Lawmaker: Members 'gasped' at Obama's SOTU pledge not to increase the deficit

By Pete Kasperowicz - 02/19/13 10:18 AM ET

Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) said Monday that members of Congress were audibly surprised last week when President Obama said that none of the new programs he proposed in his State of the Union address would increase the budget deficit.

In a post on his website, Bonner said he was hoping Obama would talk about how to save Social Security from insolvency, and how to start paying down the $16 trillion debt. But Obama instead "ticked off a to-do list of old favorites," including what Bonner called "more 'shovel-ready style government stimulus.' "

"And that is the rub," Bonner said. "I thought I heard gasps on the House floor when the president claimed his new spending spree would be paid for."

Obama said in his speech that "nothing I'm proposing tonight should increase our deficit by a single dime."

"Pardon me, Mr. President, but you've sung that tune before and it fell flat," Bonner said. "You also promised health care reform would not add a single dime to the deficit.

"The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says it will actually add $1 trillion to the federal deficit. You also promised to cut the deficit in half by the end of your first term. The deficits from 2009 to 2012 were among the highest in U.S. history."

Among other things, Obama encouraged passage of a bill allowing homeowners to refinance their mortgages and called for new spending on education and infrastructure. Obama said the country does not need a bigger government but rather a "smarter government that sets priorities and invests in broad-based growth."

Republicans have argued that Obama has little interest in containing the deficit and the mounting national debt, which has increased by more than $1 trillion per year during Obama's first term.

The Congressional Budget Office projected that the budget deficit for 2013 would be $850 billion. But even that estimate assumes increased federal spending and is conditioned on the collection of an additional $250 billion in taxes that are due in part to a "growing economy."

As of Valentine's Day, the Treasury Department put the total outstanding public debt at $16.54 trillion.