Federal deficit to soar to $407 billion

[HopeHoops]

Source: CNN

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The budget deficit will jump by $246 billion to $407 billion this year, the Congressional Budget Office estimates in a report released Tuesday.
...
The agency attributes the jump to "a substantial increase in spending and a halt in the growth of tax revenues."

That drop in revenue is driven largely by the rebates provided to tax filers from the economic stimulus law Congress passed earlier this year. The spending hike is partly due to efforts by the government "to cover the insured deposits of insolvent financial institutions," the agency said.

Read more: http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/09/news/economy/cbo_budget_update/index.htm?cnn=yes

---

Ah, aren't we happy to be out of those terrible Clinton years where we had a surplus!

[no_hypocrisy]

1. And McCain wants more tax cuts.

[firedupdem]

2. They want 4 more years of screwing up the country n/t

[SpiralHawk]

3. "Mission Accomplished." - Commander AWOL

"Shock and awe, baby." - Commander AWOL

[OhioChick]

4. Surprised this isn't on the greatest page, yet.

K&R
:kick:

[dougkeenan]

5. The Surge!

Not that the media will report it

[krabigirl]

6. Yikes! And McCain wants to keep the tax cuts? And borrow for more wars?

With the baby boomers retiring and needing Medicare soon, there is no way we can keep up this kind of deficit. We won't be able to tap into Social Security surplus funds because we won't have any. The only way out is to raise raxes and cut spending. Will anyone actually propose that, though?

It scares me also that the Chinese hold a huge amount of our debt.

[Psephos]

7. We have D majority in both chambers and final authority on the budget

So WTF is wrong with this picture?

[Ian David]

8. Shock Doctrine. n/t

[CatholicEdHead]

9. Drowning in a bathtub of debt

And this is without Freddy Mac/Fanny Mae figured in.

[Festivito]

10. No mention of "emergency Iraq" bill yet to come, nor cost of FM2.

Purposely vague in order to infer it could be because of Dems instead of Republican's ruinous behavior causing Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac to need our tax dollar infusion.

[Clickhere]

11. China owns us

Not only is our federal debt sky high, but our external debt is up there as well. Who will save us?

[Amerigo Vespucci]

12. Budget Deficit Likely Doubled for Fiscal '08

Source: The Wall Street Journal

WASHINGTON -- The Congressional Budget Office said the U.S. budget deficit for fiscal 2008 -- $407 billion -- will be more than double the deficit for 2007, hit by the wars and a weak economy, and predicted it is likely to rise further in fiscal 2009.

"The figures make it challenging to avoid playing the dismal economist," said CBO director Peter Orszag in a statement.

The agency foresees an increase to $438 billion by fiscal 2009, which begins Oct. 1, with the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac further complicating budget projections.

The fiscal 2008 budget deficit will rise to 2.9% of gross domestic product this year, according to the agency, up from 1.2% of GDP in 2007. The fiscal 2007 deficit was $161 billion.



Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122100526189017309.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[lapfog_1]

13. I believe that the Iraq war costs have all been "off budget"

and not included in these numbers... The true deficit (and therefore the true debt) is much, much larger.

[OneBlueSky]

14. gonna be a hell of a lot more than $407 billion . . .

"The agency's latest estimates do not reflect the Treasury announcement this weekend that the government would temporarily takeover Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-sponsored enterprises that form the backbone of the mortgage market."

nor, I assume, does that figure include expenditures for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan . . .