US budget gap seen to exceed US$1.3t
Source: Agencies |
August 21, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
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THIS year's United States government deficit will exceed US$1.3 trillion, Congress' official budget analysts have projected in a report underscoring election year perils both parties face as they struggle to balance conflicting demands to trim budget shortfalls, spark the economy and cut taxes.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Thursday that this year's budget gap would be US$71 billion less than last year's red ink, thanks to a reversal of recent trends that have seen years of steadily rising government spending and falling federal revenues.
Even so, that would leave this year's gap as the second-largest ever in dollars, trailing only last year's US$1.4 trillion.
To put those numbers in perspective, the shortfalls for 2009 and 2010 are each three times as big as the government's annual deficit had ever been previously.
The report immediately became fodder for partisan finger-pointing over the deficit, a concern of voters in the shadow of this fall's elections.
Senator Judd Gregg, top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, said the report highlighted that a "spending spree" by Congress, including enactment of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, was driving annual deficits and the cumulative federal debt skyward.
"Today's CBO outlook only underscores what we already know -- the current pace of US spending is unaffordable and unsustainable, and without a change in direction, this country is headed for fiscal calamity," Gregg said.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, a Democrat, said helping the economy recover must be the top priority. But he also said "we must start now to enact deficit reduction policies that will kick in after the economy has more fully recovered."
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Thursday that this year's budget gap would be US$71 billion less than last year's red ink, thanks to a reversal of recent trends that have seen years of steadily rising government spending and falling federal revenues.
Even so, that would leave this year's gap as the second-largest ever in dollars, trailing only last year's US$1.4 trillion.
To put those numbers in perspective, the shortfalls for 2009 and 2010 are each three times as big as the government's annual deficit had ever been previously.
The report immediately became fodder for partisan finger-pointing over the deficit, a concern of voters in the shadow of this fall's elections.
Senator Judd Gregg, top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, said the report highlighted that a "spending spree" by Congress, including enactment of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, was driving annual deficits and the cumulative federal debt skyward.
"Today's CBO outlook only underscores what we already know -- the current pace of US spending is unaffordable and unsustainable, and without a change in direction, this country is headed for fiscal calamity," Gregg said.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, a Democrat, said helping the economy recover must be the top priority. But he also said "we must start now to enact deficit reduction policies that will kick in after the economy has more fully recovered."
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