I've heard that song before

Listening to President Obama promise to cut the projected 2010 budget deficit of $1.4 trillion in half by the time he leaves office reminds me of a popular song from the 1940s: "I've heard that song before."

Early in his presidency, President Bush also promised to cut the budget deficit in half by 2009. At the time he made the promise the budget deficit was about $500 billion. When President Bush left office the budget deficit was about $1.2 trillion and the national debt was about $11 trillion.

President Obama promised changes during the campaign, but I am not sure what changes he was referring to. The promise to bring the troops in Iraq home in 16 months has been broken. His promise to eliminate wasteful pork barrel spending was broken when he signed an omnibus budget bill loaded with wasteful projects.

So the best we can hope for from Obama administration is the withdrawal of a few brigades from Iraq, while leaving an estimated 50,000 troops to remain in Iraq indefinitely. As for the promise to bring fiscal sanity to government, the president is predicting to reduce the budget deficit to only $700 billion by the time he leaves office.

"It seems to me that I've heard that song before..."

Victor Darst

West Dundee