AFP: Washington shelved report of 44-trillion-dollar deficit

[theapportioner]

Washington shelved report of 44-trillion-dollar deficit

LONDON (AFP) - In the midst of negotiating a steep tax cuts package, the US government shelved a report that showed the United States faces future federal budget deficits of more than 44.2 trillion dollars.

President George W. Bush's administration chose to keep the findings -- commissioned by then-Treasury secretary Paul O'Neill -- out of the 2004 annual budget report, published in February, London's Financial Times reported.

The newspaper desribed the study as "the most comprehensive assessment of how the US government is at risk of being overwhelmed by the 'baby boom' generation's future healthcare and retirement costs."

The Financial Times hinted that the decision not to publish the report may have been because the White House was campaigning for a massive tax-cut package that critics claim will expand future deficits.

The study, according to the same source, said that sharp tax increases, massive spending cuts or both are unavoidable if the US is to meet benefit promises to future generations.

"It estimates that closing the gap would require the equivalent of an immediate and permanent 66 percent across-the-board income tax increase," the Financial Times said.

"The study was being circulated as an independent working paper among Washington think-tanks as Bush on Wednesday signed into law a 10-year, 350-billion-dollar tax-cut package he welcomed as a victory for hard-working Americans and the economy," the newspaper said.

Kent Smetters, then-Treasury deputy assistant secretary for economic policy, and Jagdessh Gokhale, then a consultant to the Treasury, were in charge of the analysis, the newspaper said.

"When we were conducting the study, my impression was that it was slated to appear (in the budget). At some point, the momentum builds and you think everything is a go, and then the decision came down that we weren't part of the prospective budget," Gokhale was quoted a saying in the front-page article.

O'Neill, who was fired last December, refused to comment, according to the same source.

The Bush administration has come under severe criticism for the tax cuts package, which come on top of a 10-year 1.65 trillion tax cut program enacted in 2001, at a time when the US economy is sputtering and unemployment is steadily rising.

[AChimp]

Maybe Bush should order them to print more money.

[VinceZeb]

It's been done before, Chimp. It's the simplest way to get rid of a debt for a country; just print more money. Now, it leads to bad things, but it has been done before.

[mburbank]

This administration is so damn sleazy.

[VinceZeb]

Yeah, and that Clinton administration was so squeaky clean....

Especially when it came with out dealings with the Chinese...



Every admin has some dirt on them. Happend ever since we have became a country.

[Protoclown]

I didn't see where Max specifically referred to the Clinton administration as a point of comparison, Vince. Could you show me where he mentioned it?

[AChimp]

Vince, I know that it's been done before. It's the stupidest way to get rid of a country's debt because it doesn't get rid of the debt at all; it just makes your currency worth less.

[mburbank]

Clinton: Sleazy lying son of a bitch Rhodes scholar with a Suprlus.

Bush: Sleazy lying son of bitch with a C+ average and a Deficit.

Vinth: Sleazy lying son of a bitch.

[Protoclown]

"Vinth: Sleazy lying son of a bitch with a submarine letter and a menagerie of multi-racial friends"

[kellychaos]

This is that "You can't have a multi-billion dollar war in conjunction with a tax cut" thing followed by a "15 billion dollar AIDS package" thing I was talking about, Vince. It's kind of hard to sweep a deficit that size under a rug, though. Sure you'll look like the kick ass country of the world with a heart of gold but you'll be enjoying your new found image while eating Ramen noodles.

P.S. Actually, I'm for the AIDS package. I happen to think that ensuring world health is just as much a responsibility of a world superpower as is kicking the ass of the infidels :sarcasm

[mburbank]

NOT AS MUCH OF A RESPONSABILITY AS MAKING MY BIG ASS HUMMER THAT I WILL NEVER EVER EVER TAKE OFF ROAD IN MY WHOLE LIFE FULLY DEDUCTABLE!! WOOOOOOOOO!! WOOOOOOOOOOO!!

Say, is there some way I can git me some a that there AIDS money to buy me a gasoline truck to drive along beside me and fill up my Hummer every ten miles or so? Cause pardon me for saying it, but spending that money on a buncha foreigners what's gonna die anyway... well ain't that kind of a waste?

[Zero Signal]

Soccer moms need Hummers to protect their kids while they talk on their cell phones and run red lights.