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Also Try Medicare News -01-06-06 Economist: Cost of War Over $1 Trillion (Guardian Unlimited) "The real cost to the US of the Iraq war is likely to be between $1 trillion and $2 trillion (£1.1 trillion), up to 10 times more than previously thought, according to a report written by a Nobel prize-winning economist and a Harvard budget expert." "The study, which expanded on traditional estimates by including such costs as lifetime disability and healthcare for troops injured in the conflict as well as the impact on the American economy, concluded that the US government is continuing to underestimate the cost of the war." 01-06 -02-06-06 President Bush's Budget for 2007 (Whitehouse.gov) "The President's 2007 Budget continues the successful pro-growth policies that have encouraged robust economic growth and job creation. A strong economy, together with spending restraint, is critical to reducing the deficit. The Budget builds on last year's successful spending restraint by again holding the growth of overall discretionary spending below inflation, proposing to reduce non-security discretionary spending below the previous year's level, and calling for the elimination or reduction of programs not getting results or not fulfilling essential priorities. Like last year, the budget proposes savings and reforms to mandatory spending programs, whose unsustainable growth poses the real long-term danger to our fiscal health." 02-06 -02-06-06 Under Bush's Budget, Deficit Would Drop, Then Rise Again (Bloomberg.com) "Under President George W. Bush's new budget, the federal deficit would decline gradually until 2010 and then start rising again, as the full impact of his requested permanent tax cuts and other proposals is felt." "While the health- care program for the elderly would be cut by $36 billion over the next five years, the budget sees his successor pushing through an $11 billion cut in the program in 2011 alone." 02-06 -02-08-06 Who Is Affected by Federal Budget Cuts? (Christian Science Monitor) "With President Bush's signature Wednesday, Medicaid recipients can expect higher copayments and deductibles. College students may face higher interest rates on student loans, as lenders are squeezed. Work requirements for women on welfare are likely to be tightened. Federal aid to states for child-support enforcement will be curtailed." " 'There's a fairness issue here,' says Isabel Sawhill, a senior fellow in economics at the Brookings Institution. 'We're basically cutting programs that serve low-income families and the middle class in order to pay for tax cuts that go overwhelmingly to the very wealthy. Even some Republicans have been uncomfortable with that.' " "The Bush White House says programs slated for cuts or elimination are ineffective, and that there are other ways to help the poor, such as through programs supported by Bush's faith-based initiative." 02-06 -03-03-07 Nation's Top Accountant: The U.S. Is Headed for a Fiscal Catastrophe (ABC News) "As Steve Kroft reports, David Walker is an accountant, the nation’s top accountant to be exact, the comptroller general of the United States. He has totaled up our government's income, liabilities, and future obligations and concluded the numbers simply don’t add up." "David Walker is a prudent man and a highly respected public official. As comptroller general of the United States he runs he Government Accountability Office, the GAO, which audits the government's books and serves as the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress." "Asked if he knows any politicians willing to raise taxes or cut back benefits, Walker says, 'I don't know politicians that like to raise taxes. I don't know politicians that like to cut spending, but I think what we have to recognize is this is not just about numbers. We are mortgaging the future of our children and grandchildren at record rates, and that is not only an issue of fiscal irresponsibility, it's an issue of immorality.' " 03-07 -09-28-05 Borrowing the Money for War (ABC News) " 'Tax cuts are always popular,' Clinton said. 'But about half of these tax cuts since 2001 have gone to people in my income group, the top 1 percent. I've gotten four tax cuts." " 'Now, what Americans need to understand is that that means every single day of the year, our government goes into the market and borrows money from other countries to finance Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina and our tax cuts,' Clinton added. 'We depend on Japan, China, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and Korea primarily to basically loan us money every day of the year to cover my tax cut and these conflicts and Katrina. I don't think it makes any sense. I think it's wrong.' " 9-05 -10-10-05 Trade Deficit Soars to New High (CBS News) "The trade deficit soared to a record in September as the Gulf Coast hurricanes helped push America's foreign oil bill to an all-time high. The politically sensitive deficit with China also set a record." "So far this year, the deficit is running at an annual rate of $706.4 billion. This puts the country on track to far surpass the old deficit record of $617.6 billion set last year and gives critics ammunition to argue that President Bush's trade policies are not working." 