THE MYTHICAL "$2 TRILLION IN SAVINGS"

During his recent address to a joint session of Congress, President Obama previewed his budget by asserting that the Administration has "already identified $2 trillion in savings over the next decade." This is simply not true, says Brian M. Riedl a researcher with the Heritage Foundation.

The President's budget:

• Increases spending by $1 trillion over the next decade, which he attempts to offset by reclassifying as "savings" $1.4 trillion in tax increases and $1.5 trillion in reduced spending in Iraq.
• However, government savings have previously always referred to spending cuts that save taxpayer dollars - not tax increases that feed the government.
• Furthermore, the Iraq "sav ings" are measured against an implausible spending baseline that assumes a permanent $180 billion bud get for the global war on terrorism, without any troop withdrawals through 2019.
• This is the equiv alent of a family deciding to "save" $10,000 by first assuming an expensive vacation and then not taking it.
• Without these false savings, only the $1 trillion spending hike remains, and that does not account for the extra $250 billion proposed for another round of financial bailouts in the current fiscal year.

Despite the claimed savings, this budget undeni ably expands government.

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