficit...

So for all your misguided attacks on Romney's budgetary handling... it still rates as 4 years of successfully balancing a budget as Governor...

Your misguided attacks at his experience at Bain is quite pathetic, truly... as he balanced budgets for 18 years at Bain Capital and for the companies Bain fixed... add another 2 years when he went back and saved Bain & Co., too...

You also glossed over, without ever making reference to him balancing the books for the Salt Lake City Olympics... which was well under budget when he came in, and went out as the most profitable games ever held...

No matter how you slice it, Romney still has 27 years experience balancing EVERY SINGLE budget, of every major organization he was the chief executive of, WITHOUT FAILING ONCE.. He also has done so in business, with non-governmental organizations, and in government...


I'll take the fact that your reply lacked 1 single mention of Barrack Obama and/or his handling the budget as a tacid admission that he's touched 5 budgets as President, and all 5 have been way over budget...

So the answer is still "No, Obama has never once ever balanced a single budget of a large organization"...

I'll take the fact that your reply lacked 1 single mention of Barrack Obama and/or his handling the budget as a tacid admission that he's touched 5 budgets as President, and all 5 have been way over budget...

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Well, he did inherit the worst crash in almost a century... and an unbalanced budget... and the world economy still hasn't recovered.

Londoner said:

Well, he did inherit the worst crash in almost a century... and an unbalanced budget... and the world economy still hasn't recovered.

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So? Bush inherited 9/11, he still kept it together.

Aberration said:

So? Bush inherited 9/11, he still kept it together.

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9/11 came nine months into Bush's term. He didn't inherit it.

AdamT said:

9/11 came nine months into Bush's term. He didn't inherit it.

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Your absolutely right, what happens on a presidents watch is his/her alone, from day one.

AdamT said:

9/11 came nine months into Bush's term. He didn't inherit it.

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There was a lot happening before the event of 9/11. He just didn't know how bad it was.

Just like 3.5 years later Obama didn't know how bad it was, that is why the recovery is not as quick.

AdamT said:

9/11 came nine months into Bush's term. He didn't inherit it.

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you really are out there.. when was trhe first WTC attack, how many died? and how did Clinton prosecute this attack on our soil?

Obama is so lucky the GWB made the HSD..too bad Clinton was a scumbag liberal phoney..

Your audience is 2nd graders..maybe they believe your posts..

AdamT said:

9/11 came nine months into Bush's term. He didn't inherit it.

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under his stupidity then Obama didnt inherit the Pelosi Reid stagnation..

I have to wonder if this is a simple trolling..

Born Free said:

Your absolutely right, what happens on a presidents watch is his/her alone, from day one.

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No, that's silly. I don't blame Bush for dotcom bust and recession, for example, just like I don't blame Obama for the real estate bust and recession.

AdamT said:

No, that's silly. I don't blame Bush for dotcom bust and recession, for example, just like I don't blame Obama for the real estate bust and recession.

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is the fact lost on you that there was no recession until Pelosi and Reid came into power?...

Londoner said:

Well, he did inherit the worst crash in almost a century... and an unbalanced budget... and the world economy still hasn't recovered.

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That would cover the Bush 2009 budget, and the Obama 2010 budget... which if he was slightly off on, might be excuseable... but he was off by a budget deficit of $1.4T... not slightly, he was WAY off...

Then, knowing he was way off... in 3 subsequent budgets, he has not brough that down... he hasn't even gotten one of the last 3 budgets signed...

and since he had no experience with budgets coming into the White House... it's really no surprise that he hasn't been able to manage it appropriately...

Travis007 said:

is the fact lost on you that there was no recession until Pelosi and Reid came into power?...

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No, that fact isn't lost on me. Nor is the fact lost on me that there was no recession until Payton Manning won the Super Bowl. But I don't think it was Payton's fault (or Reid's or Pelosi's).

AdamT said:

9/11 came nine months into Bush's term. He didn't inherit it.

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But, the dotcom bust occured prior to his entering office... and 9/11 occured during that recession...

However, Bush's experience was hit and miss with managing large enterprises before becoming president. He had some good years, and some really awful failures in the oil industry. He had some success with the Texas Rangers. So with no surprise, Bush was only so-so with the budget management... with some good years and some awful failures... the budget deficit was shrinking between 2004 and 2007. Then the deficit soared, as a result of the increased spending (Medicare Part D), and the lack of revenue with the job losses.

So pointing out that Bush's handling of the budget, and how it matched his experience prior to the office just further elaborates on the major point of the thread...

Romney has 27 years of experience successfully managing budgets for large organizations in business, non-governmental agencies, and government...

Obama had no prior expeirence managing budgets, and his management of the US budget has been attrocious at best...


Since one of the major election points is how to get the budget under control, and to stop the growth of the rapidly growing $16T debt that's well over 100% of our GDP (as our GDP's growth rate is slowing to a crawl, and won't keep up)... We need someone who has experience successfully managing budget...


Faced with that situation, if you were a hiring manger, hiring someone to fix the US Fiscal Situation, Romney would be someone you'd select for the short list of candidates for the position... Obama's name would never come up...


Is there a successfully managed budget that Obama has done... ever... anyone?

IndepCentristMA said:

But, the dotcom bust occured prior to his entering office... and 9/11 occured during that recession...

