Let's get the numbers right

It seems that many in Congress believe that the road to their success lies in spending our country into oblivion. The Federal Reserve has been inserting hundreds of millions of dollars into our system while Congress has passed out trillions of dollars to "stimulate" the economy.

One result of all that money being inserted into the system has been inflation. That comes as no surprise to most Americans. And, the worst is yet to come, because the impact (from spending) those trillions of dollars has yet to be realized.

Now, the House has passed a bill which they say will cost another $2 trillion-plus. Their claim is that that amount will be paid for by tax increases on the rich and by recovering unpaid taxes from tax cheats. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that their program will increase the 10-year deficit by $367 billion.

But hold on. It seems that there are a few gimmicks included in their plan which makes a sizable difference in the estimate.

Deceptive methods of funding are used for many programs in their bill. The Penn Wharton Budget Modeland the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget calculates the real cost for the 10-year period as $4.6 trillion and $4.9 trillion, respectively.

The House bill would cost $2 trillion to $3 trillion more than they would have us believe. The CBO has estimated, based on spending through this past summer, that annual deficits will already exceed $1 trillion.

This new spending will add substantially to that amount. Then, when the higher taxes for the rich are achieved and we have the estimated tax cheat revenue, who is going to make up the difference?

The answer, of course, is we less affluent taxpayers. And, unless honest legislators can put a stop to the deception now, we have an expensive surprise coming.

James E. Robinson

Arlington Heights