Sen. Grassley: Obama budget turning United States into Greece

President Barack Obama is putting the U.S. on a course toward resembling the fiscal situation in Greece, one GOP senator charged Monday.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), the top Republican member of the Senate Finance Committee, said that the president’s budget is making the U.S. budget like Greece’s.

Grassley tweeted Monday:

Considering CBO analysis of Obama Budget tripling natl debt the Pres is “Greece-ing” the slide to American mediocracy. Awake my colleagues

The Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) director, Douglas Elmendorf, said last week that the fiscal policy in the U.S. is “unsustainable,” with spending on entitlement programs only set to eat up a greater share of the budget in the years to come.

To help address the long-term budget situation, Obama established a bipartisan commission by executive order charged with trying to assemble recommendations to get spending under control. Those recommendations, due after the election this year, have been promised an up-or-down vote in the House and the Senate.

Greece has struggled with its own public debt crisis in recent months, spurred by a glut of government spending, particularly on infrastructure for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. The Greek debt was 113 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of 2009, necessitating a bailout from other nations.

The European Union offered $40 billion over the weekend to help aid Greece in its debt obligations.

Cross-posted to the Twitter Room.