Debt as far as the eye can see..

Obama is going to make the Bush spending spree look miniscule..



The Congressional Budget Office projects that if current laws and policies remained unchanged, the federal budget would show a deficit of $1.3 trillion for fiscal year 2010. That amount would be slightly smaller than the 2009 deficit but, as a share of the economy as a whole (measured by gross domestic product, or GDP), it would still be the second largest since World War II. The budget picture remains daunting beyond this year, with deficits averaging about $600 billion annually from 2011 through 2020.

Those estimates are not intended to be a prediction of actual budget outcomes; rather, they indicate what CBO estimates would occur if current laws and policies remained in place. Toward that end, CBO’s projections presume no changes in current tax laws or spending programs. Any new legislation that reduced revenues (such as indexing the alternative minimum tax for inflation) or boosted spending (such as providing supplemental funding for military operations in Afghanistan) would increase projected deficits. For example, if all tax provisions that are scheduled to expire in the coming decade were extended and the AMT were indexed for inflation, deficits over the 2011–2020 period would be more than $7 trillion higher. (See the above chart for details on the budgetary impact of some alternative policy actions and see the sidebar for more information on CBO’s baseline.)

Accumulating deficits are pushing federal debt to significantly higher levels. CBO projects that total debt will reach $8.8 trillion by the end of 2010. At 60 percent of GDP, that would be the highest level since 1952. Under current laws and policies, CBO’s projections show that level climbing to 67 percent by 2020. As a result, interest payments on the debt are poised to skyrocket; the government’s spending on net interest will triple between 2010 and 2020, increasing from $207 billion to $723 billion.

Economic growth will probably remain muted for the next few years. The deep recession that began in 2007 appears to have ended in the middle of 2009. The economy grew during the third quarter, and early signs suggest that the labor market strengthened slightly late in 2009. CBO expects that the economy will continue to grow, although at a slower pace than in past recoveries. Hiring rates remain very low, and CBO projects that the unemployment rate will average more than 10 percent during the first half of 2010, before beginning a gradual decline. That pattern is typical of recent recessions, where hiring continues to fall for 6 to 12 months after the economy begins to grow.

Beyond the 10-year projection period, growth of spending for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will speed up from its already rapid rate. To keep federal deficits and debt from reaching levels that would substantially harm the economy, lawmakers would have to significantly increase revenues, decrease projected spending, or enact some combination of the two.

http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/108xx/doc10871/BudgetOutlook2010_Jan.cfm

Can conservatives do anything besides cut and paste?

Or don't they have any thoughts of their own?

Don't see you doing the math. If you voted for the idiots in congress now you must have 'cut and paste' their lies into your brains database (and never bothered to check the data yourself).

basic fact.

Taxes will increase unless we shrink government.

Goverment will increase unless we change congress.

and... Taxes will increase unless we shrink government.

I don't need the CBO to tell me that. I can add.

and Congress has already taken my freedom.

I hope you wake up before they take yours.

True.

Most of it is inherited debt. Do not blame this deficit dilemna on one man. Yes, it's a deep hole we're in, and it will take a long time to get out of it. But perhaps people need to brainstorm some ideas of reducing the deficit instead of complaining about it. Shrinking or expanding "government" is not the answer. Cutting government wasteful spending, and catering to lobbyists is. Taxes will increase as long we're so deep in this deficit. It can't pay itself off, but cutting deficit spending in addition to levvied taxes will eventually right the balance sheet.

That was profound.. How long did it take you to come up with that?

Maybe you should contact a left wing blogger and ask how you are supposed to respond..

OK....I know I don't know a lot of the economics of the government...but wouldn't it be common sense to NOT spend money that you don't have on things that can wait? right now I'm thinking of the first stimulus bill. All of the pork....why?

BTW...both sides do copy/paste articles. That is how it's done around these parts. Otherwise people will be asking for a link to back up your source.

Smart girl. She understands the economics of the government just fine.