President Obamas latest budget proposal paints a troubling picture of Americas fiscal future. Heres a startling snapshot: -- By 2024, the total national debt would rise from $17.4 trillion to nearly $25 trillion. -- By 2020, U.S. taxpayers would be paying more in interest on the debt than they would on the entire Defense budget. -- By 2017, those interest payments would be bigger than the budget for Medicaid. Despite Democratic claims that President Obama has tackled the deficit, the numbers give a sense of what fiscal hawks -- who have not given up their fight despite an election-year aversion to dealing with the debt -- are so worried about. We cant let election-year malaise be an excuse for inaction on such an important issue, Maya MacGuineas, of the Fix the Debt Campaign, said in a statement. White House officials appear to be declaring a victory of sorts over the deficit -- which is the annual budget shortfall. A White House statement touted the fact that the deficit has been cut in half as a share of the economy under Obama. It is true that under the budget blueprint, the 2015 deficit would shrink to $564 billion from $649 billion this year. Thats a sharp fall from year after year of $1 trillion-plus deficits during Obamas first term. But even when the deficit shrinks, the national debt -- which basically is the nations ultra-platinum credit card tab -- will continue to grow. A lot. And every year the debt grows, the interest on that debt also grows, crowding out needed funding for everything from the military to education to infrastructure to entitlements. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said hes concerned that the fastest-growing part of the budget may actually be the interest. We are not going to be able to sustain the safety net that we have in this country with this kind of debt, he told Fox News, warning of a super-sized government whose budget will never balance. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, said the presidents proposal will continue to inflict an excruciating financial toll.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 02:40:59 +0000
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