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Return to Article: Half the Deficit is All Spin

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  Reducing the deficit is very very easy. Do not allow Congress to appropriate money without increasing revenue to cover the spending! Also, base the revenue estimates on the actual economic activity of the last fiscal year and not some wild estimate provided by the administration or Congress. That will stop the deficit sp[ending in a hurry and allow the public to see the impact of decisions to go to MARsa or to rebuild IRAQ.

  GovExec.com reader Posted January 15, 2004 6:47 AM
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  I have to agree with Stan's claim that "...even if the administration sends a budget to Capitol Hill that shows the deficit falling as the administration is promising, much of that is likely to be based on proposed spending cuts that Congress is unlikely to accept." And doesn't that make the administration's point? Congress is UNLIKELY TO ACCEPT the administration's spending cuts. Stan could have added that Congress is also unlikley to make meaningful cuts of its own.

  So, what is the downside of running a deficit and forcing Congress to justify (and perhaps limit) its hoggish ways in the face of that deficit? I don't see a big downside. But to Stan, it's unthinkable It would be good for a change to hear from someone who can think of--and discuss-- such things.

  An EPA budget officer

  GovExec.com reader Posted January 13, 2004 8:20 AM
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  Interesting article. I'm curious as to who the poster below would hold acountable for the budget and subsequent deficits? As far as I know, Congress and the President set the budget. I'm also curious as to how this story could have been written in an upbeat way versus "written so negatively." Where's the upside? It seems reasonable to me to be critical of anyone that is mismanaging our money. Yes, I believe that blowing the surplus and overspending to the point of creating a deficit is poor financial management and our taxes make up these funds. I don't know how to put a positive or even neutral spin on this. Congress and the White House are not being good stewards of our money.

  GovExec.com reader Posted January 7, 2004 3:50 PM
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  Half the deficit is all spin. Pleease. Half the surplus was spin also. These are projections people. PROJECTIONS. It's like monopoly money, you can have a bundle of it and it is still worth nothing.

  GovExec.com reader Posted January 7, 2004 3:32 PM
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  Thought provoking article with interesting comments. However, why does it have to be written so negatively?? Valid comments are undermined when presented in a negative, stone-throwing mode. Even if the administration is not favored by the writer for this government-oriented communication, the concerns can be written for information without politicizing.

  GovExec.com reader Posted January 7, 2004 9:58 AM
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  Deficit spending, jobless recovery, phantom WMD, what next?

  GovExec.com reader Posted January 7, 2004 5:55 AM