President Obama’s budget for the 2012 fiscal year was roundly panned by members of Congress and editorial boards alike over the last two days. The Los Angeles Times editorial board summarized the overall reaction: “President Obama’s budget for fiscal year 2012 landed with a thud Monday, laying out short- and long-term tax and spending plans that disappointed lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The proposal was a remarkably tame response to Washington’s fiscal problems, not the bold statement about belt-tightening that the White House had suggested was coming. Yet the biggest shortcoming is that it all but ignored the most important long-term financial challenge, which is the growing cost of entitlements such as Medicare and Medicaid.”

The Wall Street Journal editors add, “This was supposed to be the moment we were all waiting for. After three years of historic deficits that have added almost $4.5 trillion to the national debt, President Obama was finally going to get serious about fiscal discipline. Instead, what landed on Congress’s doorstep on Monday was a White House budget that increases deficits above the spending baseline for the next two years.”

Across the country, editorial boards slammed the president for avoiding any tough choices and failing to address serious fiscal problems. The Washington Post declares, “The president punted.” And USA Today says “He whiffed.” The Wall Street Journal blasts Obama, writing, “Hosni Mubarak was more in touch with reality last Thursday night.” Others were little kinder. The Denver Post points out, “Obama called the proposal one of ‘tough choices and sacrifices,’ yet it does not confront entitlements and continues to act as if government spending is the way to prosperity.” USA Today writes, “It’s becoming hard not to conclude that Obama doesn’t much care about the debt threat or has decided to wait until after the 2012 elections. Either would be a shame, and economically risky.” And The Detroit News says, “What we’re getting from the Obama administration is one of those weight loss programs that pretend it can shrink your waistline while allowing you to eat whatever you like. In this case, the president assures us we can gorge on Keynesian treats and still someday get back into our Clinton-era jeans.”

The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank blasts Obama’s budget, too, writing, “Obama’s budget proposal is a remarkably weak and timid document. He proposes to cut only $1.1 trillion from federal deficits over the next decade – a pittance when you consider that the deficit this year alone is in the neighborhood of $1.5 trillion. The president makes no serious attempt at cutting entitlement programs that threaten to drive the government into insolvency.”

And at least one Senate Democrat seems to agree. The Hill reports, “Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) slammed President Obama’s budget proposal Tuesday, saying it doesn’t go far enough given the nation’s soaring debt. ‘What we have is a budget proposal from the president designed to get our attention, but given our fiscal challenges, it does not go far enough,’ Manchin said in a statement. ‘This is not what the country needs or expects.’

Related:

SRCC: Fact Checking The President’s Budget Press Conference

NewsOne: Black Caucus Chairman Emanuel Cleaver Rips Obama Budget

 Rasmussen Reports: Economy, Health Care Still Top Voters’ List of Important Issues

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