The deficit — which was non-existent when Bill Clinton left office — is now at $445 BILLION, the highest ever in the history of our nation. Consider that we had billions in surplus when Bush took office, I’d hazard a guess that it’s also the fastest fiscal irresponsibility ever, as well. So much for having a businessman in the White House.
This figure is lower than what the administration previously predicted, so they are choosing to use it as evidence of a healthy economy:
President Bush’s budget director, while calling the figure “unwelcome,” said the new forecast for fiscal 2004 — in line with recent congressional forecasts — provides evidence that the economy is growing and tax receipts are recovering. The message echoed a new refrain in Bush’s campaign speeches, voiced repeatedly yesterday in Missouri: “We’re turning the corner, and we’re not turning back.”
So, those with a conspiratorial bent — and there are more and more of them every day of the Bush administration — might think that the White House deliberately inflated their deficit predictions knowing that it would be lower (although, still an all-time high). That way, they could trumpet that the deficit is not as high as it might have been.
Holy crap.
“The administration announces the largest deficit in the history of the United States and they claim things are getting better. That is a remarkable claim,” said Sen. Kent Conrad (N.D.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee. “It’s a little like the captain of the Titanic saying there’s good news as the ship goes down, because it’s not sinking as fast as he’d said it would.”
Well, the RNC spent last week saying they expected a 15% post-convention bounce for Kerry — which is much higher than any other post-convention bounce apparently, and higher than the DNC was predicting. If Kerry doesn’t achieve that, they can say “oh, wow! he really failed to connect with the American people.”
So the exaggerate-for-future-political-gain is a strategy they are well familiar with.