Why Believe the Government's Rosy Forecasts?

According to the CBO's forecast from 2000, the US should currently have a net surplus of $2.5T. It illustrates how much of a sham the government's deficit projections are, particularly as they apply to further out years. (And yes, I realize that 9/11 skews the results, but not nearly to the extent of the miss.)

Hopefully the electorate at large will begin to see this and insist on immediate cuts, not ones to take place 5 years down the road, and to use conservative private projections instead of government ones.