This week President Obama released the 2012 budget. His budget plan would take the federal deficit from 1.6 trillion dollars down to 1.1 trillion dollars. Okay so that is a decrease, however is it really enough?

This amounts to spending cuts of 90 billion dollars. In addition, increased revenue accounts for 453 billion dollars but we still aren’t sure how this is going to be done. It seems raising taxes and getting back to his original plan to tax the wealthy would be the only way.

It should come as no surprise that the GOP isn’t satisfied with this budget plan. The cuts are simply not enough. We know they are going to reject this budget plan and I can understand that, however, the GOP has yet to really come up with some answers. They need more than just a “decrease the debt” chant…they need a plan.

Now here is the thing, part of this budget plan includes paying back countries such as the Arab states and China. We are giving back 14 trillion dollars to those who loaned us money. So instead of using this money for our country, Obama thinks it’s wiser to pay off some debt.

Of course I’m not against paying off debt, however, how are we going to continue to support some of the programs and entitlements that are wanted by some in the government when we don’t have the money? As heard in the Jerry Maguire movie, “Show me the money!”

Well the only way we are going to see any money is if we do what we did before, borrow more money which of course is only going to put us back into further debt. It’s a vicious circle.

So here is what we are potentially facing with this type of budget “plan.” We are looking at the potential for social security cuts…can Americans really live on this? Co-payments for Medicare and Medicaid will need to go up…can Americans really afford this? Taxes almost have to go up…can Americans accept this?

The real answer lies in learning how to prioritize our spending in general. It’s time to look at what we are spending money on and if it is necessary. We most especially need to really look at the entitlements we have and determine which should stay. Unfortunately, Obama’s 2012 budget doesn’t even address these issues. But does this really come as any surprise?

In a nutshell this is really all about continuing to take away from the people of this country rather than decreasing the deficit. Obama says that he has taken a “scalpel to the budget rather than a machete.” Well I say it’s time to bring out the machete and start swinging away!