Post by: rnicklaus on September 04, 2007, 12:32:37 PM
Worth reading - excerpts below.
<<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.>>
<<We'll start with Social Security, which will take in about $78 billion more in payroll and income taxes than it shells out. The Treasury takes that cash, gives the trust fund IOUs for it, and spends it. That $78 billion isn't in the stated deficit.
Wait, there's more. The Treasury will fork over $108 billion of interest on the trust fund's $2.2 trillion of Treasuries -- but will give the trust fund IOUs, not cash. They won't count in the deficit either. Add that $186 billion to the stated budget deficit, and it more than doubles, to $344 billion.>>
Post by: PRobb on September 04, 2007, 05:25:09 PM