Bush’s Economic Fuzzy Math

Whose got the fuzzy math now? Spinsanity checks out the recent statements the president has made on the economy.

This is not the only recent dishonesty from President Bush on the budget. As the Daily Mislead noted last Monday, President Bush answered a reporter’s question about the deficit on February 2 by stating, “The reason we are where we are, in terms of the deficit, is because we went through a recession, we were attacked, and we’re fighting a war.” This was echoed in the Budget Message of the President released on the same day.

This statement misses one of the largest causes of the deficit: tax cuts. According to a CBPP analysis using data from the Joint Committee on Taxation, the total cost in fiscal 2003 of the three tax cuts passed since President Bush took office was $166 billion. That represents 44 percent of last year’s $374 billion deficit, a sizable figure for the President to leave out of his formulation. He has done it repeatedly before, however, as has Vice President Dick Cheney.

I’ve also started reading The Decembrist, who also discusses Bush on the budget. I’m resisting the urge to blog every single recent Decembrist post, because they are all good (where “good” is relative – it’s not really fun reading about how our President is attempting to dismantle much of the good things of the last century and spend ourselves to where our next century is ruined but it is necessary reading.) Check it out.

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Dave Slusher is a blogger, podcaster, computer programmer, author, science fiction fan and father. Member of the Podcast Hall of Fame class of 2022.