9-05 -10-10-05 Trade Deficit Soars to New High (CBS News) "The trade deficit soared to a record in September as the Gulf Coast hurricanes helped push America's foreign oil bill to an all-time high. The politically sensitive deficit with China also set a record." "So far this year, the deficit is running at an annual rate of $706.4 billion. This puts the country on track to far surpass the old deficit record of $617.6 billion set last year and gives critics ammunition to argue that President Bush's trade policies are not working." 9-05 -12-02-05 Editorial: A Crony for Chair? (CBS News) "At the end of December, Alan Greenspan comes to the end of his long tenure as chairman of the Federal Reserve. Between now and then, the president will nominate Greenspan’s successor." "Today’s stock and bond prices depend to a large extent on investors’ confidence in Alan Greenspan. Take away Greenspan and nominate a lackey to replace him, and that confidence will plummet." 12-05 -12-02-05 Greenspan Sends Trade Deficit Warning (CBS News) "Foreign investors will likely tire of bankrolling the bloated U.S. trade deficit but the economy's flexibility should help temper any fallout, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Monday." 12-05 -12-02-05 Greenspan: America's Exploding Deficit Could Disrupt the Global Economy (CBS News) "Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan expressed concerns Friday that America's failure to deal with its exploding budget deficit and worldwide efforts to erect trade barriers could disrupt the global economy." 12-05 -Editorial: America Is Getting Deeper and Deeper in Debt (International Herald Tribune) "For most of the past five and a half years, interest rates have been low, allowing the government to borrow more and more - to cut taxes while fighting two expensive wars - without having to shoulder higher interest payments." "That's over now. For the first time during President George W. Bush's tenure, the U.S. government's interest bill is expected to rise in 2006, from $184 billion in 2005 to $220 billion this year, up nearly 20 percent." "And that's not the worst of it. While foreign investors were putting up most of the $1.5 trillion the U.S. government has borrowed since 2001, they were also snapping up hundreds of billions of dollars in private sector securities, transactions that have been a big source of the easy money that allowed Americans to borrow heavily against their homes." "The result, as The Wall Street Journal reported last week, is that for the first time in at least 90 years, America is now paying noticeably more to foreign creditors than it receives from its investments abroad. That is a momentous shift. It means that a growing share of America's future collective income will flow abroad, leading to a lower standard of living in the United States than would otherwise have been achieved. Americans deserve better than this financial mess." 10-06 -Editorial: America's Future Wealth Shifting to Foreign Hands (International Herald Tribune) "By definition, federal borrowing eventually results in a transfer of income from U.S. taxpayers, whose taxes go to pay the interest on the debt, to the investors who hold the Treasury bonds. As long as the bonds are owned by Americans, the transfer is simply from one group of citizens to another.""Today, however, 43 percent of the United States' publicly held debt of $4.8 trillion is held abroad, mainly by central banks in Japan, China and Britain and by offshore hedge funds. That's up from a 30 percent share in 2001, an extraordinary increase. Indeed, during the Bush years, 73 percent of new government borrowing has been from abroad." "America is living beyond its means, and foreigners are increasingly supporting the excess - in exchange for a government guarantee that a chunk of America's future collective income will benefit them, not the Americans who earn it." 05-06 Papers Budget Deficit (BullandBearWise.com) Provides a chart showing federal, state, and local surpluses and deficits from 1946 to the present. 1-04 Budget Deficit - Debt Clock (Brillig.com) In February of 2004, the national debt was around $7 trillion, the largest in U.S. history. Provides a clock that records the national debt each minute. "The estimated population of the United States is 293,295,778 so each citizen's share of this debt is $23,956.23. The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $1.77 billion per day since September 30, 2003!" 2-04 Budget Deficit - Debt Clock (Brillig.com) In February of 2004, the national debt was around $7 trillion, the largest in U.S. history. Provides a clock that records the national debt each minute. "The estimated population of the United States is 293,295,778 so each citizen's share of this debt is $23,956.23. The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $1.77 billion per day since September 30, 2003!" 2-04 Budget Deficit - Solution by Dean (DeanforAmerica.com) "From 1994 to 2001, the rule known as 'Pay as you go' was in effect in the U.S. Senate. The rule required that there must be a 60% 'super majority' of Senators to approve legislation that would increase the federal deficit over a 10-year period. In other words, new programs or increased funding had to be paid for with revenues or savings, not more borrowing. The rule was an important tool in the successful Clinton-Gore efforts to balance the budget, but an effort to extend the rule was opposed by the Bush administration and lost by one vote. As President, Governor Dean will strongly support reinstituting the Pay as You Go Rule. It is a guiding principle of his fiscal philosophy that the government must learn to live within its means." 