Tomorrow, Thursday August 22, 2012, the United States of America will pass $16 trillion in debt. This number is inching closer to being larger than the entire U.S. economy. Today, the Congressional Budget Office released a report showing the federal government has posted a $1.1 trillion deficit for the fourth year in a row.
For fiscal year 2012 (which ends on September 30), the federal budget deficit will total $1.1 trillion, CBO estimates, marking the fourth year in a row with a deficit of more than $1 trillion. That projection is down slightly from the $1.2 trillion deficit that CBO projected in March. At 7.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), this year’s deficit will be three-quarters as large as the deficit in 2009 when measured relative to the size of the economy. Federal debt held by the public will reach 73 percent of GDP by the end of this fiscal year—the highest level since 1950 and about twice the share that it measured at the end of 2007, before the financial crisis and recent recession.
President Obama has increased the national debt by 50 percent since he took office. Remember, he claimed he would cut the deficit in half during his first term.
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FLASHBACK: February 2009.
"This administration has inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit, the largest in our nation's history."
"We cannot and will not sustain deficits like these."
"We cannot simply spend as we please."
"We are paying the price for these deficits right now."
"That's why today I am pledging to cut the deficit we inherited by half the end of my first term in office."
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