Happy Happy Joy Jo-- URK!
(Deficit + Surplus Lost + 935 Lies = 2008)

The current US government deficit -- with no mention of the war, really -- is in the news today. Not sure how "they" are figuring that spiraling-out-of-control ongoing drain into the deficit.

Note, too, that a correct deficit figure should add the surplus Bush instantly squandered in 2000-2001 to arrive at the accurate number (after all, that surplus is long gone).

"The deficit picture remains worse than it was when Bush took office seven years ago. Then, both White House and congressional forecasters projected cumulative surpluses of $5.6 trillion over the subsequent decade.

But a revenue bubble burst, a recession and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks adversely affected the books. Several rounds of tax cuts, including Bush's signature $1.35 trillion 2001 tax cut, also contributed to the return to deficits in 2002 after four years of budget surpluses. The national debt has risen to $9.2 trillion.

"This guy will come close to doubling the debt of the country during his period of presidency," [Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent] Conrad said."

The other major news story for the day, to my mind, is this one: "President George W. Bush and seven of his administration's top officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, made at least 935 false statements in the two years following September 11, 2001, about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq..."

Here's the report itself by Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith, worth your time and scrutiny.