Bush's FY 2009 budget is hilarious. It projects a surplus by 2012, despite the fact that the deficit was projected to go from $162 billion to $410 billion in FY 2008. The deficit will have risen to two and a half times its level in just a year, and yet we're supposed to believe that it'll suddenly change course, after Bush is safely out of office, and that we'll shortly have huge surpluses.

It's your classic "hockey stick" graph. To avoid having to make hard choices today, Bush projects a magical turnaround just out on the horizon -- after he's gone and can no longer be held accountable. If you dig into the numbers, you'll see he and the CBO assume three things: (1) We'll have a gigantic (17%+) rise in income tax receipts in 2009, (2) outlays will suddenly rise by only 1/3 their normal pace in 2012), and (3) no unexpected negative events will happen. If a real CEO tried to present that kind of budget projection to his Board, he'd get laughed right out of the room and into the unemployment line.

The reality is that Bush is leaving us with a budget that will have nearly the biggest deficit in history, and a budget that will be set up for perpetual deficits in the future, barring major changes. The shamelessness with which he projects otherwise is a disgrace.