Thursday, December 02, 2004
Playing with numbers, part 2 trillion
How to look like you're having your cake and eating it too. Meanwhile, no crumbs for the common people.
With new bills for Iraq and Afghanistan, and President Bush pushing tax cuts and an expensive remaking of Social Security, the administration seems to have little chance of significantly shrinking the budget deficit, despite Bush's promises to halve it within five years, according to independent analysts and legislators.
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Bush's budget proposal forecasts that the current annual deficit of $413 billion will be half as large by 2009. But real progress in shrinking the deficit would require the president to give up some of his major priorities and exercise a degree of spending restraint that he has rarely displayed during his first term, independent budget analysts say.
...Bush's forecasts do not account for expenses associated with military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which could cost the government $70 billion next year.
Also ignored is a permanent reform to the alternative minimum tax, which Bush wants to change to prevent a middle-income tax increase. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said the reform would add an estimated $172 billion to the deficit through 2009.
In addition, Bush's budget forecast excludes some of the biggest items on his domestic agenda, including his proposal for manned missions to Mars and the moon as well as his call to privatize Social Security for younger workers. The latter proposal alone could cost the federal government as much as $2 trillion in the coming decade, to cover for contributions that would be funneled into private accounts instead of paying benefits to retirees, according to budget specialists. (emphasis mine)
Just go read the whole thing. It's astonishing how far removed from reality these people are. Or, how drastically they're going to cut social programs in the next couple years to reduce the deficit and keep all of Bush's ridiculous plans intact.
posted by chris at 3:09 PM
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