Obama Blasts 'Casual Dishonesty' of Bush Budgets

At a White House “fiscal responsibility summit” today, President Obama opened fire on what he called the Bush administration’s “casual dishonesty” about the federal budget, Politico reports. “Contrary to the prevailing wisdom in Washington these past few years,” Obama said, “we cannot simply spend as we please and defer the consequences to the next budget, the next administration and the next generation.”

Obama, whose stimulus package is responsible for a good portion of the current $1.3 trillion deficit, tacitly acknowledged his own administration’s responsibility. “In order to address our fiscal crisis, we have to be candid about its scope,” he said, instead of “hiding irresponsible spending with clever accounting tricks.” Obama pledged to include war spending and disaster relief in the budget, which Bush did not do. (More President Obama stories.)