Obama says that Democrats have met Republicans halfway on budget cuts. It’s false of course.
It really comes down to where you draw the line — the budget baseline. Democrats like to draw the line at the president’s proposal for 2011, even though it was never enacted. Under that measure, Republicans would cut about $100 billion and Democrats some $50 billion. That’s where the “halfway” comes from.
Republicans — and much of the news media — measure the cuts from the 2010 budget, the last one signed into law. Under that scoring, the Republicans have cut $60 billion and the Democrats about $10 billion. The two sides are still $50 billion apart, but under this scenario, the Democrats have barely budged.
White House officials have argued that it makes sense to compare one proposal — the president’s 2011 budget request — with another proposal, the House 2011 bill. But that argument has gained little traction in official Washington.
That must be that ”New Math.”
I not only never took new math, I have no idea how it works.
I used a homemade slide rule!
Used logarithmic graph paper and a couple of interlocking pieces of wood.
Worked great!
The Republicans played games by calling the 60 B proposed cut as meeting their 100 B commitment using the O’s proposed budget as their line. The democrats are playing the same game. The Repubs tried playing games with the experts and have been caught. The real losers are the taxpayers. js