“I‘m honored to be in this job, and honored to serve this president, and honored to present this budget,” acting White House budget director Jeffrey Zients told the House Budget Committee in a hearing Wednesday. We’re glad Zients is honored to be where he is, but after listening to the implausible defenses he offered for President Obama’s proposed 2013 federal budget, we certainly don’t envy his position.

Obama’s budgeteers have claimed that their new document achieves $4 trillion in deficit reduction. Budget panel Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., however, pointed out to Zients during his testimony that more than $2 trillion of that purported “savings” results from Obama claiming credit for a debt-ceiling deal that Congress enacted over the president’s objections last year. Zients replied disingenuously: “We started the race months ago. So taking credit in this budget for the $2 trillion that we’ve worked together to achieve, I think, makes a lot of sense.”