Budget Shortfalls
Published on June 10th, 2003 by J.T in MoneyCBO Expects Deficit to Shatter Record
By ALAN FRAM
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Congressional Budget Office now expects this year’s federal deficit to exceed $400 billion, shattering the previous record even as President Bush and lawmakers consider creating expensive new prescription drug benefits for Medicare recipients.
Only a month ago, the budget office - which is Congress’ top nonpartisan fiscal analyst - said for the first time that it believed this year’s shortfall would exceed $300 billion.
But that projection excluded this year’s price tag of the tax reductions enacted three weeks ago, which totaled $330 billion through 2013. It also failed to reflect an ongoing softness in the economy, which is generating lower federal revenues than the government had anticipated.
“CBO now projects that the federal government is likely to end fiscal year 2003 with a deficit of more than $400 billion,” the office said in its monthly analysis of data from the Treasury Department.
The largest budget gap ever was the $290 billion in red ink produced in 1992.
We should continue on this path and you never know, we might be able to persude our debitors to take a state or two in liu of payments!!
