Commentary

$9 Trillion: A New Era of Fiscal Responsibility

I think the change we can believe in comes in the form of a lot of quarters and dimes. In a handy little accounting move, the administration now plans to admit its 10-year budget plan will increase the national deficit by $9 trillion, and not $7 trillion like it said earlier this year when trying to convince us a new era of fiscal responsibility had come:

The Obama administration will raise its 10-year budget deficit projection to roughly $9 trillion from $7.108 trillion in a report next week, a senior administration official told Reuters on Friday…
“Our budget projections are now in line with the spring and summer projections that the Congressional Budget Office put out.”

The CBO said in June that deficits between 2010 and 2019 would total $9.1 trillion. The official said the 2010-2019 cumulative deficit projection replaces the administration’s previous estimate of $7.108 trillion.

It is this kind of news that can make a weekend all the more enjoyable. And necessary.