Heather Higginbottom, Obama's OMB Nominee Acknowledges Obama's 2012 Budget Doesn't Reduce Debt

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Birthplace of Independent Conservatism

President Obama's nominee for the position of deputy director of the OMB buckled under questioning by Senator Sessions (R-AL) during the Senate Budget committee hearings this past Thursday. Unable to defend statements by Obama and OMB Director Jacob Lew she acknowledged that the President's 2012 budget in fact does not pay down our nation's debt.

From The Daily Caller:
President Obama’s nominee for deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) tried, but failed to defend the proposed budget for fiscal year 2012 in a Senate Budget Committee hearing Thursday afternoon.

Obama’s nominee, Heather Higginbottom, crumbled under questioning from Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, ranking member of the committee, about the accuracy of statements the president and OMB Director Jacob Lew have made that the proposed budget will not add to the national debt.

The more than six-minute long questioning consisted of numerous exchanges that saw Higginbottom trying to dodge direct questions regarding the impact the president’s budget would have on the national debt:

Sessions: Did Mr. Lew or the President of the United States, when they made that statement “we will not be adding to the debt,” did they say, “by the way American people, what we really mean is some arcane idea about not counting interest payments the United States must make as part of our debt?” Did they say that?

Higginbottom: I’m not sure exactly what they did say.

Sessions: Well if they didn’t say that, would that be an accurate statement?

Higginbottom: The interest costs on what we’re borrowing add to the debt…

A few minutes later:

Sessions: You’re saying that what the president really meant but that he didn’t say, is that one year or so, that you calculate, if you don’t count the interest… then we can tell the American people we’re not adding to our debt?

Do you think that’s a legitimate way to discuss with the American people the debt crisis we now face?

Higginbottom: …It puts us on a path to stabilize the debt as a percentage of our economy, which is a very important first step in eventually being able to able to pay it down, which is the large task in front of us.

Sessions goes on to ask Higginbottom if she knows the last three years of the president’s ten-year budget proposal all have rising deficits. Higginbottom – the president’s nominee for the second highest position at the OMB — replied with, “I don’t have the deficit table in front of me.”

Sessions’ questioning ends with him pointing out that the president’s proposed budget for FY2012 does not have one year where the deficit falls below $600 billion.

“That is correct,” Higginbottom confirms.

Video of the exchange:


Via: Memeorandum

Comments

  1. Will "take no prisoners" HartFri Mar 18, 06:16:00 PM EDT

    Almost makes me yearn for the days of Clinton and Gingrich. At least they were able to count back then.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Les CarpenterFri Mar 18, 07:00:00 PM EDT

    Yeah, I know what you mean. Although my progressive brother has reminded me that Clinton generated a balanced budget not because he wasn't a big spender but rather the restrictions placed on him by the Republicans at the time.

    Actually I long for someone with Reagan's leadership ability and vision for America (true limited government) minus the supply side economics.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jersey McJonesSat Mar 19, 12:26:00 AM EDT

    You guys really didn't understand the accounting there, huh?

    Sessions said, "You're correct," to my point.

    Sessions then asked about other people's statements that ostensibly propose "adding more to the national debt."

    "Does this budget do that?" He asked.

    She then explained basic finance to him.

    Listening to Sessions is like listening to a pre-K schoolyard argument between a fat 5-year old boy and a smart little girl.

    What a joke.

    JMJ

    ReplyDelete
  4. Les CarpenterSat Mar 19, 01:25:00 AM EDT

    Right JMJ. Right.

    I ain't buying your take on this one.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousSat Mar 19, 11:29:00 AM EDT

    The news is out. We are screwed. The Obama Administration and the collective progressives all have the mathematical ability of 4-year olds.

    JMJ played the hand very well: Denial. Mockery. Pure sycophantic sucking at the teat of fiscal incompetence. (Not personal, JMJ. But come on...you are so entrenched in Obama and your collective socialist dream that even when you are on fire, you will say it is just a ploy by the Right to make people think you are on fire. Tedious. Very tedious.)

    *sigh*....we're so screwed.

    Donald in Bethel, CT

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

RN USA no longer accepts comments. The information presented is for reflection, contemplation, and for those seeking greater understanding and wisdom. It is for seekers and those with an open mind and heart.

Namaste


Top Posts

This Existence Is A DREAM: Awakening To Your True Self & Exploring Nonduality...

Image
When you run after your thoughts, you are like a dog chasing a stick: every time a stick is thrown, you run after it. Instead, be like a lion who, rather than chasing after the stick, turns to face the thrower. One only throws a stick at a lion once. Milarepa   “Just as it is known t hat an image of one's face is seen d epending on a mirror b ut does not really exist as a face, s o the conception of "I" exist d ependent on mind and body, b ut like the image of a face t he "I" does not at all exist as its own reality."    Nagarjuna "Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible.   Nagarjuna
Read more

Sadhguru's Transformative Teachings - How to Achieve for Mind, Body & Soul"...

