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9.8% budget deficit -- have they no shame?

The U.S. Congressional Budget Office projected yesterday in its Budget and Economic Outlook a federal deficit of $1.48 trillion for 2011, or 9.8% of U.S. GDP — a sizeable increase from their previous forecast of 7% back in August. To put this in historical context, we’re back around the ratios last seen in 1945.

Below is a 2009 breakdown of the US Government's expenditures -- in total the 2009 budget was $3.5 trillion (yeah lots of money).  With the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US government's military budget is $1,4 trillion or 40% of the Federal Government's total expenditure...



Looking further down the road, the CBO expects the deficit-to-GDP ratio to decline over the course of the next several years to 7% in 2012 and down to 4.3% in 2013, reducing gradually to average around 3.1% from 2014 to 2021 (all this is based on relatively economic growth forecasts).

Starting the think that the Tea Party maybe onto something.  How long can this last, I have no idea, but lets just say that Congress becomes serious about cutting.  Medicare /  Social Security / Defense / interest is equal to 77% of the budget.  Even if every other penny is cut, there would still be a huge deficit, because among the other expenses are "mandatory expenses, which is actually mostly Military expenses for the two wars that America wages currently.  

Whatever the Tea Party apologist say, the reality is that medicare, Defense will have to suffer very deep cuts.  You cannot cut social security since it has its own tax base... 

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