{"id":2299,"date":"2012-12-28T10:51:22","date_gmt":"2012-12-28T15:51:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kevinrkosar.com\/wordpress\/?p=2299"},"modified":"2012-12-28T10:51:22","modified_gmt":"2012-12-28T15:51:22","slug":"robert-j-samuelson-the-12-trillion-misunderstanding-the-washington-post-july-27-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kevinrkosar.com\/wordpress\/robert-j-samuelson-the-12-trillion-misunderstanding-the-washington-post-july-27-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert J. Samuelson, &#8220;The $12 Trillion Misunderstanding,&#8221; The Washington Post, July 27, 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In this keeper of a column, Bob Samuelson explained how the deficit got so bad:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li id=\"annotation_13_0\">\n<div id=\"highlight_13_0\">\n<div>\n<div><em>Back in 2001, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/cbofiles\/attachments\/06-07-ChangesSince2001Baseline.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-xslt=\"_http\">projected federal budget surpluses<\/a> of $5.6 trillion for 2002-11. Instead, we got $6.1 trillion of deficits \u2014 a swing of $11.7 trillion. Naturally, political recriminations followed. Who or what caused the change?<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li id=\"annotation_13_1\">\n<div id=\"highlight_13_1\">\n<div>\n<div><em>We now have evaluations from the CBO and two nonpartisan groups: the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) and the Pew Fiscal Analysis Initiative. They all point in the same direction.&#8221;<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li id=\"annotation_13_2\">\n<div id=\"highlight_13_2\">\n<div>\n<div><em>For starters, a weak economy was the largest cause. The CBO attributes $3.2 trillion of the $11.7\u2009trillion shift (about 27\u2009percent) to \u201ceconomic and technical changes.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li id=\"annotation_13_3\">\n<div id=\"highlight_13_3\">\n<div>\n<div><em>all of Bush\u2019s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts \u2014 which, except for benefits for the rich, are now supported by Obama \u2014 had a bigger effect, accounting for about 13\u2009percent of the debt swing.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li id=\"annotation_13_4\"><em>Iraq and Afghanistan wars: 10\u2009percent. Increases in discretionary domestic spending: 10\u2009percent. Other increases in defense spending: 5 percent. Obama stimulus: 6 percent. 2010 tax cuts: 3 percent. Medicare drug benefit: 2 percent. Other tax cuts and means of financing: 12 percent. Higher interest costs on larger federal debt: 11 percent.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Read more at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/the-12-trillion-misunderstanding\/2012\/07\/24\/gJQABfBi6W_story.html\">http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/the-12-trillion-misunderstanding\/2012\/07\/24\/gJQABfBi6W_story.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this keeper of a column, Bob Samuelson explained how the deficit got so bad: Back in 2001, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected federal budget surpluses of $5.6 trillion for 2002-11. Instead, we got $6.1 trillion of deficits \u2014 a swing of $11.7 trillion. Naturally, political recriminations followed. Who or what caused the change? 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