I receive weekly/monthly e-mails from the Congressional Budget Office which is widely acclaimed to provide and unbiased view of the costs of bills and income to the government. Except… …they are constantly wrong.
In the summary statement in today’s e-mail:
CBO Monthly Budget Review: Based on the Monthly Treasury Statement for March and the Daily Treasury Statements for April
The federal government incurred a budget deficit of $871 billion in the first seven months of fiscal year 2011, CBO estimates. That year-to-date total is roughly $70 billion more than the deficit incurred in the same period in 2010. Both outlays and revenues are about 9 percent higher they were last year at this time. With the completion of the spring tax-filing season, receipts of individual income taxes have been significantly greater than CBO anticipated.
That’s $871,000,000,000 deficit in the first seven months of 2011. It’s another Federal Stimulus Bill in my book, yet the economy languishes. It also means that, given the continued level of spending, the 2011 deficit will be $1.491 Trillion Dollars — money taken for the selfishness of today that will enslave generations future.
“…than CBO anticipated” can be added to everything CBO has done. The cost of every bill is higher than CBO anticipated. Cost of Government is higher than CBO anticipated. Tax receipts were higher/lower higher than CBO anticipated. Maybe CBO should double what they anticipate and get in the ballpark for what’s going on!
But, one clear benefit of these CBO E-mails is that they give me a heads up of what’s coming down the pike regarding Congressional Legislation. Such as…
Cost Estimate for S. 710, Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act
Cost estimate for the bill as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on April 15, 2011
Go to cbo.gov and sign up for these e-mails to stay better informed!
