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The Fix Isn’t In

Speaking in Alabama yesterday, President Bush repeated a familiar claim: “We’re fixing the deficit.” It doesn’t matter how many times he says it — it’s still not true. In fact, the President’s most recent proposed budget would make the federal deficit much worse. A March 4 analysis by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reveals the President’s budget would increase the deficit by $1.6 trillion over the next ten years. Most of the additional shortfall is a result of Bush’s proposal to extend his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for the rich. According to the CBO, new tax cuts proposed by Bush “would increase the deficit by more than $1.5 trillion in 2006 through 2015.” Even these bleak numbers understate the scope of the fiscal crisis. The President’s budget excludes all costs for continued operations in Iraq and Afghanistan — expected to cost at least $300 billion over the next 10 years — so do the CBO estimates. The fact is, President Bush’s policies are leaving an enormous tab that future generations will have to pick up. And he’s not being honest about it.

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