In the late 1990s, the U.S. experienced budget surpluses for the first time in decades, and at the time, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) was projecting future surpluses for as far as the eye could see. In 2001, the high point for surplus projections, CBO estimated that the federal government would achieve a $5.6 trillion cumulative surplus for fiscal years 2002-2011. Today, CBO is estimating a $2.9 trillion deficit for the same 10-year period. Some observers argue that tax cuts enacted in 2001, 2002 and 2003 are to blame for the emergence of deficits, but CBO’s numbers tell a different story.