Brad DeLong Discovers More Fuzzy Math

Brad DeLong listens to our President babbling about the budget and explodes:

Yes, it is George W. Bush once again in the center ring with the funny nose and the big shoes … Should we say that the 2004 budget deficit was $412.7 billion, and that half of that would be $206.3 billion–not $248 billion? Should we say that the fiscal year ends in September, not February? Should we say that February never has 30 days? Should we say that February never had–not even before Julius Caesar – 30 days?

OK, we have a President that doesn’t understand how to read a calendar, but let’s see if 248 divided by 413 is close to 50%. Whoops, my calculator says it’s 60%. But fellows – you guys counting those increasing Trust Fund surpluses. Maybe if we used the General Fund deficit, which was $595 billion as of fiscal year ended 9/30/2004 and only $574 billion as of 9/30/2006, maybe we’ll get closer to the President’s claim. Let’s see: 574 divided by 595 is – Hey! The four-year just swiped my calculator. And why is the six-year old screaming adults are idiots?

Maybe the problem is that the six-year old continued to listen to the President’s speech:

These budget numbers are proof that pro-growth economic policies work. By restraining spending in Washington, and allowing Americans to keep more of what they earn, we’re creating jobs, reducing the deficit, and making this nation prosperous for all our citizens.

I say this because he’s now screaming: “if taxes are so high and spending is so low – how come the deficit is running at 4.4% of GDP”. I blame the First Lady. It seems our elementary school teachers have done too good of a job at teaching our kids about concepts such as arithmetic even as Laura Bush’s husband has been wasting his time studying Fuzzy Math.