Fuzzy Math

I guess President Obama and much of Congress bought into the "fuzzy math" they used to -- and probably still do -- teach in school. In releasing his budget figures today for fiscal 2010, the president acknowledged that "all across this country, Americans are responding to difficult economic times by tightening their belts and making tough decisions about where they need to spend and where they need to save." He added that Washington was prepared to act with the same sense of responsibility.

Then he unveiled the details of just how responsible Washington would be under his watch. He said he had charged his staff with "looking for areas where we can save taxpayer dollars," adding that his budget office, for starters, has come up with "a list of more than 100 programs slated to be reduced or eliminated altogether" as part of his effort to slash the deficit by the end of "my first term in office." (He's pretty confident he'll have a second term and is already making plans for it.)

"These savings, large and small, add up," the president says in a White House statement. "The 121 budget cuts we are announcing today will save taxpayers nearly $17 billion next year alone. And even by Washington standards, that should be considered real money."

But here's where the fuzzy math begins. Immediately after saying these cuts will save taxpayers money, Obama introduces his plans to SPEND that money: "To put this in perspective, the $17 billion is more than enough savings to pay for a $2,500 tuition tax credit for millions of students as well as a larger Pell Grant -- with enough money left over to pay for everything we do to pay for [sic] -- to protect the national parks."

No matter how you calculate it, you can't move $10 from your checking account to a savings account, then transfer $15 from savings to checking so you can write a check for $20 and claim you're saving money -- unless you're drinking the Kool-Aid and doing the fuzzy math.