Image
  When you run after your thoughts, you are like a dog chasing a stick: every time a stick is thrown, you run after it. Instead, be like a lion who, rather than chasing after the stick, turns to face the thrower. One only throws a stick at a lion once. Milarepa   “Just as it is known t hat an image of one's face is seen d epending on a mirror b ut does not really exist as a face, s o the conception of "I" exist d ependent on mind and body, b ut like the image of a face t he "I" does not at all exist as its own reality."    Nagarjuna "Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible.   Nagarjuna
Read more

AI, Humanity & Purpose - Matthew McConaughey, Jane Goodall DBE & Sadhguru at Dreamforce 2024...

Image
  When you run after your thoughts, you are like a dog chasing a stick: every time a stick is thrown, you run after it. Instead, be like a lion who, rather than chasing after the stick, turns to face the thrower. One only throws a stick at a lion once. Milarepa   “Just as it is known t hat an image of one's face is seen d epending on a mirror b ut does not really exist as a face, s o the conception of "I" exist d ependent on mind and body, b ut like the image of a face t he "I" does not at all exist as its own reality."    Nagarjuna "Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible.   Nagarjuna  
Read more

Are You REALLY FREE? - Nagarjuna & The MIDDLE WAY..

Image
  When you run after your thoughts, you are like a dog chasing a stick: every time a stick is thrown, you run after it. Instead, be like a lion who, rather than chasing after the stick, turns to face the thrower. One only throws a stick at a lion once. Milarepa   “Just as it is known t hat an image of one's face is seen d epending on a mirror b ut does not really exist as a face, s o the conception of "I" exist d ependent on mind and body, b ut like the image of a face t he "I" does not at all exist as its own reality."    Nagarjuna "Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible.   Nagarjuna
Read more

Super Brain, Epigenetics & More: Bernard Carr, Christof Koch, Rudy Tanzi, Deepak Chopra & Sadhguru...

Image
When you run after your thoughts, you are like a dog chasing a stick: every time a stick is thrown, you run after it. Instead, be like a lion who, rather than chasing after the stick, turns to face the thrower. One only throws a stick at a lion once. Milarepa   “Just as it is known t hat an image of one's face is seen d epending on a mirror b ut does not really exist as a face, s o the conception of "I" exist d ependent on mind and body, b ut like the image of a face t he "I" does not at all exist as its own reality."    Nagarjuna "Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible.   Nagarjuna  
Read more

Our Biggest Creditor {China} Tells Us "The good old days of borrowing are over"

Image
by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Birthplace o Independent Conservatism Liberty -vs- Tyranny As the chickens come home to roast... Unbelievable we have been this stupid. ( Reuters ) - Global leaders on Saturday arranged a round of emergency calls to discuss the twin debt crises in Europe and the United States that are causing turmoil in financial markets . After a week that saw $2.5 trillion wiped off global stock markets, they are under pressure to show political leadership and reassure markets that Western governments have both the will and ability to reduce their huge and growing public debt loads. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who chairs the G7/G20 group of leading economies, conferred with Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron ahead of a call planned for this weekend by G7 finance ministers and central bankers. "They discussed the euro area and the U.S. debt downgrade. Both agreed the importance of working together, monitoring the situation closely ...
Read more

When and How Will it End?

Image
by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation USA Birthplace of Independent Conservatism This is America. We are an English speaking nation. We have distinct and traditional American cultural values. We have some Americans in our population who have difficulty speaking a coherent sentence. We have many who cannot construct a complete and proper sentence. Yet we find the time and the money to educate youth in Arabic and Arabic culture. Mind you this is a Federal Grant program and limited to only five select school districts. At least for now. At a cost of 1.3 millions dollars students on these select district will be required,  you heard {read} right, required as mandatory part of their curriculum to learn Arabic. This is a blatant abuse of taxpayer money, and it is indicative of the future course our nation has embarked upon under the fuzzy, misguided, and incredibly deceitful anti leade...
Read more

Thoughts On the Civil War and What Precipitated It...

by: Les Carpenter Rational Nation U S A Purveyor of Truth Over at Contra O'Reilly Will Hart has been running a interesting series on the Civil War and what the primary causes were. Historians continue to disagree with the root, or primary causes. However it is generally accepted among knowledgeable and unbiased experts that slavery had very little to do with the onset of the War Between the States. Causes were primarily economic and constitutional. Will, in his posts has done a good job of pointing this out with supporting documentation. This site offers the following, a July 2013 article by David Hirsch in support of Will Hart's arguments. Arguments this site wholly concurs with. Arthur Hirsch's recent article about the Battle of Gettysburg reveals a disturbing ignorance of the political dynamics that brought this nation to a war that 150 years later remains the most cataclysmic event in our history ("A defining day relived," July 2). It accepts the sh...
Read more