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July 20, 2009

White House putting off release of bad-news budget update

Topics: Political News and commentaries

Not willing to be honest and let the word out about the wide gap between what he promised vs. what he has delivered, our Dear Leader intends to hide the truth so it won't put a damper on the chances of passing his economy-busting health care and global warming agendas:

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House is being forced to acknowledge the wide gap between its once-upbeat predictions about the economy and today's bleak landscape.

The administration's annual midsummer budget update is sure to show higher deficits and unemployment and slower growth than projected in President Barack Obama's budget in February and update in May, and that could complicate his efforts to get his signature health care and global-warming proposals through Congress.

The release of the update - usually scheduled for mid-July - has been put off until the middle of next month, giving rise to speculation the White House is delaying the bad news at least until Congress leaves town on its August 7 summer recess.

The administration is pressing for votes before then on its $1 trillion health care initiative, which lawmakers are arguing over how to finance.

The White House budget director, Peter Orszag, said on Sunday that the administration believes the "chances are high" of getting a health care bill by then. But new analyses showing runaway costs are jeopardizing Senate passage.

"Instead of a dream, this routine report could be a nightmare," Tony Fratto, a former Treasury Department official and White House spokesman under President George W. Bush, said of the delayed budget update. "There are some things that can't be escaped."

[...] Late last week, Obama vowed anew that "health insurance reform cannot add to our deficit over the next decade and I mean it."

The nation's debt - the total of accumulated annual budget deficits - now stands at $11.6 trillion. In the scheme of things, that's more important than talking about the "deficit," which only looks at a one-year slice of bookkeeping and totally ignores previous indebtedness that is still outstanding.

Even so, the administration has projected that the annual deficit for the current budget year will hit $1.84 trillion, four times the size of last year's deficit of $455 billion. Private forecasters suggest that shortfall may actually top $2 trillion.

The administration has projected that the annual deficit for the current budget year will hit $1.84 trillion, four times the size of last year's deficit of $455 billion. Private forecasters suggest that shortfall may top $2 trillion.

If a higher deficit and lower growth numbers are not part of the administration's budget update, that will lead to charges that the White House is manipulating its figures to offer too rosy an outlook - the same criticism leveled at previous administrations.

Read it all ...

I can't help but contrast Obama's very real dishonesty with his previously having accused the Bush administration of "casual dishonesty" about the federal budget, at which time he said "They sent us here to usher in a new era of responsibility in Washington, to start living within our means again and being straight with them." Given today's perspective, it's obvious that what he said then was absolute bull s**t rhetoric, as is so much of what our Dear Leader tells us.

Related:
The Dishonesty Inherent In The Administration's Economic Claims
The rank dishonesty of the Obama administration

Posted by Abdul at July 20, 2009 8:10 AM

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• White House putting off release of bad-news budget update - Jul 20, 2009