http://news.yahoo.com/obama-seeks-votes-jobs-piece-piece-154625594.html I don't understand the pessimism. Of course this spending can be pushed through Congress. All the President has to do is to provide spending cuts equal to $70 billion for 2012 so that this expendature is not only offset but that the overall deficit for 2012 is also reduced by an equal amount. I don't see the Republicans objecting to such a proposal. Some cuts in expendatures can be implemented by President Obama without any Congressional action. For example the President could commute the sentences of the estimated 800,000 individuals incarcerated for drug use where they were convicted of no other crimes. That would save a cool $20 billion alone based upon the average cost of about $25K/yr to incarceration. All of these individuals are in prison for victimless crimes. Simply release them as they are not a threat to either persons or property. The President could eliminate even more with Congressional approval by decriminalizing marijuana. This is perhaps one of the stupidest laws on the books. Marijuana is not a hard drug and it doesn't even have a toxicity level where it can cause death. Not a single death has ever been attributed to a marijuana overdose. We could also close many federal departments with my favorite being the Dept of Homeland Security. If nothing else let's terminate the Air Marshall service as the cost per arrest is about $300 million and so far all they've arrested are drunks. It doesn't cost $300 million to arrest a drunk! Certainly the DOD budget can also be reduced by a mere 5% and that would be a $35 billion cost reduction alone. Cutting general welfare benefits by 5% would result in another $25 billion reduction in expendatures. This doesn't address future expendatures but instead immediate cost cutting to the 2012 budget that would pay for this "Jobs Bill" spending for 2012. How could the Republicans not jump onboard when such simple and immediate spending cuts are included in a proposal?
