Nonsense from the CBO: 368 B Budget Deficit for Fiscal 2005.
I mean, c'mon. The first 2 months of fiscal year 2005 (OCT and NOV) racked up nearly 115 billion in budget deficits. December improved dramatically to nearly zero, at 3.5 billion. But the CBO is saying we'll be at 368 billion by the end of SEPT?
I don't buy it. (And I'm not even getting into the issue of the off-budget items.)
I think we'll top last year's 414 billion. No problem. Easy Peasy! ***
((***see updated news item at end of post.))
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2005 US budget deficit seen ‘around $400bn’
By Christopher Swann in Washington
Published: January 25 2005 17:19 | Last updated: January 25 2005 17:19
US upThe long-term outlook for the US budget deficit has deteriorated since the end of last year, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, which on Tuesday published figures suggesting the Administration may struggle to meet its promise to halve the shortfall over George W. Bush’s second term.
The CBO said that the deficit was likely to narrow only fractionally in 2005 from $412bn to around $400bn, if the expected cost of operations in Iraq were included (click here for full figures).
cbo.gov
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But wait, there's more....
White House Forecasts $427 Bln Budget Deficit, Bush Aide Says
Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The Bush administration expects a $427 billion federal budget deficit this fiscal year, bigger than the shortfall estimated by the Congressional Budget Office, an administration official told reporters today.
The deficit estimate, to be included in President George W. Bush's Feb. 7 budget request to Congress, was released almost two weeks early to head off pressure to increase spending, another administration aide said. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity.
Earlier today, the CBO said this year's budget deficit would reach $368 billion after a record shortfall of $412 billion. Over the next 10 years, the deficit will total $855 billion, the nonpartisan CBO said.
The CBO estimate doesn't include spending for the war on Iraq this year. Nor over the long run does it include the costs for Bush's proposal to allow younger workers to invest part of their Social Security taxes in private accounts. Bush's plan may increase the deficit by $1 trillion to $2 trillion over a decade, according to the CBO. |
