The devil is in the details, isn't it?

How can you tell when a Blogging Tory is being a gullible imbecile? When his fingers are typing:

Another Bushism collapses
Amazing: Bush Tax Cuts Stimulate the Economy

Yesterday, President Bush announced that the federal deficit has been cut in half, from its high-water mark of $500 billion in 2003 to $247 billion today. He had promised during his re-election campaign that the government would get to the $250 billion mark by the end of his second term. Goal achieved, two years and four months ahead of schedule.

Now, given that the New York Post article quoted above was written by neo-con hack John Podhoretz (yes, this John Podhoretz), do you seriously even need to poke around to know there's more to this than meets the eye? (emphasis added)

The administration has drawn criticism for its deficit projections, and Democrats cried foul again Wednesday. They said the deficit reduction was exaggerated because Bush's 2004 figure was a projection later reduced by $100 billion, meaning the deficit actually shrank 39% from 2004 to 2006.

"Cutting the deficit in half from an intentionally inflated high point is a misleading goal and certainly no measure of success," said the Senate Budget Committee's ranking Democrat, Kent Conrad of North Dakota.

Conrad added that the president also failed to note that he was tapping Social Security revenue to help cover the deficit through off-budget borrowing. Accounting for that, Conrad said, would have added $550 billion to the deficit last fiscal year, money that will have to be repaid as 78 million baby boomers become eligible for Social Security...

Clouding the sunny outlook offered by the Republicans are warnings issued in recent weeks, including from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, that the economy is slowing because of the slumping housing market and tepid job creation.

And many economists believe this year's smaller deficit is just a blip. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicts the deficit for fiscal 2007 will swell to $286 billion and total $1.76 trillion over the next decade.

The Congressional Budget Office also cast doubt on Bush's assertion that tax cuts would reduce the deficit. Its estimates show that extending the cuts, which are scheduled to expire in 2010, would add $2.2 trillion to the deficit through 2016.

And these people think they're actually fit to govern. Go figure.

DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT. Let the Democrats give you a detailed timeline of Bush's shenanigans with the deficit.

BONUS TRACK: Media Matters is all over this Republican con game as well.