Obama Offer Spending Freeze as CBO Says this Year’s Budget Deficit to hit $1.5 TRILLION!!!

 

$1.5 TRILLION!!!

The CBO,  Congressional Budget Office, has predicted that this years federal budget defict will be 1.5 trillion, with a “T”.  This is the forecast and all President Obama offered in last night’s SOTU speech was to “freeze” discretionary spending for the next five years. That’s it, a freeze? Sorry, much more is going to have to be done than a freeze. Let’s see if Obama provides any leadership to do the tough work or is he just worried about reelection.

A new estimate predicts the federal budget deficit will hit almost $1.5 trillion this year, a stunning new record.

The latest figures from the Congressional Budget Office are up from previous estimates because Congress and President Barack Obama teamed up in December on bipartisan legislation to extend Bush-era tax cuts that were due to expire. The new estimates will only add fuel to a raging debate over cutting spending and looming legislation that’s required to allow the government to borrow more money.

As reported at The Hill, the increase in the deficit would bring it to 9.8 percent of gross domestic product. The CBO’s projections assume that current laws remain unchanged.

The CBO’s projections assume that current laws remain unchanged. If the nation continues on its current path, the CBO said, the total national debt will rise from 40 percent of GDP in 2008 to 70 percent by the end of 2011, reaching 77 percent of GDP by 2021.

Other bleak news from our economy after Obama stated that “the state of the nation” was good.

The Commerce Department says sales for all of 2010 totaled 321,000, a drop of 14.4 percent from the 375,000 homes sold in 2009. It was the fifth consecutive year that sales have declined after hitting record highs for the five previous years when the housing market was booming.

Economists say it could be years before sales hit a healthy rate of 600,000 units a year.



If you liked this post, you may also like these:

  • President Barack Obama Weekly Address, “We Need a Government That Lives Within Its Means”
  • President Barack Obama’s New Budget: $1.65 Trillion Deficit for This Year
  • Ooops, Barack Obama Understates Federal Deficits by $2.3 Trillion
  • Before Obama’s SOTU … Republicans Pass Non Binding Spending Cuts by The 256-165 Bi-Partisan Vote
  • Obama Unveils $3.8 Trillion Budget with Record Deficits




  • Comments

    7 Responses to “Obama Offer Spending Freeze as CBO Says this Year’s Budget Deficit to hit $1.5 TRILLION!!!”

    1. Doselady on January 26th, 2011 11:08 am

      So, if one freezes spending at the highest spending rate ever then how does that help the deficit? Does the president think we are all stupid?

    2. Steve on January 26th, 2011 4:27 pm

      Let me focus on just one aspect of this story.

      It’s too bad the wealthiest income earners got their tax cuts which they didn’t need. The deficit would surely be smaller if these top 1-2% had instead had the planned Bush tax rate changes applied (the expired ones that the Bush law specified).

      I suppose this is the price we pay for listening to the GOP for tax advice.
      __________________
      SM: I will go out on a limb and guess you are not an accountant, economist or actuary. You really have no idea what you are talking about. Who is to say you make too much money, I think you should be taxed at a higher rate than others.

      You focused on one aspect that was not even discussed.

      Spending is the problem. Government sticking their nose into things where they have no business is the problem. An Obama govt playing favorites is an issue.

      Obama would not know how to create a job if it bit him in the a$$. It is unbelievable that Obama talked about winning the future when if we do not win the present, there will be no future. He talked about investing (SPENDING TAX $’s) on infrastructure projects. Umm … wasnt that what the “shovel ready” stimulous $’s were for? Hmm?

      Obama did a speech that was nothing more than a hodge-podge of polling data. There was no focus or theme. Its not just me saying that, even uber lib Paul Krugman saying the same. http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/25/sotu/

    3. ‘Nuff said’ – Opinions Rants Raves – Garysworld USA – Jan 26th - GarysWorld USA on January 26th, 2011 5:54 pm

      [...] Obama Offer Spending Freeze as CBO Says this Year’s Budget Deficit to hit $1.5 TRILLION!!! Scared Monkeys  The CBO, Congressional Budget Office, has predicted that this years federal budget defict will be 1.5 trillion, with a “T”. This is the forecast and all President Obama offered in last night’s SOTU speech was to “freeze” discretionary … [...]

    4. Steve on January 26th, 2011 7:37 pm

      sm(2),

      The latest figures from the Congressional Budget Office are up from previous estimates because Congress and President Barack Obama teamed up in December on bipartisan legislation to extend Bush-era tax cuts that were due to expire.

      This is what I focused on, what was in the story. I find it difficult to think you disagree with what the story said; why else would you include it?

      I agree with these CBO conclusions, and was pointing out how the Rep’s forced us into this position when they voted as a block against cloture to consider a bill not including top income tax cuts. Interestingly, I didn’t detect any mention of the Rep’s accountability for this increase; where is the criticism of them?

      As I clearly stated, I was and am only looking to point out the impact of this portion of the deficit changes. I’m confident there is no evidence that could disprove my original claims. As to other factors, I have no position or thoughts to share on those aspects, at least for now.

    5. Steve on January 28th, 2011 6:19 pm

      – DOLLAR CRUMBLES After Obama’s Disappointing SOTU Performance (-.25% drop)

      ———–

      Today, Dollar soars soon after Obama’s uplifting SOTU performance (+.53% gain)

      What a difference a day makes! Unless; . . . perhaps there is no actual cause-effect relationship between these two events; who can be sure?

    6. Steve on January 28th, 2011 7:01 pm

      True: New-home sales in 2010 fall to lowest in 47 years.

      Also true:

      * months for sale (how long it took)
      - – Dec 2009 . . . . 14.0
      - – Dec 2010 . . . . 7.9 (43% better)

      * months supply (at current sales rate)
      - – Dec 2009 . . . . 7.8
      - – Dec 2010 . . . . 6.9 (11% better)

      * unsold homes (seasonally adjusted inventory)
      - – Dec 2009 . . . . 231,000
      - – Dec 2010 . . . . 190,000 (17% difference)

      One reason fewer homes were sold in Dec 2010 than Dec 2009 is that there were fewer homes on sale to choose from. The statistics show that while 10.2% of homes for sale in Dec 2009 sold, the Dec 2010 rate was 11.5%, a 12.7% improvement.

      Overall, signs appear to be mixed amid a still soft market.
      ________________
      SM: One month does not a year make. Are you going to argue that the original article lied? It is a fact that new home sales fell for 2010. Forclosures were also up.
      R

    7. Steve on January 29th, 2011 12:21 am

      I obviously have no intent to call anything a lie here; in fact, I began by affirming the home-sales part of the article.

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