i know that bush thought that money grew on trees, but is this some kind of radical idea in DC?

Obama pitches pay-as-you-go plan for Congress

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Tuesday challenged Congress to pay for new increases in federal benefit programs as it goes rather than sink the nation deeper into a debt, calling it a matter of public responsibility.

Republicans lashed back that Obama is no voice of fiscal restraint as the deficit soars.

The president's plan would require Congress to pay for new entitlement spending, such as health care, by raising taxes or coming up with budget cuts — a "pay-as-you-go" system that would have the force of law. Under the proposal, if new spending or tax reductions are not offset, there would be automatic cuts in so-called mandatory programs — although Social Security payments and some other programs would be exempt.

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I know that bush just wanted to spend and spend and leave the problem of paying it back to his successor, but is this really that unusual for a sane president to propose this?