Obama won't come close on pledge to halve deficit CBO says
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Obama won't come close on pledge to halve deficit, CBO
says
By: Susan Davis, USA Today
WASHINGTON - President Obama's pledge to cut the deficit in half
by the end of his first term will fall short, according to the
latest economic outlook released Tuesday by the non-partisan
Congressional Budget Office.
The president said in February 2009 that the $1.3 trillion
deficit he inherited would be cut in half under his budget
blueprint, but according to the CBO, the deficit in 2012 will
continue to hover around $1 trillion, and fall to just under $1
trillion next year if current tax laws are extended, as expected.
An overall sluggish economy is expected to continue with
unemployment stuck around 8% through 2013.
Obama's deficit-cutting goal fell short in part because of
opposition to his support of a tax increase on the wealthiest of
Americans. Congressional Republicans used the report to criticize
Obama's economic policies.
"Today's report is further confirmation that the president's
record has failed to live up to his rhetoric," said Rep. Jeb
Hensarling, R-Texas.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama's policies are
working.
"I know that the economic policies that this President has put
into place, working with Congress and then, when necessary, without
Congress, have had the effect of reversing the most dramatic
negative trend in employment since the Great Depression," Carney
said.
The CBO outlook makes clear that congressional gridlock has
played a key role in explaining why the long-term fiscal picture
remains bleak.
Congress' inability to pass a long-term deficit reduction plan
last year and ongoing partisan deadlock over how to overhaul the
tax code and reform entitlement programs like Social Security and
Medicare currently leaves no realistic option to achieve a balanced
budget anytime over the next decade, according to the report.
CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf said one of the greatest drivers
of deficit spending is the aging population and the rising costs of
health care related to it.
Elmendorf said that the longer Washington waits to act, the
tougher the problem will be to solve.
The CBO outlook is a precursor to the president's budget for
fiscal year 2013, which he is scheduled to send to Congress on Feb.
13. Likewise, House Republican Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan,
R-Wis., is expected to release a budget before Easter outlining
Republican priorities.