Throwing "Gasoline on the Fiscal Fire"
In a story in The Hill newspaper last night, Erik Wasson reported that “(a) record $1.5 trillion deficit projection . . . from the Congressional Budget Office provided ammunition for both sides in the raging debate over spending and the size of government.” According to Wasson, “The CBO blamed the dismal picture on December’s tax deal, which extended all of the Bush-era tax rates for two years and will add $390 billion to the deficit.” He later added:
“The CBO report could give momentum to conservatives who want to lower 2011 spending levels to a rate not seen since 2006.
“House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has been charged with setting non-security spending budget ceilings at 2008 levels or lower, but the conservative Republican Study Committee has called for even steeper cuts.
“In the Senate, 21 Republicans led by Sens. Orrin Hatch (Utah) and John Cornyn (Texas) cited the report in introducing a bill to start the process of adding a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution.
“The increase in the deficit would bring it to 9.8 percent of gross domestic product, the CBO said, following deficits of 10 percent and 8.9 percent during the previous two years.
Here is the link to the Congressional Budget Office's “Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2011 Through 2021” (includes links to a summary, the entire document, Director’s blog post, and supplemental material).