Report: U.S. deficit to hit $2.29 trillion
| quote: | Congress' deficit forecast worsens
Analysts say deficit will hit $2.29 trillion in 10 years; earlier forecast was $2.01 trillion.
September 7, 2004: 12:25 PM EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. budget deficit will balloon to $2.29 trillion over the next decade, congressional analysts said Tuesday. This represents a worse outlook than previously forecast and one likely to stir election-year debate about President Bush's economic policies.
The forecast from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office compares to its March outlook for a cumulative deficit of $2.01 trillion for the 2005-2014 period, if current economic policies stay the same.
"The outlook in terms of the deficits in 2004 and 2005 has improved, but the projection of the cumulative deficit over the 2005-2014 period has worsened," the CBO said in a summer update of its budget outlook.
The CBO confirmed a preliminary forecast made in August for a record deficit of $422 billion for the 2004 fiscal year.
That number compares to the White House's latest deficit outlook of $445 billion for this year and was better than earlier estimates. The White House no longer provides a 10-year deficit forecast.
CBO is expecting the deficit to decline to $348 billion in 2005, if current laws and policies do not change.
"This report underscores that our policies are working to create a stronger economy, more jobs and a lower deficit," said House of Representatives Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle, an Iowa Republican.
The economy, particularly the deficit, has become a key theme between the two presidential candidates.
Bush blames the 2001 recession, the costs of the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks and the war on terror for the growing budget shortfall.
Democrats say Bush's tax cuts are responsible for turning the surplus he inherited into a record deficit, which they say threatens the future of Social Security and the Medicare health-care program for the elderly.
"Only George W. Bush could celebrate over a record budget deficit of $422 billion," Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said in a statement Tuesday.
Kerry said he has a plan to restore fiscal discipline, rein in "out of control" spending and cut the deficit in half in four years.
CBO warned that even if the economy grows more rapidly than projected, "significant long-term strains" on the budget will get worse within the next decade as the baby-boomers begin to retire.
The report projects economic growth of 4.5 percent in 2004 and a slightly slower 4.1 percent next year.
CBO also forecasts that the federal government will reach its $7.384 trillion debt limit in October.
The U.S. Treasury has asked Congress to raise the borrowing ceiling for the third time in three years, a sensitive vote Republicans would like to avoid ahead of the election. Top of page
Copyright 2004 Reuters All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. |
Oh Yeah.. We are setting major record settings with the Bush admin. Let's vote for.. 4 more years!! Yuju!!! jejeje.. well, I dont know about this, you economist may not blame it on him, but, I just don't see where the " THe economic is strong" comments come from.. give me a brake ?!?!
Something Noteworthy..
| quote: | Record $422 billion deficit predicted
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Congressional Budget Office is projecting that this election-year's federal deficit will reach $422 billion, congressional aides said Tuesday, the highest ever, yet a smaller shortfall than analysts predicted earlier this year.
The figure, provided by aides who spoke on condition of anonymity, is sure to provide political fodder for both parties during the remaining two months of the presidential and congressional campaigns.
"This is by far the biggest deficit in American history," said Thomas Kahn, Democratic staff director of the House Budget Committee. "There is no credible way Republicans can portray the record deficits they have created as good news."
"Deficits are going down, jobs are going up, the economy continues to improve," said Sean Spicer, Republican spokesman for the House Budget panel. "I don't see how you can't be happy with that news."
The number was being released later Tuesday in the annual summertime forecast issued by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
The projection by Congress' nonpartisan budget analysts would surpass last year's $375 billion shortfall, the current record.
The CBO report also said next year's deficit would shrink to $348 billion, which would be the third largest ever in dollar terms. That would be $15 billion less than it projected last March, but $17 billion higher than the White House estimated in July.
When adjusted to erase the effects of inflation, the projected $422 billion deficit projected for 2004 would exceed the value of every annual shortfall since World War II.
Tuesday's CBO estimate should prove fairly accurate because the federal budget year, which runs through Sept. 30, has less than one month to go. But it does not include the $2 billion in aid for repairing hurricane damage in Florida that President Bush requested Monday.
The government is expected to spend about $2.3 trillion this year, which means it will be borrowing about one of every five dollars it spends.
The $422 billion projection for 2004 echoed a preliminary estimate the budget office made last month. It was an improvement from its $477 billion forecast in January, a revision the office attributed mostly to stronger than anticipated revenue collections.
Just last month, the White House forecast a $445 billion deficit for this year, though administration officials acknowledged the figure could be too high because of overestimates for spending.
After a fleeting four-year return to annual budget surpluses under President Clinton, deficits have returned with a vengeance under Bush.
Republicans who spent the 1980s and 1990s railing against budget shortfalls have argued that fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, battling terrorism and righting the economy are higher priorities.
They also argue that today's deficits are no reason for panic because as a percentage of the overall economy, they are smaller than the largest shortfalls under President Reagan. Many economists consider that ratio the most significant measure of the harm deficits can cause.
Democrats say the shortfalls are forcing policy-makers to restrain spending for schools, domestic security and other priorities, while driving up the government's borrowing costs. And they say deficits have worsened because of the price tag of the tax cuts that Bush and his GOP allies have pushed through Congress.
Whatever the short-term deficits, most analysts agree the budget picture will worsen considerably within the coming decade. That is when the huge baby boom generation will begin relying increasingly on Social Security and Medicare, driving those programs' costs upward.
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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