Friday, December 31, 2004

Fuzzy Math

Whatever you think of Bush, you've got to love his accounting system.

Bush's budget will not include the costs of the Iraq war. It will also not include the cost of his proposed Social Security privatization. The reason? The costs are unknowable.

What a great idea. I like it so much, I might implement the system myself.

That adjustable rate mortgage? Hmmmm, future interest rates are unknowable, so I guess I'll just take the mortgage payments off the budget. My car repair bills for next year? Why, those are also unknowable, so I'll ditch those too. Federal income tax? Well, I could estimate those, but I don't know what they'll be, so I'll leave THAT out of the budget, too.

Voila! I'm running a huge surplus! I feel so good about myself.

But now what what do I do about all those nasty bills? I know - I'll see if I can find some rich Chinese guy to buy my worthless bonds. And if I can't find one, I'll just wrap all the bills up in a ribbon and given them to my kids on their 21st birthday.

What a great idea.

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