Remember, it's only a "concept". (UPDATED)

(UPDATE #1): Well, that didn’t take long. As predicted, the fix is already in. A day after announcing the Porkulus Surge, the President adopted a get-tough approach to putting together a budget exhorting Congress to adopt pay-go rules. No new spending unless it could be paid for with budget cuts elsewhere or new taxes. And no exemptions – repeat – no exemptions… he really, really means it… except for, you know, the $2.5 trillion for universal health care over the next 10 years.

The "pay-as-you-go" budget formula plan is significantly weaker than a proposal Obama issued with little fanfare last month.

It would carve out about $2.5 trillion worth of exemptions for Obama's priorities over the next decade. His health care reform plan also would get a green light to run big deficits in its early years. But over a decade, Congress would have to come up with money to cover those early year deficits.

Try to suppress your laughter a little, please.

(here endeth the update)
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Employing the latest ruse in an attempt to get China to purchase more U.S. debt, President Obama, yesterday, rolled out a challenge to Congress to “pay-go” or pay as you go, meaning they could only pay for new entitlement spending by raising taxes or coming up with budget cuts.

Sounds pretty good, right? You only pay for stuff if you have the money for it.

The only problem is, it’s complete bunk. Back at Seminary, we did not have an Honor Code, we had an Honor Concept and the running gag there was to be mindful of the distinction and to act accordingly.

So, it’s not binding – it’s only a challenge. And when “pay as you go” was in play back in the 90s, it was common practice to simply exempt areas of the budget from any cuts. So, in effect, it made the raising taxes to pay for new entitlement spending the only effective option for paying for it. Now, you don’t think that this, the most ethical Congress in history would resort to such parliamentary chicanery, now do you?

Lastly, this pay-go “concept” is not meant to effect legislation on a yearly basis, meaning the books don’t have to be balanced at the end of the fiscal year but rather over the coming decade which means there is really no check on the President’s and Congress’s current and future spending plans as someone else will have to deal with the mess some ten years down the road. So, thank god, there is nothing to worry abot - the deferred responsibility program is still on track

Let’s go to the scoreboard…

Pay-go on a scale of 1 - 10. Effectiveness: 0 Cynicism: 8.5