The next budget war begins

Here we go again. The last time Congress debated finance, President Obama and the Dems had to "negotiate" by extending tax cuts for billionaires in order to get an unemployment benefit extension for the rest of us.

Now, Obama has presented a budget plan to reduce the deficit that was largely caused by those billionaire tax cuts.

The bad news: He'll do it by cutting federal programs that help us little people.

He says that we also need to let the billionaire tax cuts expire in 2012 - for real this time. As if the GOP will let that happen.

The good news: Obama's plan leaves Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security untouched (contrary to the recommendations of the cat food commission), and calls for investments in electric cars and other clean energy resources.

The catch is that those things would be paid for by eliminating tax breaks for oil, gas, and coal companies. As if the GOP will let that happen.

Meantime, the unemployed remain unemployed...