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02/18/2005: Gramm-Rudman v The Bush Budget
Jonathan Rauch has this gem of analysis of the "Bush Budget" ...but Hey, the Prez's...and he's trying ya know...it's just "haaard wooork" for all his pearly greymatter to cogitate upon. (And he ain't so good with numbers either.)
Here's snippet from Gramm-Rudman -- A Bad Idea Whose Time Has Come Again"To understand how serious President Bush is about reducing the federal deficit, open his fiscal 2006 budget to page 364 and consider Table S-12, "Impact of Budget Policy." Here you can see that under present policies ("current services"), the deficit would be $361 billion in fiscal 2006, $303 billion in 2007, and $207 billion in 2010. You can also see the effect that Bush's budget would have on the deficit. Under Bush's plan, the deficit would likewise be $207 billion in 2010. But it would be $390 billion in 2006, and $312 billion in 2007.
Those numbers are not misprints: Bush's proposed deficits are higher than under existing policies. Between 2006 and 2010, his budget would increase the cumulative deficit by $42 billion. If you want to reduce the flow of federal red ink, a better plan would be to drop Bush's budget in the recycle bin and, simply, do nothing."
My own kevetch about about Bush's Budget numbers can be found at this link Timberrrr.
Karen on 02.18.05 @ 05:11 AM CST
