The 2013 budget being released Monday will propose public works spending while seeking tax increases on the wealthy and corporations to claim progress on the federal deficit in his upcoming budget. The spending plan projects a deficit for this year of $1.3 trillion, the fourth straight year of $1 trillion-plus deficits, and $901 billion next year.

Jacob Lew, the president’s chief of staff, said the new budget would put the country on track to achieve $4 trillion in deficit reductions over the next 10 years, achieved by raising taxes on the wealthy and trimming government spending. Lew said the president’s budget would cut spending by $2.50 for every $1 it raises in new taxes.

“In the long run, we need to get the deficit under control in a way that builds the economy,” Lew said during appearances on the Sunday talk shows. “We do it in a way that’s consistent with American values so that everyone pays a fair share.”

The release of Obama’s spending plan for the budget year that begins Oct. 1 marks the official start to an election-year budget battle over taxes and spending as the nation’s debt tops $15 trillion.

Read more at the Associated Press

CROWLEY: “I want to read for our viewers something that Sen. Harry Reid, the Democrat Majority Leader in the U.S. Senate, who said, ‘We do not need to bring a budget to the floor this year. It’s done, we don’t need to do it.’”

LEW: “He’s not saying that they shouldn’t pass a budget. But we also need to be honest. You can’t pass a budget in the Senate of the United States without 60 votes and you can’t get 60 votes without bipartisan support. So unless… unless Republicans are willing to work with Democrats in the Senate, Harry Reid is not going to be able to get a budget passed.”

This is patently false.

You can’t filibuster the budget. The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 stipulates that debate is automatically cut off after 50 hours of debate. At that point, a budget can be passed by a simple majority, 51 votes. Democrats currently hold 53 seats in the Senate. They can pass a budget on a simple party-line vote.

Lew, a former director of the Office of Management and Budget, surely knows this. While the Obama Administration has regularly plumbed the depths of managerial incompetence, even they can’t be this incompetent.

That Lew prefaced this whopper with the tell-tale “let’s be honest” canard only highlights the cynical political maneuvering that is at the heart of the Administration.

So, let’s really be honest here. The latest Obama budget contains what virtually every proposed Democrat budget has for the past few decades; tax hikes, increased spending now and illusory budget “savings” some time in the ill-defined future. The Senate could pass Obama’s proposed budget within a couple weeks. The White House’s real problem is that Democrats don’t want to vote on his proposed budget.

As The Hill newspaper reports, Ms. Higginbottom has only served one month in her present role as deputy director of OMB and is considered a “controversial appointee” due to her thin–some would say “nonexistent”–budgetary resume.  Prior to becoming deputy director of OMB, Ms. Higginbottom was a deputy policy adviser to President Obama and worked on his campaign as a policy director.

But it was Ms. Higginbottom’s lackluster performance during a March Senate Budget Committee hearing that raised Republican concerns about whether Ms. Higginbottom was even qualified to serve as deputy director of OMB.

Whether President Obama will deny his current deputy director of OMB Heather Higginbottom the role of acting director remains to be seen.  But if Mr. Obama does, expect Republicans to use her appointment as further evidence of President Obama’s budgetary incompetence and rudderless fiscal leadership.

On Feb. 13, 2011, Mr. Lew appeared on CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley and said of Mr. Obama’s proposed budget:

Our budget will get us, over the next several years, to the point where we can look the American people in the eye and say we’re not adding to the debt anymore; we’re spending money that we have each year, and then we can work on bringing down our national debt.

Mr. Lew’s statement was deemed “false” by the nonpartisan, Pulitzer Prize-winning PolitiFact.com.

“The contention that ‘we will not be adding more to the national debt’ after the middle of the decade seems incorrect on its face,” reported PolitiFact.  “So what is the administration thinking?”

On interest payments alone, Mr. Obama’s budget would have accrued $884 billion, and in the end, Mr. Obama’s budget was considered so misguided that it was unanimously rejected by the U.S. Senate in a 97-0 vote.

Still, Mr. Lew’s false statement did not escape scrutiny and came under intense fire when he received the following grilling at the hands of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL):

Look for Republicans and Hill watchers to comb Jack Lew’s past statements and decisions for more falsities in the days ahead.

White House, Cabinet Room

First meeting of President Obama’s new team

OBAMA: Listen up, people. I got myself across the finish line but couldn’t bring Congress along.  That’s why you’re here.  Except for Defense, you represent the first entirely recessed Cabinet in American history.  Do me proud.  Michelle?

MICHELLE: I’m the new Chief of Staff. You want to see him, you gotta get past me. Waste my time, I’ll cut your budget 10%.

OBAMA: So, let’s hear some fresh ideas.  HHS?

