With release of CBO's latest budget projection comes the latest edition of Tales from the OMB. OMB Director Rob Portman released this statement regarding CBO's projection of coming surpluses (more on that later, but I want to debunk this bit that really sticks in my craw): Two years ago the President laid out an ambitious goal to cut the deficit in half by 2009, and we met that goal three years early. This is, of course, remarkably similar to this week's episode of Presidential Budget Story Time, as encapsulated by this line in the president's SOTU speech:

In case you missed it this morning, OMB Watch released a statement responding to the president's State of the Union address last night. In short, we were unimpressed with Bush's empty rhetoric about fiscal responsibility and balanced budgets. Bush's Fiscal Policy Rhetoric Continues to Fall Short

CBO's The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2008 to 2017 is now available.

Yesterday afternoon, Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Pete Domenici (R-NM) announced plans to force Congress to consider changes to entitlement programs through the establishment of yet another commission. The Feinstein-Domenici plan would require a 15-member commission to deliver recommendations one year from the date it was established and would force, through specific deadlines, action by committees, debate on the floor or each chamber, and conference committee negotiations. Everything is scripted just so in the Feinstein/Domenici plan.