Politico (1/19, Faler) cites an announcement Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office that it now estimates a 24% increase in the federal deficit this year, to $544 billion. The CBO projects the government will incur an additional $9.4 trillion in debt “over the next decade,” which will push debt held by the private sector to 86% of GDP by 2026, “a level unseen since shortly after World War II.”
The Hill (1/19, Ferris) reports that the projected 2016 deficit amounts to 2.9% of the US economy, the highest percentage since the recession in 2009. That was also the last year in which the deficit increased from the preceding 12 months, a pattern the CBO expects to resume in 2016. The new estimates “mark an abrupt shift from CBO estimates released in August,” The Hill says, as including costs from the year-end legislation added $130 billion to debt projections. Although the outlook throughout 2016 is “more grim than those of the last five years,” the CBO also estimates that the overall economy will “expand solidly” at 2.7%, but that’s down from the budget agency’s August 2015 projection of 3% growth.
Cumulative deficits over the next decade are also expected to be $1.5 trillion higher than previous projections, according to the
Wall Street Journal (1/19, Timiraos, Subscription Publication), which says Tuesday’s CBO report illustrates lingering damage from the 2007-09 recession and how its after-effects will inhibit the next president. In particular, the bleak near-term fiscal outlook will hurt Republican candidates seeking major tax cuts as well as Democrats who propose spending increases, the Journal says.
obama doubling the national debt to $20 trillion ---- TREASONOUS!
