Again, but with a little more flair

So, what happens when your deficit estimates start resembling a mushroom cloud? You trot out budget director Peter Orszag to do some craaaazy tapdancing:
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Both Romer and budget director Peter Orszag said this year's contraction would have been far worse without money from the $787 billion economic stimulus package that Obama pushed through Congress as one of his first major acts as president.

At the same time, the continuing stresses on the economy have, in effect, increased the size of the stimulus package because the government will have to spend more in unemployment insurance and food stamps, Orszag said. He said the cost of the stimulus package — which spends most of its money in fiscal year 2010 — will grow by tens of billions of dollars above the original $787 billion.

You read that correctly. Porkulus has been so insanely successful that it is actually going to cost more money in the way of unemployment insurance and food stamps… the very thing that porkulus has been so successful at preventing according to Romer and Orszag.

Orszag, anticipating backlash over the deficit numbers, conceded that the long-term deficits are "higher than desirable." The annual negative balances amount to about 4 percent of the gross domestic product, a number that many economists say is unsustainable.

But Orszag also argued that overhauling the health system would reduce health care costs and address the biggest contributor to higher deficits.

"I know there are going to be some who say that this report proves that we can't afford health reform," he said. "I think that has it backwards."

Whether they are just saving political face or actually believe it, it’s become a pathological obsession with these people to believe and preach that expanding healthcare to the uninsured will not raise the deficit (unless, of course, you ration service as well).

We forgot where we heard it, but administration officials doing press conferences must get drunk before going out and being forced to spew such non-sense.