What’s New

It’s Friday, which means that Bob Park’s newsletter, What’s New, is out. One item this week is the deficit:

BUDGET: HOW TO BRING DOWN AN OUT-OF-CONTROL BUDGET SURPLUS. When George W. Bush took office he was confronted with a looming $5.6 trillion surplus over the next decade (WN 9 Mar 01). OMB turned to fabled budget guru Elie Mosinari for help. Her first move was missile defense, a tactic previous administrations had relied on to control surpluses. Toss in a tax rebate, and by the end of summer the nation was safely in red ink. President Bush hailed it as “incredibly positive news”(WN 31 Aug 01). Elie was indignant when the Congressional Budget Office projected a mere $477B deficit for this year. It’s actually going to be $521B. I called Elie to congratulate her. “How do you do it,” I asked? “Discipline,” she replied, “things like space stations help, but we never miss a chance to correct social injustice. [more …]

AB