how much of the projected surpluses would the Bush tax cut consume?
I. The CBO Surplus Projections Last July, CBO projected the non-Social Security surpluses would total $2.2 trillion over the 2001-2010 period if there were no changes in laws governing taxes and entitlement programs and discretionary spending was maintained at the same level as in fiscal year 2000, adjusted for inflation. Any guess about what CBO will report a few weeks from now is speculative, but it seems likely that the projected non-Social Security surpluses for 2002 through 2011 will total somewhere around $2.5 trillion to $3 trillion. (The surpluses in the Clinton Administration’s revised baseline budget projections that are scheduled to be released later this month will be somewhat smaller than the likely CBO surpluses. The White House indicated last week that the Office of Management and Budget will project non-Social Security surpluses totaling just over $2.4 trillion over the 2002-2011 period.) A number of factors will affect how the budget projections that CBO will release l