MICHAEL MOORE: Now that the World Court has overturned the Supremes and ruled the PPACA [ObamaCare] constitutional, sir, amend the program to cover all humanity.  Eventually, include lesser beings, as well.  Innumerable uninsured creatures are suffering out there.

OBAMA: Easy, big guy; we’ll do it in stages.  After people, we insure the remaining mammalians; then, things with legs; finally, air breathers.  Treasury?

PAUL KRUGMAN: I’ve run the numbers, sir: Stimulus IV should tip the worldwide economy into depression within a year.

OBAMA: Good.  That gets us closer to the one-world government mankind will demand I lead to left the—I mean, to right the ship.  I’m getting bored with the Presidency, anyway. OMB?

BERNIE MADOFF: [videoconferencing from Butner Federal Correctional Complex] Paul’s overly optimistic about how long before we foment a global crash, Mr. President.  Economies can be annoyingly resilient.  We need a backup plan.

OBAMA: Agreed.  Eric, task DOJ lawyers to discover extra-constitutional justification for footing a European bailout.  We’ll call our proposal the, uh, “Bosom Allies Relief Fund.” BARF will overwhelm their systems with worthless dollars, bollixing up the euro and paralyzing trade.

RAMSEY CLARK: On it, sir, but, um . . . I’m your new AG; Holder’s been in jail since last month, after he was convicted of directing a Gunwalker conspiracy that was adjudged vast and injurious.

OBAMA: Oh, right.  I’d pardon him, or at least pull him out of solitary, except . . . word is he’s writing a book.  Hmmm.  Ramsey, notify Holder’s warden to allow him weekly unsupervised walks in Fort Marcy Park.

KRUGMAN: Sir, Republicans will yell bloody murder when they learn you’ve BARFed.

OBAMA: Too bad.  Alert Senators Snowe and Collins I’ll grant them private audiences if they agree to be bipartisan about my usurpation of Congressional power.  Moving on, CIA, what’s your take on the ruble these days?

MATT DAMON: Fine choice, sir; go for quality, color, and cut. . . .

OBAMA:  Never mind.  How are negotiations going with al-Qaeda?

DAMON: NSA and I are close to a Gentleman’s Agreement with al-Zawaheri, Mr. President.  He’ll give us nonspecific advance notice of an atrocity if we grant him U. S. citizenship and the right to appeal to the SCOTUS any decision to take him out. Proceed?

OBAMA: Yes.  Which reminds me.  Suppose I’m in the middle of a personal-best round and he manages to hit us?  I can’t leave the course just to rally the public with insipid assurances.  NSA?

SEAN PENN: Tape a general statement in the Oval Office to have on hand in case you’re busy, sir.  You know, “Let me be clear; Make no mistake; They’ll be held accountable,” so forth.  We’ll label it “live.”

OBAMA: Sounds good.  By the way, Chico, congratulations on being adopted by Hugo Chavez.  A real honor for a “gringo.”

PENN: Gracias, Excelente.

OBAMA: Now, Matt, I assume the Zawahiri deal wouldn’t preclude apprehending him should the opportunity arise.   If you tried to lure him to Washington to sign off on our arrangement, would he bite?

DAMON: Very likely, sir.  I recommend we equip the arresting Delta Force team with the Ripp® Restraint Protective Mask system guaranteed to frustrate spitters and biters.

OBAMA:  [sigh] Ramsey?

CLARK:  I advise against such a provocative action, sir.  We should open a dialogue with the man.  He attacks us, we talk with him.  He continues to kill Americans, we talk some more.  He dirty bombs New York, say, we threaten to stop talking after another major event.  That’s how to get his attention.

OBAMA:  I’ll consider it.  Transportation?

AL GORE:  We need an alternative to automobiles, Mr. President.  The Constitution says nothing about a “right to drive.”  Phase out private ownership of vehicles by the end of your third term, when traveling by high-speed rail—whether or not it exists—becomes compulsory. We’ll get off foreign oil and save big on infrastructure.

OBAMA:  Tap the Amish for additional public transport ideas.  Let’s see–Defense, how do we go about standing down to demonstrate America’s not a threat to anyone?

ADAM BALDWIN:  I’d sooner arm ourselves to the teeth to make everyone fear us, Mr. President.

OBAMA:  Alec, this doesn’t sound like you.  We can’t . . . wha? Oh Good Lord, I picked the wrong Baldwin!

MICHELLE:  He’s been confirmed, Dumbo.  Too late to do anything now.

OBAMA:  All right.  But I’ve got my eye on you, Jayne.  State?

YOKO ONO:  Divvy up 95% of our nukes to every terrorist country and jihadist group–throw them off balance. When everyone starts from a position of strength, we can talk about our differences openly, without fear.

