Budget deficit projections for 2009-2018

Sometimes I think I should publish my novel on-line, since I don't have a non-virtual publisher.  It's funny and a good read.

Bush's new budget is also being published only on-line.  It's equally fictional, though a lot less funny and not so good a read.

Or maybe it is funny after all.  Consider this.  The budget projects a net SURPLUS of $274 billion for the years 2009-2018.  This is the fruit of absurdly low projections for spending growth, rapidly transitioning to spending zero on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars even though we're supposed to stay there forever, retaining the AMT even though it's supposed to be repealed, et cetera, et cetera.

The Committee for a Responsible Budget released a statement today recomputing the baseline with more realistic assumptions.  They come up with a net DEFICIT for 2009-2018 in the amount of $5.972 trillion.

To modify the old line from Senator Dirksen so it fits today's times: A trillion here and a trillion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money.