CBO: 2011 Budget Cuts Far Less Than Promised

The Congressional Budget Office says the fiscal 2011 budget that lawmakers are set to approve today cuts spending by a tiny fraction of the advertised amount, the National Journal reports. A CBO analysis says spending cuts will total $352 million, or less than one-hundredth of the $38.5 billion figure settled on by both parties.

“The nonpartisan budget agency also projects that total outlays are actually some $3.3 billion more than in 2010, if emergency spending is included in the total,” the Journal reports.

The CBO attributed the sudden disappearance of the highly touted cuts to spending increases that did make it into the bill and to accounting procedures employed by Congress to reach its $38.5 billion target.

It’s unclear what impact the CBO score will have on the bill’s chances for passage. The CBO did confirm that the budget comes in below the amount that President Barack Obama requested for 2011, and does contain long term savings.