Monday, March 04, 2013

I WASN'T KEEPING TRACK OF SPENDING CUTS

But according to this LA Times article, we now have enacted $3.9 trillion in cuts for this decade:
Deficit reduction target reached, but no one's happy
By David Lauter, Washington Bureau
March 4, 2013, 3:00 a.m.
LA Times

President Obama and congressional Republicans went through their first round of cutting in 2011, shaving about $1.5 trillion from federal spending. The "fiscal cliff" deal in January brought another $720 billion, mostly in higher taxes on the wealthy.

Now the automatic spending reduction package known as the sequester is projected to cut spending by about another $1 trillion over the decade, with some $85 billion coming this year. Those changes in spending and taxes will save the government an additional $700 billion in interest over the decade by reducing the need to borrow money, bringing the overall total to more than $3.9 trillion.

The deficit hit its peak in 2008 and has begun to shrink rapidly.

Red ink totaled $1.2 trillion last year, will fall to about $900 billion this year and will drop to about $476 billion by the end of Obama's second term, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Though still a large number, that's less than 3% of the huge U.S. economy, a share below the level most economists consider threatening.

4 comments:

LeRoy Matthews said...

Study my Letter on Diana@Philosophyinaction.com.

Stop referring to their Deliberately Raising the Deficit as "Reducing The Deficit"!!!
Stop claiming that if they SAY they'll cut spending IN THE FUTURE, that's "Saving $", "Reducing the Deficit", etc.
The so-called "federal government" is not only Bankrupt, It's Head- Over- Heels in Debt, & Operating Way In The Red, & It Has A Huge, & Increasing, Budget Deficit. There's virtually zero $ for anything whatsoever.
(Instead of searching for Crazy Inbox, try June 5, 2012 p=6498.)

Steve J. said...

Stop referring to their Deliberately Raising the Deficit as "Reducing The Deficit"!!!

I can't help you.

Ken Hoop said...

Have I missed something, or has Obama apparently then not been noticing it either....not enough to make anti-austerity and associated arguments effective anyway.

Steve J. said...

Have I missed something, or has Obama apparently then not been noticing it either

That's exactly what I was thinking.