Bad News For The Boehner Plan: CBO Says It Only Cuts $850 Billion Over Ten Years
The Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of John Boehner’s debt plan is unlikely to help its fate in the House:
On the eve of a House vote, new cost estimates from the Congressional Budget Office could pose a problem for Speaker John Boehner as he tries to rally conservative support for his two-step plan to raise the federal debt ceiling and avert default next week.
The first installment of $900 billion is contingent on enacting 10 year caps on annual appropriations which the leadership had hoped would save well over $1 trillion. But CBO late Tuesday came back with a report showing the legislation would reduce deficits by $850 billion when measured against the agency’s most current projections for spending.
This may be the best Boehner can do, but it tends to give more ammunition to the hardliners in the GOP who have already come out against the bill.
Rule #1: the CBO only counts if it agrees with you.