(2004-01-27) — The Bush administration today announced the creation of a new cabinet-level government agency with a name that conveys the president’s resolve to balance federal spending — the Department of Deficit Obliteration.

With a proposed annual budget of $756 billion, the Department of Deficit Obliteration will study ways to eliminate the gap between federal revenues and expenditures without any real cuts in spending that might cause discomfort for potential voters.

“We were going to call it the Department of Deficit Reduction,” said an unnamed senior administration official, “but we wanted to use a word that shows how serious the President is about eliminating this pernicious deficit.”

A new Congressional Budget Office report predicts a $477 billion budget deficit next year, rolling up to more than $2 trillion over the next 10 years if current taxing and spending levels persist. And while the president’s own 2005 budget proposal will project shrinking deficits, Mr. Bush reportedly felt the need to take radical action against what he calls “the other threat to our homeland security.”

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