posted on August 26, 2003 12:32:09 PM new
yep watch what happens next, more joblessness, more ederly will suffer, no more schools for the kids,only schools for the very rich, no more proper health care, more crime, shall i go on, and then there are those who support this administration, but wait till their bank accounts run dry, then we will see what support will be given by the Bush supporters. The people of this once great nation are being robbed, and so few care.
Record Budget Deficit of $480 Billion Predicted
Tue August 26, 2003 08:59 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday forecast a federal budget deficit of $480 billion in 2004, a record shortfall that could pose problems for President Bush as he seeks re-election.
In its bi-annual budget outlook, details of which were obtained by Reuters from congressional sources, the nonpartisan agency also confirmed an earlier prediction of a $401 billion deficit in 2003 and forecast a cumulative budget deficit of $1.4 trillion over the next decade.
The report comes as the latest blow in a relentless drumbeat of fiscal bad news that has put the Bush administration on the political defensive.
The White House itself last month predicted that federal budget deficits would balloon to $455 billion this year and $475 billion in 2004 -- far above the previous record of $290 billion reached in 1992 -- even without factoring in the mounting cost of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
CBO, however, forecast a smaller $401 billion deficit this fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30, mainly because it assumes previously earmarked Iraq funds are being spent more slowly.
But both Democratic and Republican budget analysts agree the actual 2004 deficit could well come in far higher than the agency's "baseline" estimate -- likely topping $500 billion once likely new Iraq war spending requests are included.
Democrats blame Bush's tax cuts for the steep slide in the government's fiscal position since it enjoyed a record surplus of $236 billion in 2000. Republicans argue that the cuts have boosted economic growth and the deficits remain below levels seen in the 1980s as a percentage of the size of the economy.
