"The deficit - the U.S. knows our deficit is too large. We are committed to bringing it down. We are bringing it down. The deficit came in for fiscal year '05 at considerably below where it was the prior year"
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Budget language rarely sounds like persuasion, but Snow’s line is built as a confidence spell: acknowledge the fear, promise control, declare momentum, then cite a number-shaped proof. “The U.S. knows” is a neat little ventriloquism trick. He’s not just speaking for the Treasury; he’s drafting the nation into consensus, turning a contested political question into an accepted fact. That move matters in 2005, when deficits weren’t an abstraction but a headline, tied to the Iraq war, tax cuts, and a White House selling permanence on revenue reductions alongside expansive security commitments.
The repetition is the real engine: “committed,” “bringing it down,” “bringing it down.” It’s managerial theater, less about granular accounting than about projecting competence. Snow’s intent isn’t to win an argument about fiscal philosophy; it’s to stop the bleeding in public trust. The subtext is: don’t panic, the adults are in the room, the trendline is our friend.
Then comes the careful narrowing: “fiscal year ’05” and “considerably below where it was the prior year.” That’s comparative framing, not absolute reckoning. He doesn’t say “small,” “sustainable,” or “fixed.” He says “below,” which is the minimum viable victory when the baseline is already alarming. The line also quietly shifts the standard from responsibility (What should the deficit be?) to trajectory (Is it getting better?), a classic rhetorical move when you can’t defend the destination but can sell the direction.
The repetition is the real engine: “committed,” “bringing it down,” “bringing it down.” It’s managerial theater, less about granular accounting than about projecting competence. Snow’s intent isn’t to win an argument about fiscal philosophy; it’s to stop the bleeding in public trust. The subtext is: don’t panic, the adults are in the room, the trendline is our friend.
Then comes the careful narrowing: “fiscal year ’05” and “considerably below where it was the prior year.” That’s comparative framing, not absolute reckoning. He doesn’t say “small,” “sustainable,” or “fixed.” He says “below,” which is the minimum viable victory when the baseline is already alarming. The line also quietly shifts the standard from responsibility (What should the deficit be?) to trajectory (Is it getting better?), a classic rhetorical move when you can’t defend the destination but can sell the direction.
Quote Details
| Topic | Money |
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