Hillary Clinton Points Finger at Greenspan While Defending Budget Increase
by Hiland Doolittle
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was called before a joint Senate and House Budget Oversight Committee to explain the Department of State’s whopping $52.8 billion budget request for 2011. In response, Clinton drew upon her experience as a former member of the Senate who served on the budget committee 10 years ago when the country had a balanced budget and was paying down the country’s debt.
Clinton took direct aim at former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan who she said came before the committee during the Bush years and introduced the loose spending and tax cut formula that is at the root of the federal deficit.
Shortly after Greenspan’s appearance, the U.S. engaged in two wars and undertook a massive overhaul of the health care program that has enlarged the country’s debt. Greenspan felt the amount of debt was sustainable. Clinton used her defense of the agency’s budget to encourage lawmakers to address the $1.4 trillion deficit. In fact, she termed the deficit a threat to national security. China now holds $755 billion in U.S. securities.
In defending her budget request, Clinton explained that it represented a $4.9 billion increase over the 2010 budget. Most of that money would be used for the department’s efforts in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The agency, Clinton said, is “now assuming so many of the post-conflict responsibilities, and that is the bulk of our increase.”
Tags: budget, greenspan, hilary clinton, recession, US GDP
About the Author - Hiland Doolittle
Hiland is a professional writer with extensive entrepreneurial experience. He is a graduate of St. George’s School Newport, RI and the State University of New York at Albany where he majored in history. He has been active in the real estate business for 30 years and has founded and sold several businesses.
Hiland currently writes for several financial sites and is a published author of the novel The Last Parade. He has recently completed a manuscript for a children’s book entitled Sami and The Minnow Man.
