Democrat budget does not add up

Washington Times:

A new report reveals how difficult it will be for President Obama to increase spending on health care, energy and education while cutting the deficit in half.

Based on budget scenarios outlined by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, federal budget deficits will average $870 billion for the next 10 years, according to a new analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

The latest CBO deficit estimates do not include the costly policy initiatives in health care, energy and education that the president mentioned in his Tuesday speech before a joint session of Congress. Mr. Obama will detail some of those plans Thursday when he introduces his first 10-year budget blueprint.

The CBO's estimates also do not include any extension of the temporary tax cuts that were contained in the $787 billion stimulus package that the president recently signed into law. Based on his campaign promises, Mr. Obama intends to extend several costly stimulus provisions well beyond 2011, when many of them are set to expire.

...

On the other hand, the CBO estimates also exclude hundreds of billions of dollars in annual revenue from a carbon cap-and-trade system that Mr. Obama wants to implement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

...

Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Spratt asked the CBO to calculate deficits over the next 10 years based on the following assumptions:

- The 190,000 troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2009 would decrease to 75,000 by 2013 and thereafter.

- The alternative minimum tax would continue to be "patched" each year through 2019 to ensure that the AMT would not ensnare tens of millions of middle- and upper-middle-income families who would otherwise have to pay it.

- The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for individuals earning more than $200,000 and couples earning more than $250,000 would be canceled.

- The estate tax would remain at its 2009 level, which applies a 45 percent tax rate on estates of more than $3.5 million for individuals and $7 million for couples.

- Discretionary spending, which excludes interest and entitlements like Social Security and Medicare, would remain at the 2009 level of $1.012 trillion, adjusted for inflation.

...

Many of those assumptions are clearly invalid, especially the last one. The Democrats are already talking about raising spending well beyond current levels. It appears to be a dishonet budget that still does not add up.

Comments

  1. Alex4:32 AM

    Seven ways of stealing from budget

    2. "Guarantees".
    In the state budget of 2007 Uah 4,7 billions expenses had been claimed. Those money had been guaranteed to one large state company that should repair roads. What was possible to take had been taken. We are speaking about $1 billions credit that should be secured by state guarantees - ostensibly roads lining and improving. Credits been taken, roads "repaired".
    http://ua-ru-news.blogspot.com/2009/02/seven-legal-ways-of-stealing-from.html

    ReplyDelete

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