"Deficits Don't Matter" -- Vice President Dick Cheney
We’d love to be writing about the "nuclear option" for judicial nominees. Unfortunately, that doesn’t fall under the umbrella of what we do here at the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute. So instead of writing about things you’re finding on page A1, we’ve got a tidbit that may not have made your local paper, but ought to get your attention.
Here is a quote from yesterday’s Congressional staff briefing on the growing budget deficits, the interest that we pay on our debt, and our ability to do things like pay for public education and roads:
"The only thing the United States is able to do a little after 2040 is pay interest on massive and growing federal debt." U.S. Comptroller General David M. Walker.
Uh, Mr. Comptroller General, what about spending for roads? health care? education? national defense? national parks? Nope, just interest payments.
Added Stuart Butler, head of domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation:
"To do nothing would lead to deficits of the scale we’ve never seen in this country or any major industrialized country. We’ve seen Argentina. That’s a chilling thought, but it would mean that."
U.S. debt and obligations are forecast at $45 trillion. In more simple terms, that’s about $150,000 per person. Even looking ahead only ten years, by 2015 and on the current course, about 30 percent of federal spending will be interest payments on our debt. What’s the plan for reversing course and achieving balance?
Massive tax cuts, the cost of war, and spending on community needs are moving in opposite and unsustainable directions. What are we doing about it? Well, leadership that believes that "deficits don't matter" is taking our unimaginable circumstance and making it worse. See our recent blog post about the Congressional budget plan that includes more than $100 billion in additional tax cuts.
What are we doing to our children here?
Links: Our sobering chart showing the shift from a surplus to a deficit
Washington Post article on the Congressional Staff briefing
Previous blog post on the federal deficit
The blog posts we can't write on the "nuclear option"
Here is a quote from yesterday’s Congressional staff briefing on the growing budget deficits, the interest that we pay on our debt, and our ability to do things like pay for public education and roads:
"The only thing the United States is able to do a little after 2040 is pay interest on massive and growing federal debt." U.S. Comptroller General David M. Walker.
Uh, Mr. Comptroller General, what about spending for roads? health care? education? national defense? national parks? Nope, just interest payments.
Added Stuart Butler, head of domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation:
"To do nothing would lead to deficits of the scale we’ve never seen in this country or any major industrialized country. We’ve seen Argentina. That’s a chilling thought, but it would mean that."
U.S. debt and obligations are forecast at $45 trillion. In more simple terms, that’s about $150,000 per person. Even looking ahead only ten years, by 2015 and on the current course, about 30 percent of federal spending will be interest payments on our debt. What’s the plan for reversing course and achieving balance?
Massive tax cuts, the cost of war, and spending on community needs are moving in opposite and unsustainable directions. What are we doing about it? Well, leadership that believes that "deficits don't matter" is taking our unimaginable circumstance and making it worse. See our recent blog post about the Congressional budget plan that includes more than $100 billion in additional tax cuts.
What are we doing to our children here?
Links: Our sobering chart showing the shift from a surplus to a deficit
Washington Post article on the Congressional Staff briefing
Previous blog post on the federal deficit
The blog posts we can't write on the "nuclear option"
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