John Spratt: “as we meet tonight, this country, our government, is headed towards a deficit of $521 billion. That is not my estimate…”

“as we meet tonight, this country, our government, is headed towards a deficit of $521 billion. That is not my estimate, that is the estimate of the Office of Management and Budget, the President's own budget shop. We have watched the initial returns from April 15 come in to see if there might be a revenue surprise, a bounce that will alleviate this problem, and thus far there is no early indication that there are any surprises coming. We are stuck with a $521 billion deficit this year. Now, that would be bad by itself, $521 billion is a record deficit, but it is worse when you put it in context. Our budget, the budget of the United States, was in surplus by the amount of $236 billion as recently as the year 2000; in surplus by $127 billion in the year 2001, when Mr. Bush came to office. Indeed, he inherited a fiscal situation unlike any President who has taken office in recent years, yet now we find ourselves, 3 to 4 years later, in deficit by $521 billion. The administration portrays itself as the hapless victim of circumstance. In truth, it is a victim of policies that it itself has chosen.”