1-04 Budget Deficit - Tradeoffs (National Priorities Project) "Could your tax dollars be better spent? Make a selection in each of the three fields below and just click to find out what else your tax dollars could provide." 2-04 Budget Deficit - View of Democrats (Democrats.org) "President Bush has released his budget for the fiscal year 2005, and it spells disaster for America. His failed economic policies are saddling the nation with enormous budget deficits as far as the eye can see. Working families will be paying off the Bush debts for generations." The individual taxpayer burden for the deficit alone seems to be between $2,000 and $2,500 per year in most states. 2-04 Budget Deficit Reduced (CNN News) "The federal budget deficit shrank to $3.44 billion in December, and the shortfall for the first three months of the budget year is running 8.9 percent below the red ink of a year ago." 1-05  Budget Deficit and the Aging Population (USA Today) "When deficits started taking off 20 years ago, the retirement of the baby boom generation was just a distant worry. Now, as the nation faces years of red ink, including at least a $400 billion shortfall in 2003 alone, the graying population is a fast-approaching reality that will put unprecedented strains on Medicare, Social Security and the economy starting around 2010." "While recent advances in productivity are expected to help the nation cope with the bulge in retirees, the reduced workforce, possible slowing of immigration and huge new fiscal burdens mean that, unlike the 1990s, the nation could have a tougher time growing out of new budget problems, economists say." "At the same time, by locking in years of deficits, lawmakers and the White House are reducing national savings and putting upward pressure on interest rates. That could limit their flexibility to increase taxes, issue bonds or take other steps to reform the massive health and retirement programs — while forcing deeper benefit cuts." 2-04 Budget Deficit to Balloon (USA Today) "President Bush's budget would produce deficits totaling $2.75 trillion over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office projected Friday in the first authoritative look at the plan's longer-range implications." "One major item omitted by Bush's budget but included in Friday's projections was the cost of his proposal to make tax cuts permanent that otherwise would expire in 2010. Bush's tax plans would add more than $1.3 trillion to deficits over the decade, although his plans to curb domestic spending would save $700 billion over that same period, the budget office said." "Wary of the impact on deficits, Republican congressional leaders already have said they will not move this year on Bush's proposal to extend the tax cuts, which is the pillar of his plan for strengthening the economy." 2-04 Budget of the United States for 2005 - An Analysis (CBS News) "President Bush's goal of cutting in half a projected $500 billion federal deficit within five years is being dismissed as too timid by conservatives, unachievable by analysts and laughable by Democrats." 2-04 CBO: Over $855 Billion Budget Deficit Projected for Decade (CNN News) "As Congress started to digest a new Bush administration request of $80 billion to bankroll wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, its top budget analyst Tuesday projected $855 billion in deficits for the next decade even without the costs of war and President Bush’s Social Security plan." 1-05  Corporate Welfare (Corporations.org) " 'The $150 billion for corporate subsidies and tax benefits eclipses the annual budget deficit of $130 billion. It's more than the $145 billion paid out annually for the core programs of the social welfare state: Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), student aid, housing, food and nutrition, and all direct public assistance (excluding Social Security and medical care).' " 7-02 Corporations May Stop Some Budget Cuts (ABC News) "One of the 58 proposed cuts that survived — the Advanced Technology Program — serves as an example of how difficult it is to cut government spending." "Since its birth in 1990, ATP has provided billions to the private sector for research and development. Almost half of that funding has been directed to Fortune 500 companies like General Motors and IBM." " 'The Advanced Technology Program is the poster child for corporate welfare,' said Tom Schatz, president of the watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste." " 'Major corporations such as General Electric, who are very powerful lobbies here on their own, get millions and millions of dollars of taxpayers' money to support their research,' said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. 'It's mind-boggling that a major corporation would require taxpayers' dollars to do their job, which is to research products that they will sell and make a profit on.' " 2-05 Cutting the Budget Deficit in Half (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - Kogan and Coven) "The Bush Administration has said it has a plan to cut the deficit in half in five years, as a percentage of GDP. However, this plan is likely to be largely a public relations gimmick. The Administration will print a budget that, on paper, has figures for the fifth year (2009) that show the deficit being cut in half. But that will only be possible because, as has been the case with previous Bush budgets, it omits major, costly items that the Administration favors and intends to request — later." The authors present what has been left off of budgets in the past. 1-04 Debt of the United States (U.S. Department of theTreasury) Provides, in the upper right, the current debt of the United States. 