Archive for March 19th, 2009
Doubling the national debt
Thursday, March 19th, 2009
In 2014, at which point the White House projects a deficit of $570 billion, it’s now expected that CBO will show a number in excess of $700 billion. Five years later, in 2019, Obama’s budget concedes that the deficit will have widened to $712 billion; Democrats expect CBO to put the number over $1 trillion.
The cumulative impact could be substantial. The White House has already conceded that the Obama budget will produce deficits of about $6.9 trillion over 10 years. If the CBO projections were to add in the range of $1.5 trillion more, as some Democrats expect, that would be more than a 20 percent increase and would surely affect debate in Congress.
Lets assume a few things – one, these numbers will be revised upward again as the downturn worsens, two, when it’s all said and done, the cost of Obama’s programs are probably underestimated, and three, there will be unanticipated additional costs during Obama’s tenure. (e.g. another Katrina, Afghanistan, major bank failures, etc..)
In the end, we will likely double our national debt in eight to ten years. (Assuming the world continue to lend to us, which isn’t assured.) Debt payments currently make up around ten percent of the total federal intake. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid costs are currently rising. Where does this put us in eight years, and why do Obama supporters think this is grand idea?
