For when you next get trapped by a Republican, who wants to talk about how the Bush tax cuts have "stimulated" the economy, because recent tax revenues are up and the budget deficit is (slightly) down:
On Mr. Bush's watch, triple-digit budget surpluses have turned into annual triple-digit budget deficits. There's no information in the midsession report to alter that utterly dispiriting fact. Yes, the report is expected to project that this year's deficit will be somewhat less gargantuan than last year's -- probably somewhere between $280 billion and $300 billion, versus a $318 billion shortfall in 2005. That's not much to crow about.
...
Earlier this year, the administration conveniently projected a highly inflated deficit of $423 billion. With that as a starting point, the actual results can be spun to look as if they're worth cheering.
...
The Treasury is expected to take in about $250 billion more in 2006 than in 2005 ... Devoid of context, the number looks impressive. ... In fact, it is $100 billion less than the $2.5 trillion revenue estimate the administration touted when it set out in 2001 to sell its policy of never-ending tax cuts. Even with this year's bigger haul, real revenue growth during the Bush years will be abysmal, averaging about 0.3 percent per capita, versus an average of nearly 10 percent in all previous post-World War II business cycles.
Read the whole thing.
[Update 2006-07-11 15:24 EDT] More counterspin at Think Progress and Salon.
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