AP: Obama prevents budget cuts to favorite programs

[dennis4868]

WASHINGTON – A close look at the government shutdown-dodging agreement to cut federal spending by $38 billion reveals that lawmakers significantly eased the fiscal pain by pruning money left over from previous years, using accounting sleight of hand and going after programs President Barack Obama had targeted anyway. Such moves permitted Obama to save favorite programs — Pell grants for poor college students, health research and "Race to the Top" aid for public schools, among others — from Republican knives.

The full details of Friday's agreement weren't being released until late Monday when it was officially submitted to the House. But the picture already emerging is of legislation financed with a lot of one-time savings and cuts that officially "score" as savings to pay for spending elsewhere, but that often have little to no actual impact on the deficit.

As a result of the legerdemain, Obama was able to reverse many of the cuts passed by House Republicans in February when the chamber passed a bill slashing this year's budget by more than $60 billion. In doing so, the White House protected favorites like the Head Start early learning program, while maintaining the maximum Pell grant of $5,550 and funding for Obama's "Race to the Top" initiative that provides grants to better-performing schools.

The entire article is here....http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110411/ap_on_bi_ge/us_spending_showdown_details/print

Wait a minute, the PL said that Obama caved in to the repubs? The PL and many liberals are having a hard time dealing with the facts these days...hmmmmmm...Obama REVERSED many of the cuts passed by the House repubs? Wonder why I don't hear the Obama haters on DU telling me about this?

[jaxx]

1. People need to see this and understand that 'cave' wasn't in the deal.

K&R

[madfloridian]

2. Thank goodness he saved Race to the Top

:sarcasm:

[Deep13]

3. The reason is simply this...

...the problem is that the WH and many Congressional Ds have bought into the idea that cuts are somehow necessary or even desirable. The truth is that reductions in domestic spending can only hurt the recovery and those in most need of help. Instead of nit picking over which essential service to cut, he ought to be advocating increases in education, health care, assistance for those unemployed and infastructure. And he ought to be paying for it by allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire and by scaling back military spending. Instead he gives creedence to crass irresponsibility.

[dennis4868]

4. I agree that cuts can hurt the economy....

but smart cuts to the budget will not....it's alot like Obama's cuts to medicare in the HCR bill....there was so much waste in medicare and Obama got rid of it...smart cuts (isn't that a name of a national hair cutting place? hahaha).