It used to be that there was a lot of talk on Capitol Hill about actually balancing the budget. Back in the Clinton Administration, the Republican Congress came within one vote of sending a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution to the states for ratification.
But after a few balanced budgets in the Clinton era, it's been all red ink - and the latest forecast from the Congressional Budget Office features more and more of the same.
The budget deficit in Fiscal Year 2013 was $680 billion, and the CBO prediction for this year is that the deficit will fall to $506 billion, a decline of 26 percent.
But after another predicted drop in 2015, the budget deficits will start going the wrong way, according to the CBO:
2013 - $680 billion
2014 - $506 billion
2015 - $469 billion
2016 - $556 billion
2017 - $530 billion
2018 - $560 billion
2019 - $661 billion
2020 - $737 billion
2021 - $820 billion
2022 - $946 billion
2023 - $957 billion
2024 - $960 billion
You get the picture. Over the next ten years (2015-2024), the Congressional Budget Office figures that Uncle Sam will add $7.2 trillion dollars to the already large national debt.
CBO Director Doug Elmendorf told reporters at a news conference that was 100% legislative nerd (and we are proud of it) that spending would grow faster in three basic categories:
+ Social Security
+ Health programs like Medicare, Medicaid and through the Obama health law exchanges
+ Net interest payments on the national debt
Meanwhile, spending in three other categories would shrink:
+ Mandatory spending programs
+ Defense
+ Non-defense programs
Revenues are forecast to grow from $3 trillion in 2014 to $4.8 trillion by 2024; actual spending would go from $3.5 trillion in 2014 to $5.8 trillion in 2024.
The figures only reinforce the notion that if you are going to get hold of the budget deficit, much of the heavy lifting will have to come in major health care programs and Social Security.
Let's just say those aren't the easiest programs to fiddle with in terms of blowback from the voters.
Read the latest from the deficit and economic forecast at the CBO website.
About the Author
