Halving the deficit in five years is a low bar, but the Administration doesn’t intend to clear it.
Halving the deficit in 5 years was a miserable, puny, girlie-man goal. Yet the Bush admininstration can’t even meet this goal, according to the CBO’s projections.
The worst part, however, is that the CBO’s projections of the deficit are certainly far too low.
Brad also points out that the CBO picture has been getting steadily darker since January 2003.
That’s the wonderful thing about our President, who can’t remember from one day to the next whether or not he thinks America can win the war on terror: he sets himself low standards, and then fails to meet them.
Author: Mark Kleiman
Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out.
Books:
Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken)
When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist
Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993)
Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989)
UCLA Homepage
Curriculum Vitae
Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com
View all posts by Mark Kleiman
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