The 2012 Budget Deficit Estimate Has Been Revised Upward By $93 Billion
There was a time less than a decade ago, when our budget deficit was measured in just the hundreds of billions, that a $93 billion swing in the annual deficit estimate would have been a really big deal.
Now our budget deficit is so large, totaling well over $1 trillion per year, that it seems more like a rounding error:
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday that the deficit for 2012 is $93 billion larger than last estimated in January.
The deficit is estimated to reach $1.2 trillion this year, now that CBO has factored in new policies such as the extension of the payroll tax holiday.
In January, CBO assumed the 2-percentage-point payroll tax break expired Feb. 29. After a bruising battle between the House GOP and the White House, the payroll tax break was extended to the end of this year without being offset by spending cuts.
Hope for change.
Tags: deficits, national debt
