Robot-parade is correct that over $400 billion in emergency supplementals primarly to fund the war since 2003 has been off-budget; with another $100 billion more to come as a result of the latest war funding bill that Bush signed last month. Every president cooks the deficit numbers...but Bush has been a master chef.
But more worrisome than the annual budget deficit is the total federal debt, which was beginning to be`slowly drawn down in the late 90s.
Since Bush took office, the federal debt has increased over 50% from $5.6 trillion in 2001 to $8.7 trillion in 2006...with China being the 2nd largest foreign holder of US Treasury securities and OPEC the 4th largest..not our best friends.
http://www.treas.gov/tic/mfh.txt
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Originally Posted by irateplatypus
....those stronger-than-expected revenues were only unexpected by those who voted against the president's tax cuts. a program that will soon be rescinded by house democrats despite its record performance.
it's going to be shock for many in 18 months when they realize a new president won't alleviate all the misery in the world.
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irate: Congressional democrats dont have to rescind anything (that is another republican half truth). The 2001 and 2003 tax cut bills passed by the republican-majority Congress and signed by Bush had sunset provisions that end the cuts in 2010.
I dont think anyone is under the illusion that the next president will alleviate all the misery in the world. We can only hope that his/her administration will be less corrupt, more open, less confrontational, and in the context of this discussion, more fiscally responsible.