Analysts Say Bush's 'Lean' Budget Is Bound to Swell (Bush new initiatives)

[papau]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-biggovt10feb10,1,5350099.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=1&cset=true

Analysts Say Bush's 'Lean' Budget Is Bound to Swell
For every dollar saved by capping outlays, far more would be spent by the expanding cost of initiatives launched or OKd by the president.
By Warren Vieth and Joel Havemann
Times Staff Writers

February 10, 2005

WASHINGTON — <snip>Yet for every dollar the president would save by capping outlays or consolidating programs, far more dollars would be consumed by the expanding cost of big-ticket initiatives either launched or approved by Bush, independent analysts say.

"It's true that by some standards this is the tightest budget that Bush has submitted. But that's not much of a standard," said David Boaz, vice president of the libertarian Cato Foundation.<snip>

Bush's 150-program hit list is an exercise in "budgetary theater," said Robert L. Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan budget watchdog group. "The political pain isn't worth the fiscal gain."<snip>

Some, such as making Bush's past tax cuts permanent at a cost of $1.1 trillion over 10 years, were reflected in the president's new budget. Others, such as allowing younger workers to divert part of their Social Security payroll taxes into private investment accounts at a cost of $754 billion over the first decade, were not.<snip>

"Every president and administration presents their budgets in a rosier light than the budgets deserve," he said. "But the gap between the White House rhetoric and the reality surrounding this budget surpasses that of any other recent administration."<snip>

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. Naw, things like that don't happen.

It was just a fluke that the prescription bill was promoted as costing 250 billion, then after passage was amended to 400 billion, and last week was re-evaluated to costing 750 billion.

Just a fluke.

I did find it interesting that all the media reports talk about the price tag going from 400b to 750b, and no one mentions that the 250b cost was what got it passed.

Short memories.

[papau]

2. the 150 b that went to drug companys is now around $700 B - media says?

I believe the media says nothing about how rich the drug companies will be!

:-)