Latest deficit news from the "liberal" media spin cycle...

[Crankie Avalon]

Budget Deficit Drops $296B Under Estimate

- - - - - - - - - - - -


By ANDREW TAYLOR Associated Press Writer

July 11,2006 | WASHINGTON -- The White House Tuesday touted new deficit figures showing considerable improvement upon earlier administration predictions, trumpeting the news as a validation of President Bush's pro-growth tax cuts.

The deficit will for budget year ending Sept. 30 will register $296 billion under a new White House estimate released Tuesday. That's much better than the $423 billion that Bush predicted in February and a slight improvement over 2005.

A surge in taxes paid by corporations and the wealthy is largely responsible for the deficit drop.

Bush himself was to trumpet the good news, attributing the improvement to tax cuts he pushed in 2001 and 2003 and his clampdown on domestic agencies funded by Congress.

SNIP

http://www.salon.com/wire/ap/archive.html?wire=D8IPQESO0.html

Misleading headline (makes it sound as if deficit is $296B under projection rather than the $127B it actually was), plus no mention that administration deliberately overestimated the deficit projection in the first place in order to try and make whatever the actual number would turn out to be seem like a "pleasant surprise."

"This year's deficit isn't quite as staggering as we thought it would be...HUZZAH!!!"

[orwell]

1. Or no mention...

...of such "tiny" off-budget items such as the Iraq occupation.