My column from this morning's Roll Call tells you everything you need to know about what the Obama 2011 budget, which was released just eight days ago, seems to have disappeared from view.

Do You Know Where the Obama 2011 Budget Is?

Feb. 9, 2010

Why isn’t the Obama fiscal 2011 budget that was released just eight days ago dominating the political conversation inside and outside the Beltway? Better question: Why is almost no one talking about it?

I can't believe I didn't focus on this before.

A week ago, Shan Carter and Amanda Cox at the New York Times published this very cool, fun, interesting, and interactive chart that shows the different components of the federal budget in a way that analysts, geeks, observers, and commenters up to now have only dreamed about.  It puts to shame the static pie chart that has been used in the budget itself for decades.

What's most impressive and useful is the way the chart displays a great deal of information both visually and with text that provides the actual numbers.  Also, check out the buttons at the top left of the chart.  In particular, click on "Hide Mandatory Spending," and be amazed at how simply and easily it tells you all you really need to know about the federal budget debate.

The only thing missing is a similar chart for revenues.  Shan and Amanda?

Bruce raises a number of interesting points in his post on whether having a regular question time of the president by Congress similar to the questions asked of the prime minister by the House of Commons in the U.K. would be a good idea.  And you have to love Bruce's idea of having the president also be able to ask questions of members of Congress.

But in spite of all of the enthusiasm for the idea that became evident immediately after the president did more than hold his own at a televised Q&A session at the GOP retreat last week, including a bipartisan group of journalists and others publicly requesting that the practice occur regularly, it's a safe bet that it's not going to happen, or at least not happen any time soon.

The reason: The GOP made a huge communications mistake when it allowed the Q&A session with the president to be televised and isn't likely to repeat it any time soon.

Actually, I don't really disagree with Bruce on this.  But there are a few things that distinguish the Obama fiscal 2011 budget from all of the other presidential budgets that, as Bruce pointed out in his excellent history, have been quickly forgotten over the years.

I need to rant on this one.

I was going to use a "This Is Just Silly" headline, but it's not silly: If it's true, it's infuriating and pathetic, and that's being kind.

Republican and self-professed fiscal conservative Senator Richard Shelby (AL) yesterday supposedly put a hold on all Obama administration nominations unless he gets billions of dollars for several earmarks for his state.

This is a senior senator from a political party that routinely rails against earmarks, government spending and deficits in effect saying...the deficit be damned, I demand that additional billions of dollars be spent for projects.

That puts the whole GOP bull on the budget and deficit out there for all to see.

A number of people are calling for Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) to tell Shelby to go to hell by not honoring the holds, bringing up the nominations, and forcing Shelby to filibuster each one over the spending/earmark issue.

Dean explaining why the Wall Street Journal got it wrong, wrong, wrong when it referred to Social Security as a "budget buster."

"...Social Security is a money loser in the same way as IPOD is for Apple."

 

My column from today's Roll Call was drafted the day before the Obama 2011 budget was released yesterday and then quickly updated to include some key facts and make my deadline.  It's a view from 100,000 feet of what's ahead the rest of this year.  Much more to come.

Obama’s Budget Shows the Tensions Between Jobs and Deficit

Feb. 2, 2010

What did the president really mean last week when he turned to his left from the podium, looked straight at the Republicans, and stated, “That’s how budgeting works”?

This -- the day before the president's budget will be released -- is usually the day when The Washington Post and New York Times all have major stories with "leaks" about what the administration will propose.  It's also the day when at least one of the White House's lead economic spokespeople go on one or more of the Sunday talk shows to discuss the budget.

But all I can find today is this story on page 24 of the front section of the Times (yes, I still look at the print edition), which really isn't a leak with new information as much as it is reading between the lines of everything else that has been reported or guessed the past few days.

There's also this by White House Communication's Director Dan Pfeiffer on the White House blog that details some of the program cuts.

This was the president at a Washington Wizards - Chicago Bulls game on February 27, 2009, at the Verizon Center, three days before the Obama fiscal 2010 budget was sent to Congress:

And this was the president and vice president at a Georgetown - Duke game on Saturday night, January 30, at the Verizon Center, two days before his fiscal 2011 will be sent to Congress:

The following all happened just this week:

Item 1.  The Conrad-Gregg commission, which needed 60 votes in the Senate, was defeated 53-46.  The amendment creating the commission would have been adopted 60-39 if all of the GOP senators who co-sponsored the amendment voted for it.  Instead, seven of the Republican co-sponsors withdrew their co-sponsorship the week before the vote and then voted against it.

Item 2. All Senate Republicans voted against re-establishing the pay-as-you go rules, which would have required that, with certain exceptions, any new mandatory spending or revenue legislation not increase the deficit.  The rules were adopted with only Democratic support.