The administration shifted 9 days of 2006 Medicare expenses into 2007, yet this received not one mention as President Bush crowed about reducing the federal deficit ahead of schedule.
Bush called the 2006 outcome a "dramatic reduction" in the deficit which allowed him to fulfill his 2004 campaign pledge of cutting the deficit in half earlier than his original 2009 target date.
The pledge to cut the deficit in half was based on the administration's forecast that the 2004 deficit would hit $521 billion, a figure that proved to be too pessimistic by more than $100 billion. However, the administration has continued to use the forecast number as its benchmark for deficit reduction.
The end result is the $247.7 billion dollar deficit is understated by the nearly $10 billion punted into 2007 and the cut is much less "than half" as the President claims. Why do I continued to be surprised by his dishonesty?
No comments:
Post a Comment