However, Bush's experience was hit and miss with managing large enterprises before becoming president. He had some good years, and some really awful failures in the oil industry. He had some success with the Texas Rangers. So with no surprise, Bush was only so-so with the budget management... with some good years and some awful failures...

So pointing out that Bush's handling of the budget, and how it matched his experience prior to the office just further elaborates on the major point of the thread...

Romney has 27 years of experience successfully managing budgets for large organizations in business, non-governmental agencies, and government...

Obama had no prior expeirence managing budgets, and his management of the US budget has been attrocious at best...


Since one of the major election points is how to get the budget under control, and to stop the growth of the rapidly growing $16T debt that's well over 100% of our GDP (as our GDP's growth rate is slowing to a crawl, and won't keep up)... We need someone who has experience successfully managing budget...


Faced with that situation, if you were a hiring manger, hiring someone to fix the US Fiscal Situation, Romney would be someone you'd select for the short list of candidates for the position... Obama's name would never come up...


Is there a successfully managed budget that Obama has done... ever... anyone?

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Okay, so lets look at some of the presidents who WERE quite successful in business. The ones who come to mind are Warren G. Harding -- widely considered the worst president in U.S. history, Herbert Hoover -- among the worse, and Jimmy Carter -- who ranks in the bottom half. Not exactly a sterling record, is it?

Running a profitable private equity firm has little relation to running the US government. How would you analogize it? Did Bain make money by ruthlessly cutting spending? No. In many cases Bain made money by taking over compaines with unethical, low-ball bids, larding them up with debt, and selling them off while socking them with a hefty management fee. I guess the government equivalent would be promising a balanced budget but delivering a ton of debt and tax hikes.

AdamT said:

Okay, so lets look at some of the presidents who WERE quite successful in business. The ones who come to mind are Warren G. Harding -- widely considered the worst president in U.S. history, Herbert Hoover -- among the worse, and Jimmy Carter -- who ranks in the bottom half. Not exactly a sterling record, is it?

Running a profitable private equity firm has little relation to running the US government. How would you analogize it? Did Bain make money by ruthlessly cutting spending? No. In many cases Bain made money by taking over compaines with unethical, low-ball bids, larding them up with debt, and selling them off while socking them with a hefty management fee. I guess the government equivalent would be promising a balanced budget but delivering a ton of debt and tax hikes.

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I never said "quite successful in business"... You can be successful in business and never had to manage a budget... As was the case with Harding, Carter, and Hoover--One an engineer and speculator. Another an engineer and inside government beaurocrat who had a farm. Harding wasn't successful in business. He was a newspaper journalist who had a struggling newspaper that needed to be bailed out on a couple occasions, and had numerous scandals from collusion and price fixing. Furthermore you left several people who were successful before entering office out of your list, conveniently of course. Also, your judgement of where they rank as presidents had more to do with other things that happened within those presidencies (although it was nice to see you mention how poorly Carter ranks, as he's the closest to president Obama in style, theory, and approach). I'm not gonna delve into your mischaracterization of what Romney did for business, or how he was able to manage budgets, since it's so far from accurate it would skew the thread off topic (likely your intention).


I said he has 27 years experience in managing budgets, in business, non-governmental agency, and government... I know you don't like to respond to the actual post or thread topic, and much prefer to delve into one of your numerous side-topic discussions, since you can't focus on something that actually reflects pretty poorly on the guy you still support for some unforeseen reason... but that doesn't change the fact that Romney has proven on numerous occasions and in numerous facets that he can balance budgets, turn around poor fiscal situations, create growth, etc.


The focus of this post, to stay on topic is to come up with a solitary shred of evidence to show that Obama stands a slight chance in any way what-so-ever at balancing the budget... since balancing this budget, with the $1T deficit, and a skyrocketing $16T debt, with the looming baby boomer retirement, and skyrocketing costs of the entitlement programs...

There isn't one. Not a single shred of evidence which suggests Obama has or could possibly ever balance a budget...

He is not the man for the job...

So the question has been asked... is there a shread of evidence that Obama could possibly balance the budget...



We've heard crickets... Now Ben Stein wants to know what's happened to his money...

Any takers... something to suggest Obama has the slightest clue how to accurately manage finances and bring them under control during the next administration?

Seems like if you can't... and that being this is one of the seminal events to be decided during the election... it's pretty much worth conceding...

Still no one...

There's a $16T debt, a persistent $1T spending deficit, a pending baby boom retirement, and increasing costs of our entitlement programs... All of which the next presidential administration will have to bring under order. The incumbent president has many supporters, including on this site... but none are willing to attempt to show what experience or proof Obama has that he can actually do any of that...

I'm not going to say it's the only thing that's relevant to the discussion, but it's perhaps the most important thing this election decides--picking who will fix those problems...

Instead, instead of discussing this, or arguing on his behalf... you'd rather be commenting on, or bringing up;

- Jill Stein being arrested at a protest
- 3 threads about Romney's personal income taxes from several years back
- comments from foreigners about Romney, that have no say in the election or American political process
- Multiple celebrity endorsements of Romney or Obama...
...

That's pretty shameful...

If there's nothing which you can point to which makes you believe the president can actually manage the federal budget effectively... why would you support him to do just that...