AMERICANS WERE LIED TO: CBO Says Budget Deal Cuts Just $353 Million, Not $38 Billion

CBO: Budget Deal Cuts This Fiscal Year’s Deficit by Just $352 Million, Not $38 Billion Touted

A new budget estimate released Wednesday shows that the spending bill negotiated between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner would produce less than 1 percent of the $38 billion in promised savings by the end of this budget year.

The Congressional Budget Office estimate shows that compared with current spending rates the spending bill due for a House vote Thursday would cut federal outlays from non-war accounts by just $352 million through Sept. 30. About $8 billion in immediate cuts to domestic programs and foreign aid are offset by nearly equal increases in defense spending.

When war funding is factored in the legislation would actually increase total federal outlays by $3.3 billion relative to current levels.

To a fair degree, the lack of immediate budget-cutting punch is because the budget year is more than half over and that cuts in new spending authority typically are slow to register on deficit tallies. And Republicans promise that when fully implemented and repeated year after year, the cuts in the measure would reduce the deficit by $315 billion over the coming decade. Read more at washingtonpost.com.

That Budget Deal Some of You Love Isn’t Much of a Deal

...Tim Pawlenty is the first 2012 candidate coming out of the gate in opposition to the deal. He’s urging Republicans to vote against it.

Frankly, at this point, any House Republican who votes for the compromise should be flogged by the tea party movement — metaphorically speaking of course. Read more at redstate.com.