Fuzzy Bush math (re: Feds budget deficit 2007)

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Thought I'd post this for those of you interested in such things. I found it to be a pretty decent preemptive article.

You're about to hear that the budget deficit is falling. Don't believe it, warns Fortune's Allan Sloan. The deficit is much, much bigger than you think.
FORTUNE Magazine
By Allan Sloan, Fortune senior editor-at-large
September 4 2007: 5:21 PM EDT

(Fortune Magazine) -- There will be lots of celebrating in Washington next month when the Treasury announces that the federal budget deficit for fiscal 2007, which ends September 30, will have dropped to a mere $158 billion, give or take a few bucks.

That will be $90 billion below the reported 2006 deficit and will be toasted by the White House and Treasury as a great accomplishment.

But I have a nasty little secret for you, folks. If you use realistic numbers rather than what I call WAAP - Washington Accepted Accounting Principles - the real federal deficit for the current fiscal year is more than 2-1/2 times the stated deficit.

Why am I inflicting this information on you? Because there's been so much joyous noise about the budget emanating from Washington, despite the subprime mess and market meltdowns (which don't bode particularly well for future tax collections), that my natural contrarianism makes me feel like bombing the buzz machine.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/31/magazines/fortune/deficit_sloan.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007090417

Edit: I somehow broke the text in the other clip.