CBO analysis: Spending 'cut' deal doesn't actually cut spending

Jed Lewison for Daily Kos        Wed Apr 13, 2011    

Tea party Republicans are going to love this:

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 claimed 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 pare just $352 million from the deficit through Sept. 30. About $8 billion in 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.

Obviously, it's not funny that while domestic priorities were cut, defense spending increased, but these numbers make a mockery of the the claim that the spending cut deal is in fact a spending cut deal.

The CBO's estimate of a $3.3 billion spending increase comes from this document. It shows estimated total discretionary outlays of $1.3614 trillion for FY2011 under the continuing resolution passed last December. For the one congress is about to vote on, the estimated outlays for FY11 grow to $1.3647 trillion.

According to this CBO document, actual total discretionary outlays for FY10 were $1.349 trillion. In other words, that $38.5 billion cut from last year's spending levels? It's actually a $15.7 billion increase.

I can't wait until tea partiers wrap their mind around that math.

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