The Phony Budget Surplus, pt. This nearly incomprehensibly large number has set off a bidding war among congressional Republicans and Democrats, as well as presidential candidates, about how best to spend the surplus.
Reasonable people can disagree about the merit of each proposal.
However, I think you'll agree that this debate becomes more philosophical when we examine the accounting tricks behind the numbers. Before we begin dividing up projected surpluses, we need to closely evaluate the assumptions underlying the rosy projections. Projections, after all, are highly sensitive to changes in the underlying assumptions. Please bear with me as I try to explain the numbers. These caps are supposed to continue through 2002.