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Thursday, September 07, 2006
More Budget Gimmickry
We reported earlier last week that Congress had passed legislation that pushed some Medicare spending for this year into next year. Now the White House might get into the game, too. Budget guru Stan Collender has been hearing rumors that the White House might delay some spending from this fiscal year until the next. The point, of course, is to make this year's deficit smaller than it really is, and brag about it during the run-up to the November election.
Collender sets up some questions we should all ask to get to the bottom of the rumors.
First, is the government contracting community becoming publicly agitated? Payments to contractors are most vulnerable if a slowdown occurs and a one- or two-week delay could mean cash flow problems for many businesses.
Second, does OMB Director Portman make as aggressive a statement about not gaming the system as he did when the midsession budget review was released?
Third, do Wall Street estimates of short-term government spending change in the next few weeks?
Finally, is a budget-related media event at the White House or on the campaign trail tentatively scheduled for the second to third week in October?
I have one more question: Will spending on the hurricane recovery suddenly accelerate at the beginning of the next fiscal year (October 1st)? If the President is playing budget politics with Katrina victims, we should find out soon.
Posted by Matt Lewis
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