Fuzzy math

Wednesday, November 8, 2006 President Bush claimed the budget deficit for this fiscal year was $247.7 billion. The deficit is the difference between money that the government takes in and the money it spends. The number Bush stated does not take into account the amount of money the government borrows. For instance, Bush doesn't count the approximately $177 billion taken from our Social Security trust fund and an additional $121 billion from other government accounts. On top of this, there are the additional billions of dollars that the government owes in accrued interest. Add these numbers together and the actual budget deficit for this fiscal year is more than $550 billion. Add these dollars to our already exploding deficit and we have a national debt of $8.5 trillion. Once again, Bush can't bring himself to tell the truth. You always know when he is telling a lie; his lips are moving. Charles Scarano, Turnersville - Courier Post, November 8, 2006