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To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (159525)	11/5/2003 7:53:33 AM
From: Oeconomicus	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

Subsidies HE doles out? Excuse me, but I thought Congress controlled the purse strings. Yes, the federal budget needs cleaning up, but do you know why it's a problem? Because federal spending throughout the late '90s rose at 2-3 times the rate of inflation based on the assumption that the bubble-time growth in federal revenues would continue forever. When the economy and the stock market cooled, those rosy revenue projections wilted, but the spending side kept growing as it tends to do. The problem was compounded by 9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq, all of which delayed strong recovery in the markets and economy (and tax revenues) while also requiring new appropriations. Tax cuts, of course, also add to the short-term deficits, but they also stimulate the economy and lead to higher revenues sooner than if the economy was left to flounder. Did you know that the CBO recently REDUCED its estimates of the deficit for the year that just ended and the current year? I haven't heard if they've also adjusted the out years, but if they haven't, they will. But I do agree that there's surely lots of fat that could be trimmed if the congress had the bipartisan will to do it.