Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) today issued the following statement regarding new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections that this year deficit spending will increase for the first time since 2009. CBO also estimates that within a decade, the deficit will be “considerably larger” than its average over the past half-century and the federal debt held by the public will “grow significantly from its already high level.”

“Despite the charade of budget gimmicks and phony offsets, there’s no hiding that Washington’s spending habit is actually getting worse,” said Flake. “If the nation is ever going to get its fiscal situation under control, Congress absolutely must get serious about making tough choices to cut spending.”

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