When Congress and President Obama adopted the second stimulus last February, the estimated $787 billion price tag raised eyebrows. But the actual cost is coming in above the original estimates. In new budget projections released this morning, the Congressional Budget Office made a $75 billion upward revision to the estimated cost of the stimulus and now pegs the cost at $862 billion. The agency explains that the stimulus package’s increases in unemployment compensation and food stamps have been more costly than expected and that state and local governments have issued unexpectedly large volumes of the new Build America Bonds authorized by the package.
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