Deficit Soars while Bipartisan Earmarks Continue Unabated
Deficit spending is skyrocketing. In December, a report was issued under the auspices of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Committee for a Federal Budget, declaring that the U.S. is facing “a debt-driven crisis — something previously viewed as almost unfathomable in the world’s largest economy.”
This past year, the federal government ran a deficit of $l.4 trillion. In 2009 alone, the public debt grew 31 percent, from $5.8 trillion to $7.6 trillion, rising from 41 percent to 53 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
The report was prepared by, among others, seven former directors of the White House Office of Management and Budget, two former comptrollers general of the United States, and seven former directors of the Congressional Budget Office, as well as former chairman of the Federal Reserve System Paul Volcker. The report declares that, unless strong remedial steps are taken, the debt is projected to rise to 85 percent of GDP by 2018 and l00 percent four years later. By that time, they argue, the U.S. economy could be in ruins.
Harold
