Former World Bank president Robert
Zoellick on Wednesday criticized U.S. President Barack Obama for
under-prioritizing the country's massive deficit.
"I am very reluctantly concluding that President Obama just
doesn't treat spending discipline or saving the safety net as
priorities for his second term," Zoellick said during a speech at
the Bipartisan Policy Center here.
"There have been hints at dealing with spending, but only after
more tax increases and with no definition of specific steps to limit
spending increases," he noted.
Referring to Obama's inaugural address last month, Zoellick
echoed critics who panned the speech for making little mention of
the government's heavy spending, which has climbed dramatically
under the Obama administration.
"His priorities ... have not been for a budget deal," Zoellick
said, adding that he believes Obama's preference is "a bigger role
in government and a greater re-distribution in income."
"As Tim Geithner left office, he said -- look it up -- the U.S.
budget problem is really quite small," Zoellick said of the U.S.
treasury secretary during Obama's first term in the White House.
Citing Tuesday's Congressional Budget Office report, which
forecasts that new tax hikes and the looming 85-billion-dollar
spending cuts will significantly stunt the U.S. economic growth this
year, Zoellick questioned whether Geithner had seen the numbers.
Lamenting the current state of budget negotiations, Zoellick said
Obama's "post-election posture hasn't been that of a gracious
victor." He said that it's up to the president to lead, to build
trust, and to help all parties to a negotiation.
"If any of you have ever tried to have a negotiation, you know
you cannot do a deal if the purpose is to humiliate and destroy the
other side," Zoellick told the audience at the public policy think
tank, although it was unclear whether he was referring to Democrats
or Republicans.
As for the Republican Party, it cannot force a pro-growth package
without presidential leadership, Zoellick said, adding that
Republicans "need a negotiating partner."
He cautioned against using the debt limit as a "new cliff," a
reference to the GOP threats last month to default on the U.S. debt
unless the White House agrees to spending cuts. Economists said such
a move may throw the economy into a tailspin.
