Sen. Bob Corker said on Tuesday that the administration's updated budget estimate, released Monday by the Office of Management and Budget, is "not an honest view of our country's budget deficit."
Sen. Corker expressed angst at the projected budget deficits of $389 billion this year and $482 billion in 2009 and frustration at what he called "gimmicks" in terms of presenting the budget. The worst of these gimmicks, he said, are that the budget assumes the alternative minimum tax will be patched only for tax year 2008 and that no additional supplemental spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will occur in fiscal year 2009 and beyond.
"This is not an honest view of our country's budget deficit and the administration knows it. Their failure to include a realistic assessment for war spending and refusal to make accurate assumptions about the alternative minimum tax is disappointing and does not set the right tone for having a serious discussion about our country's dire fiscal situation. As we rapidly approach $10 trillion in debt, we cannot continue to play games with how we look at our fiscal situation.
"Both the White House and Congress are guilty of such gimmicks on a yearly basis, and it is time for it to stop. The American taxpayers deserve to be shown the true scope of our financial problems. Our country's resources have been mismanaged and the economic downturn we're experiencing will only make the situation worse. We need to work together on a bipartisan basis to overhaul our budget process, reform entitlement programs and restrain our spending."
A copy of the Fiscal Year 2009 Mid-Session Review released by OMB is available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/pdf/09msr.pdf