The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released an alternative long-term budget outlook at the request of the ranking member of the House Budget Committee John Spratt (D-SC). The alternative projections were calculated using what Rep. Spratt said were more realistic assumptions for future spending than those CBO was required to use in their August 15 update. In this report, CBO assumed the tax policies proposed by President Bush for 2006 are enacted, that the alternative minimum tax is indexed for inflation after 2005, that Bush's Social Security program is enacted, that discretionary spending through 2015 grows at the rate proposed by Bush for 2006 through 2010, and that spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is gradually phased down. The result of assuming the enactment of many of President Bush's policies is the explosion of the deficit, which almost doubles in the CBO analysis to $4.462 trillion over the next ten years. Read the CBO report: Alternative CBO Baseline Projections Requested by Rep. Spratt