Some records are meant to be broken.
Take for example, the single season home run record of Roger Maris. Or the number of gold medals won by an individual Olympian.
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But when it comes to everyday matters like crime or the economy, some records should be left untouched.
This year, the nation’s deficit will soar to a whopping $1.2 trillion, more than doubling last year’s record shortfall of $455 billion. The latest estimate, by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), represents more than 8 percent of the entire national economy.
The weakening economy, combined with a precipitous falloff in projected tax revenues, is at the heart of this jaw-dropping number. The staggering figure does not include the nearly $800 billion in additional stimulus being urged by the incoming Obama administration.
Obama: What, Me Worry?
It also is unclear whether the CBO’s red ink projections account for the totality of federal funds — approximately $1 trillion — that already have been pledged to bail out the nation’s banks.
Charting the course of an economic recovery will be arduous enough for the President-elect. But doing so in this turbulent sea of red will require a Herculean effort that may even exceed his mythical powers.
For his part, Obama seems undaunted.
Despite the ballooning deficit, he and his team maintain that the federal government has little choice but to keep spending in order to avert an even deeper economic crisis. In meeting with Congressional leaders, Obama warned that without immediate steps by the government to revive the economy, family incomes will drop, the unemployment rate could reach double digits and the U.S. risks losing a “generation of potential and promise.”
Eloquence, however, is no substitute for action or hard choices.
Yesterday, Obama made good on a campaign promise when he introduced his choice for a new White House post he is creating: Chief Performance Officer. The President-elect tapped Nancy Killefer, a professional efficiency expert, and he charged her with scouring the federal budget to eliminate programs that don't work and improve those that do.
This Will Require a Shot of Courage
Killefer may come to the job armed with thick skin and a machete. But the real question is whether new President and now Democrat-dominated Congress have the political guts to take a hatchet to sacred cows like Social Security and Medicare.
The first test will come as the Congress and the new President target the specific manner in which the additional recovery monies will be spent.
In Congress, public works spending is usually code for “pork.”
Every member of both parties has pet projects that he or she wants to fund in t his or her state. With the largess of the recovery proposal on the table, it’s hard to imagine that Congress will be able to resist the temptation to earmark or that this new President will have the political courage to stop them.
Unlike his predecessors, this President will not have the luxury of the first 100 days to prove his mettle. The heightened expectations created by his successful presidential bid and the political run-up to his inauguration will put Obama under-the-gun from the moment he takes the oath of office.
It may not be fair, but that’s the price he will be forced to pay once he shoulders the mantle of national leadership.
John Cohn is a senior partner in the Globe West Financial Group[ based in West Los Angeles. He may be contacted at www.globewestfinancial.com
