Record Deficits

"White House officials predicted this afternoon that the budget deficit would hit a record $427 billion this year, including an additional $80 billion that President Bush will ask for mostly to cover the costs of the war in Iraq." [NYT] [CNN]

Not that you can actually believe any numbers that the White House puts out, but WOW. Earlier today, they put the budget deficit number somewhere around $368 billion, excluding the $80 billion for Iraq. So, Bush says he can cut the deficit in half by 2009, while each year the deficit gets larger. Extending Bush's two tax cuts are expected to cost $1.8 TRILLION over the next 10 years. Bush is preventing an expansion of the alternative minimum tax (tax on the wealthy-his base) that would cost over $500 billion. All in all, the new estimate calls for the budget to climb slightly, and a new report earlier today by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office shows that deficits will remain above $350 billion through 2009 and climb sharply after that. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that continued costs of the war in Iraq and other aspects of the war on terrorism could add $285 billion over the next five years.