PAYGO

"President Bush inherited the largest projected surplus in our nation's history, and turned it into deficits as far as the eye can see. We now have a $9 trillion debt, and we borrow money from the Chinese to buy oil from the Saudis. We've got to start reducing the deficit and get back to fiscal responsibility. It's time to get back to the bi-partisan consensus we had in the 1990's: you don't spend what you don't have on what you don't need. And that's exactly what I'll do as President."

May 21 - Yesterday morning, several of the nations top budget experts came together in Washington to declare that politicians are "addicted to debt," and present a plan to cure this addictions. Under the auspices of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, these experts launched US Budget Watch, and released a paper outlining twelve principles to which fiscally responsible candidates should adhere. Jeffrey Birnbaum of the Washington Post wrote about the release of these principles this morning, suggesting that while "Washington interest groups usually want more for themselves. Today, one organization will start a crusade to get less." The radio program Marketplace also profiled the event.

March 27 - Inyesterday's speechon the Economy, Barack Obama pointed to deficit spending as a key contributorto the current economic downturn:

"The policies of the Bush Administration threw the economy further out of balance. Tax cuts without end for the wealthiest Americans. A trillion dollar war in Iraq that didn't need to be fought, paid for with deficit spending and borrowing from foreign creditors like China. A complete disdain for pay-as-you-go budgeting - coupled with a generally scornful attitude towards oversight and enforcement - allowed far too many to put short-term gain ahead of long term consequences. The American economy was bound to suffer a painful correction, and policymakers found themselves with fewer resources to deal with the consequences."

The Senator clearly understands the dangers largedeficits pose both to our economy, and the flexibility of our policy making. Wehope to hear more from Senator Obama on how to solve this problem moving forward.