US budget deficit to break $1 trillion in fiscal 2020, CBO says

[corbe]

US budget deficit to break $1 trillion in fiscal 2020, CBO says

Published Tue, Jan 28 20202:00 PM ESTUpdated an hour ago

Jeff Cox

Key Points

The U.S. budget deficit is on track to break $1 trillion in 2020, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday.

That estimate is a slight increase from the August 2019 projection and comes with a GDP growth estimate of 2.2%.

The U.S. budget deficit likely will break the $1 trillion barrier in 2020, the first time that has happened since 2012, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates released Tuesday.

After passing that mark this year, the deficit is expected to average $1.3 trillion between 2021-30, rising from 4.6% of GDP to 5.4% over the period. That’s well above the long-term average since around the end of World War II. The deficit since then has not topped 4% of GDP for more than five consecutive years, averaging just 1.5% over the period.

As part of a spending pattern that the CBO deemed unsustainable, the national debt is expected to hit $31.4 trillion by 2030.

<..snip..>

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/28/us-budget-deficit-to-break-1-trillion-in-fiscal-2020-cbo-says.html

[GrouchoTex]

 

I remember when this was one of our (conservatives) largest issues, if not the largest.

[musiclady]

I remember when this was one of our (conservatives) largest issues, if not the largest.

It still should be.....

[GrouchoTex]

It still should be.....

I wished it were taken more seriously than it has been, that's for sure.

[Applewood]

I remember when this was one of our (conservatives) largest issues, if not the largest.

It's like most of the other issues.  Every election we hear candidates with their frowny faces intact pretend to be concerned and promise to "do something" about it.  But in the end, after they are elected, the promises are forgotten.

[Fishrrman]

Groucho laments:
"I remember when this was one of our (conservatives) largest issues, if not the largest."

Forget it, man.
That'll never happen no mo'.
Them days...is over.

...Until things break so badly that by then there'll be no choice but to fix them.
But I assure you -- no one here will like "the fixes"...

[jmyrlefuller]

But no one will give up their cut.

[Restored]

The Democrats run the House now.

[Applewood]

The Democrats run the House now.

They do indeed.  And they might take over the senate too. 

But then Republicans, when they had both houses of congress, did nothing about the deficit either.  Neither party is really interested in curbing runaway spending.  If anything, both sides want to spend even more.  As has been pointed out, spending buys votes.