OBAMA:  Make it so, Sudoko.  After they’ve taken receipt of the nukes, confirm they’re targeting only us, not each other. God knows, we don’t want some third world conflagration breaking out because of a misunderstanding.  Homeland Security?

SHEILA JACKSON LEE:  [interrupting cell phone conversation] What?

OBAMA:  Um, any policy revamps, suggestions?

JACKSON LEE: In fact, yes.  Given the TSA’s current emphasis on body scanning, I’m changing the agency’s name to the T&A Administration.

MICHELLE:  Meeting’s over.  I’m heading over to Whole Foods for some arugula.  You folks better leave now to beat my motorcade, or you won’t get home before dark.

OBAMA:  But honey, we’re not done with. . . .

MICHELLE:  Cosmo’s coming in tomorrow to do a spread on you.  No nudity.  You hear me, Barack?

Now Sen. Rob Portman appears ready to “pull a Stupak.”  Under pressure from Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown, Portman appears ready to cut a deal to confirm former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to a five-year term to head the super-regulatory agency known as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Word on Capitol Hill is that Portman has assured Cordray he has no problems with his nomination and is asking for assurances that his concerns about the Bureau will be address – not in legislation, but in a letter.  Has Portman learned anything from the Stupak incident?  Apparently not.

Unlike Portman, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) is taking a principled stand against the creation of a new super regulatory agency and is not shaking in his boots.  Shelby has organized his colleagues who have pledged to oppose the nomination of Cordray or any other nominee unless the Bureau is reformed.  Unlike Portman, apparently, Shelby is smart enough to demand real statutory changes as opposed to “promised” changes.

The CFPB was structured in a way to give huge, and perhaps unconstitutional, power to its Director.  Alan Raul, who served as general counsel of the Office of Management and Budget and associate counsel to President Ronald Reagan, described the CFPB’s power as “an independent agency on steroids because Congress essentially exempted the director from any meaningful accountability or strong presidential oversight.”

As structured, the Director is empowered to regulate almost any industry for any reason and if Cordray is confirmed by the full Senate, would be given a five-year term and be removable only by malfeasance.  So if a Republican wins the presidential election, they would enjoy four years of Mr. Cordray regulating the economy, no matter what the president did or said.

Not only should the CFPB be reformed, it should be eliminated.  If Mr. Portman gets weak knees, he will ensure that another government regulatory agency – one with more power than most – will be around for a long time.

Emails released late Thursday night show that officials in the White House were privately very concerned over the viability of Solyndra even as they publicly declared the solar panel manufacturer was in good shape.

“The optics of a Solyndra default will be bad,” an official from the Office of Management and Budget wrote in a Jan. 31 email to a senior OMB official. “The timing will likely coincide with the 2012 campaign season heating up.”

One would hope that an official in OMB would be more concerned that the federal government had just wasted $535 million on the now-bankrupt “green jobs” company, but instead the e-mails reveal ongoing discussions over the political aspects of the doomed venture.  Additional e-mails show that as early as May 2010, right before President Obama’s famous photo-op at the Solyndra headquarters, White House officials were ignoring and downplaying industry reports that Solyndra was in trouble.

Emails obtained by The Associated Press show that a White House official dismissed reports about Solyndra’s gloomy future. An email from Greg Nelson, a White House official who had been involved in the planning of Obama’s May 2010 trip to Solyndra’s headquarters, to a Solyndra executive downplayed a July 2010 news story in a trade publication that criticized the company’s financial health.

“Seems B.S.,” Nelson wrote.

Mr. Nelson works in the White House Office of Public Engagement headed by close Obama adviser Valerie Jarret.  Mr. Nelson’s background is in the “green jobs” industry as he is the CEO and founder of Green Harvest Technologies, an applications and marketing company that developed a line of “clean and green” consumer products using bio-based plastics and fibers.  There is no indication that Mr. Nelson is an expert in the solar panel industry and it is unclear at this time how he reached his profound judgement of the financial status of Solyndra.

The concerns at the White House and the OMB revealed in tonight’s e-mails obtained by the Associated Press seem to contradict earlier reports that the White House did not know that there were financial concerns with Solyndra.

Obama’s Energy Department bypassed required steps for funding awards to five of 10 applicants that received conditional loan guarantees according to a July 2010 report from the Government Accountability Office.  According to Congressional sources Solyndra was one of those companies.

This is just the latest revelation in the growing Solyndra scandal that includes a major fundraiser for the Obama for President campaign, George Kaiser, serving as a major investor in Solyndra.  Weeks after President Obama was sworn in, the loan guarantee for Solyndra, that had been halted by the Bush Dept. of Energy, was re-started and fast-tracked.  Mr. Kaiser made frequent trips to the White House in the days leading up to the announcement of the stimulus fund loan guarantee.

Earlier today during the daily White House briefing, Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that President Obama had not been briefed on the Solyndra affair.