Of every dollar spent by the U.S. Federal government, thirty-eight cents is borrowed. Put another way, FedGov is spending 161% of its income.
When BHO took office, he promised to halve the “Bush deficit” by the end of his first term. The inherited deficit, lest we forget, was primarily from two things: The (Clinton-created) housing sub-prime mortgage-related bailouts and the war in Iraq.
The Bush bailouts are a thing of the past. Much of the bailout money is even being repaid to the U.S. Treasury, with interest. U.S. participation in the war in Iraq is minuscule compared to what it was when Obama took office, most U.S. troops having been withdrawn. Yet, the deficit has grown instead of shrunk.
Is anyone going to seriously argue that the present deficit isn’t Obama’s? I mean, did he really believe he could provide free medical care for 43,000,000 more people and it wasn’t going to cost more?
Some 60% of U.S. debt is coming due in the next four years and must either be paid or refinanced. Even a slight rise in interest rates would increase hugely the interest we must pay on the National Debt (thirteen+ trillion) which would add significantly to the deficit.
Obama’s Keynesian economic policies continue to be, predictably, disastrous.
This morning Obama, at his press conference, was telling folks we’d have to reduce “food safety… critical medical research … air travel safety” and such if he cannot raise taxes on “millionaires, billionaires and corporate jet owners.” He really tore into tax breaks for “corporate jet owners.”
I dunno, will cutting off the tax break for “corporate jet owners” and such really bump FedGov’s income by 61 percent?
I’ll say it again: If FedGov would just stop doing all the stuff it does that is not authorized by the Constitution, we’d have a budget surplus in short order.