Econ For Dummies.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)

Media: The president's news conference this week was marred by journalists' stale questions about the economy and tax cuts. It's clear that the press will never learn.

What much of America knows about economics is what it learns from the talking heads it sees on television. Trouble is, most of those heads seem to be empty of any knowledge of economics.

The favorite boogeyman dredged up by the press during Wednesday's Rose Garden exchange was the deficit. And tax cuts are responsible for it, the journalists implied.

Where do we begin in debunking this myth? Well, let's start with the causes of the current $455 billion deficit.

We could cite the slow economy, which is to blame for about half of the deficit. Or talk about financing the war on terror, the cause of another 25% or so. We could even say, that, yes, the tax cuts have created about 25% of the deficit.

But why don't we talk about the role of spending? We might as well, because the White House press corps isn't going to make the link.

We submit that overspending is the biggest contributor to the federal deficit. Congress could end the deficit now if it cut spending by the exact amount of the shortfall.