Hello Earl,   
      
    >>> That is why, if one looks up budget data, they don't just   
    >>> find "wish list" data.  They also find out what actually   
    >>> happened.  From Obama's 2014 Budget: "Historical Tables,   
    >>> Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2014   
    >>> provides data on budget receipts, outlays, surpluses or   
    >>> deficits, Federal debt, and Federal employment over an   
    >>> extended time period, generally from 1940 or earlier to   
    >>> 2014 or 2018."   
      
    >> Yep. The * Historical Tables* report the results.   
      
   EC>You stopped too soon.  It reports the actual budget receipts, the   
   EC>actual budget outlays, and the actual resulting surplus or deficit.   
   EC>Not just the budget REQUEST.   
      
   Scrap the cap.  Problem solved.   
      
   When it comes to taxation, some folks advocate a national sales tax,   
   or values added tax, as a replacement for the federal income tax.   
   Everybody pays the same rate, whether rich or poor.  In that light,   
   this type of tax is fairer than a progressive income tax (according   
   to conservatives).  And yet, those same conservatives cry foul when   
   it comes to removing the cap on social security.   
      
   Jesus had a few choice words for folks like that.  Actually more   
   than a few.  :)   
      
   --Lee   
      
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    * Origin: news://felten.yi.org (2:203/2)