About this time every year, in the days and weeks following the release of the latest federal budget, everyone here at the American Monetary Association gets a little queasy when we see the numbers. It used to make a difference whether there was a Republican or Democrat in the White House, but lately it doesn't seem to matter much. The recent release of President Barrack Hussein Obama's budget for fiscal year 2013 stands as yet another ode to the eternal question, “When is a cut really a cut?” Using the current commander-in-chief's economic theology, there is no statute of limitations. Heck, he's probably counting salary no longer paid to George Washington as stroke of financial genius on his part, and another huge feather in his cap.

Unfortunately, Mr. Obama's budgetary plans are a big, fat black eye for the rest of us Americans. Let's look at some of the more startling details.

A primary claim is that the president's budget cuts $4 trillion over the next ten years. The only problem is that the bureaucrats in Washington use a term known as “baseline budgeting” when it comes to figuring spending cuts. The simple version is this: If you spend less this year than what you planned, it counts as a cut, no matter that it is actually an increase in actual dollars over the previous year. In real terms, let's say that Obama's last budget included $50 mil

lion dollars to provide burkas for all female government employees. Let's further say that Wal-Mart had a burka overstock sale and they were able to outfit every last woman on the government payroll for a mere $35 million.

In Obamaspeak, we just saved $15 million! This is the sort of math that has been going on in our nation's capitol for years, though the current White House occupant has raised the practice to a new level. He'd say we also saved:

$681 billion due to the much ballyhooed debt ceiling agreement that took place LAST year. (And don't forget these were the very same cuts he fought tooth and nail to prevent).

$741 billion by NOT occupying Iraq for the next ten years.

Ditto the previous amount for NOT occupying Afghanistan over the next decade.

At this point we must break in and ask, why stop at claiming spending cuts for not being at war with Iraq and Afghanistan? We're also not at war with Iceland, Sweden, Switzerland, Ghana, Chile, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Canada, among others. Actually, we're not at war with most of the world. By presidential logic, shouldn't we be able to credit our budget for these facts and basically wipe the entire federal deficit away in one fell swoop?

Sounds kind of crazy when you look at it like that. Well, this was the good news. Next time we'll take up spending hikes. Don't say we didn't warn you.

The American Monetary Association Team

Flickr / swanksalot

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