Deficit Could Top $400 Billion (WaPo)

[kpete]

Deficit Could Top $400 Billion

By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 13, 2006; Page A19

Driven by the cost of hurricane relief, the federal budget deficit is expected to balloon back above $400 billion for the fiscal year that ends in September, reversing the improvements of 2005, a White House official told reporters yesterday.

But some budget analysts cautioned that the estimate should be considered more of a political mark to inform the coming budget debate than an economic forecast.


This is the third straight year in which the White House has summoned reporters well ahead of the official budget release to project a higher-than-anticipated deficit. In the past two years, when final deficit figures have come in at record or near-record levels, White House officials have boasted that they had made progress, since the final numbers were below estimates.

"This administration has a history of overestimating the deficit early in the year, lowering expectations, then taking credit when it comes in below forecast," said Stanley E. Collender, a federal budget expert at Financial Dynamics Business Communications. "It's not just a history. It's almost an obsession."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/12/AR2006011201821.html

[shaniqua6392]

1. Blame it all on the hurricane.

What a crock.

[acmavm]

2. No shit. Can't be that pesky 'war' on terra or the tax cuts for the rich

or any other bush** administration policy could it?

[lonestarnot]

3. amok

[Inland]

4. Estimates looking to lower expectations

As the last sentence points out, the admin floats enormous, record breaking estimates, then jiggers the final estimates to come in at slightly lower, thereby beating expectations.

But the next step is in finding out that the slightly lower numbers are brought about largely by deferring expenses into the next fiscal years and other bullshit on the lowering side.

There is no budget. It's just a bullshit figure. It isn't accurate and nobody in the ruling party cares if its 200B or 300B or 400B as far as making decisions. In any event, the repugs are going to be for tax cuts for the rich and for screwing the poor and for the war.

I think they should just delete the OMB and save THAT money.

[niceypoo]

5. Of course they leave out that they rob Social Security budget surplus.....

which they steal to prop up their numbers (to the tune of 173 billion in 05 alone) The call the SS surplus "Off budget surplus".

Projected Deficits and Surpluses in CBO's Baseline: http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=1944&sequence=0

They are even robbing money from the postal Servics. the true number is closer to 600 billion. Of course they don't bother putting the cost of their wars in the budget either.