Does the Budget Conceal or Omit Basic Information?
• The budget omits the costs of funding U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan after 2007. While the exact costs of these operations after 2007 are unknown, no one believes they will be zero. The budget also omits the cost of extending relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax for more than a single year, though there is no way Congress will allow the AMT to reach deeply into the middle class. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that extending AMT relief will reduce revenues by $914 billion over the next ten years if the tax cuts are made permanent. • Given the omission of these large costs, the Administration’s claim that the deficit will be cut in half by 2009 appears hollow. Even if the Administration manages to reach its target on paper, deficits will rise sharply soon after 2009, in part as a result of Administration policies.
