Budget deficit: Smaller than previous years, still pretty freaking huge

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» A report full of mediocre news: The Congressional Budget Office’s report on the deficit notes that while the deficits will be smaller over the next decade — by $3.3 trillion over ten years — as a result of the arm-twisting budget deal passed earlier this month, another $3.5 trillion in deficits will be added on top of everything else. Oh, and lest you think that $1.28 trillion is a small amount, it’s only small compared to the prior two years, which were basically the two largest yearly deficits on record. So this total redefines “smaller.”

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Feb 2011 11:27

$3.73
trillion the size of Obama’s latest budget plan, just released today
$1.1
trillion the amount Obama plans to cut from the deficit over the next decade

2/3 the share of deficit cuts that would come from cutbacks in various federal programs
$7.2T the amount that would be added to the public debt – not the deficit – over the next decade
$4T the amount Obama’s own deficit commission wanted to cut over the next decade source

» Only one silo gets the cuts: Obama wants to effectively limit all non-security discretionary spending for the next five years, an area which only accounts for 12 percent of federal spending, at the cost of doing something about defense spending or programs like Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security – which, as popular as they are, account for huge chunks of the pie. The cuts are also much lower than what Republicans want, although they’re also hoping to avoid defense spending cuts, even though that’s a huge chunk.

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

Before anybody starts shooting down proposals, I think we need to listen, we need to gather up all the facts. If people are, in fact, concerned about spending, debt, deficits and the future of our country, then they’re going to need to be armed with the information about the kinds of choices that are going to be involved, and we can’t just engage in political rhetoric.
President Barack Obama • Offering firm – but vague – support for his fiscal commission’s work. An early version if his report was released yesterday, and it specifically made Democrats very angry (and Republicans as well, over proposed massive defense cuts). Obama’s point? Let’s look at their ideas, avoid the politics and start talking about what makes most sense. That said, though, Obama’s not offering specifics until he sees the full report, which isn’t coming along until December 1. Plus, he’s in Seoul, not DC. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

» Why it’s alarming this time: It’s relatively rare for deficit increases to happen in the month of April, due to the fact that it’s tax season and lots of revenue is coming in. In fact, there’s been an April surplus 43 of the last 56 years. Even crazier, the increase this April was four times bigger than last April, from $20 billion to $83 billion. That’s also twice the Wall Street estimate of $40 billion.

Posted by Ernie Smith • 8 Comments • Permalink