Exposing the Democrats’ Phony ‘Reserve Funds’

Make-Believe Accounting Gimmicks Fund Massive New Democrat Spending - Taxpayers to Get Socked with the Bill “The House and Senate versions of the budget depend on ‘reserve funds’ to pay for additional spending … There's only one catch: The reserve funds are empty.” (Los Angeles Times, 3/27/07)

Today’s Phony ‘Reserve Fund’: Doc Payments
Purpose: “increases the reimbursement rate for physician services…” (Democrat budget, S. Con. Res. 21, SEC. 304)
Democrats Plan New Spending: $65 Billion
But Democrats Budget for plan: $0
Purpose: ”to extinguish all claims arising … for losses resulting from accounting errors, mismanagement of assets or interest owed in connection with Individual Indian Moneys accounts ...” (S. Con. Res. 21, SEC. 313)
Democrats Plan New Spending: $8 Billion
But Democrats Budget for plan: $0

So How Will Democrats Pay for It? “Will Democrats try to raise your taxes? … The budget bills create dozens of ‘reserve funds’ for spending and tax-cutting priorities, providing they are paid for -- with tax increases, Republicans predict…” (USA Today, 3/30/07)

Democrat Reserve Funds Explained:
“Democrats are pushing a budget through Congress that appears to make room for more spending for some of their favorite domestic programs -- without cutting defense, raising taxes or deepening the deficit. It sounds too good to be true. . . . The House and Senate versions of the budget depend on ‘reserve funds’ to pay for additional spending for such programs as children's health care and farm aid. There's only one catch: The reserve funds are empty, and, if Congress wants to fill them, it will have to do what it has tried to avoid -- make cuts, raise taxes or borrow the money and drive up the deficit.” (Los Angeles Times, 3/27/07)
“The ‘reserve funds’ are not actually funds, but rather expressions of commitments to use funds for particular purposes if more money becomes available.” (New York Times, 3/29/07)
“Now, congressional Democrats are employing another Washington spending fiction to mask more spending increases in their proposed $2.9 trillion federal budget for fiscal 2008. It’s called the ‘Reserve Fund’ … The problem is that like all lies, Washington’s spending fictions are meant to obscure the truth about irresponsible budgets…” (Editorial, Washington Examiner, 5/18/07) [Read More]

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Tags: congress, Congressional Pork, federal funding, fraud, US House, US Senate