7-05 Editorial: Deficit Increasing Because of Democrats and Republicans (MSNBC News - Scarborough) "With big-spending Democrats at their side, President George Bush and his 'conservative' Republican Congress have controlled the government’s checkbook while the national debt has skyrocketed past seven trillion dollars." 1-05  Entitlement Programs Nearly Half of Federal Budget (CBS News) "Three growing entitlement programs consumed nearly half of all federal spending in 2004, and budget analysts expect them to make up an even bigger share in the future." 12-05 Federal Budget From 1978 Optimistically Projected to 2008 (InfoPlease.com) Provides a chart showing the national income and expenditures by category. Editor's Note: The projection to 2008 does not include expenses for war, hurricane repairs, making tax cuts permanent, or privatizing social security. If any of these expenses are included, the budget will be in deficit. 1-05  GAO: Americans owe $43 Trillion in Debt (MSNBC News) "Meanwhile on Thursday Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan praised the virtues of a consumption tax, which economists such as Laurence Kotlikoff have argued would be one equitable way to help pay the staggering cost of unfunded liabilities for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security." "According to the General Accountability Office, the government’s fiscal watchdog, the federal government’s net liabilities, unfunded commitments, and other obligations now amount to more than $43 trillion, or about $350,000 for every full-time worker." 3-05 GAO: Tax Expenditures Creating a Financial Disaster (MSNBC News) "Tax breaks cause nearly $730 billion in revenue losses every year, the GAO said in a report released Friday." "To put that number in perspective, $730 billion is just slightly less than what the federal government spent in 2004 on all military outlays and on the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly combined." "In Washington lingo, these tax breaks are called 'tax expenditures.' They 'grant special tax relief for certain kinds of behavior by taxpayers or for taxpayers in special circumstances,' according to the new GAO report released Friday." "Walker does not have the hurricanes primarily in mind. He’s thinking of the fiscal crisis that will hit the nation during the next 30 years unless Congress changes course." “ 'We are on an imprudent and unsustainable fiscal path,' he told reporters Friday. 'We were already deeply in the hole before Katrina hit…. We face a large and unprecedented demographic tidal wave, the retirement of the Baby Boom generation. Unlike most tidal waves, the waters of this tidal wave will never recede. It is a permanent change in the demographic landscape of this country, with profound economic, fiscal, budgetary and workforce implications. Unlike natural tidal waves, evacuation is not an option.' ” 9-05 Greenspan: Reduce Social Security Benefits (CNN News) "Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan urged Congress on Wednesday to deal with the country's escalating budget deficit by cutting benefits for future Social Security retirees rather than raising taxes." "In testimony before the House Budget Committee, Greenspan said the current deficit situation, with a projected record red ink of $521 billion this year, will worsen dramatically once the baby boom generation starts becoming eligible for Social Security benefits in just four years." "In his prepared testimony, Greenspan said pushing taxes up enough to meet future spending promises under Social Security and Medicare might pose a risk to the overall economy." " 'We are going to be confronted ... in a few years with an upward ratcheting of long-term interest rates which will be very debilitating for long-term growth,' Greenspan told the committee if the deficit problem is not addressed." 2-04  Huge Federal Deficit Called a "Birth Tax" (Boston Globe) "A divided Senate approved an $800 billion increase in the federal debt limit yesterday, a major boost in borrowing that Senator John Kerry and other Democrats blamed on the fiscal policies of President Bush. The 52-44 vote, mostly along party lines, was expected to be followed by House passage today. Enactment would raise the government's borrowing limit to $8.18 trillion -- more than eight times the total federal debt that existed when President Reagan took office in 1981." " 'This can be called a birth tax, a birth tax that is dumped on the back of every American child unwillingly,' said Kerry, who voted against the borrowing increase." 2-05 Parable on the Federal Deficit: A Boy with a Big Need (Awesome Library) "Any family that reduces its income while its debts are increasing is on a road to disaster." 11-05 Trade Deficit at All Time High (USA Today) "The U.S. trade deficit, exacerbated by surging imports of oil and textiles, soared to an all-time high of $61.04 billion in February." 4-05

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