Bush Aides Say Budget Deficit Will Rise Again [more]
The White House will project that this year's federal deficit
will hit $427 billion, a senior administration official said Tuesday, a
record amount partly driven by wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan. The official, among three who briefed reporters on
condition of anonymity, said the estimate was a conservative one that
assumed some higher spending than other analysts use. Last February,
the White House projected that the 2004 shortfall would hit $521
billion, only to see it come in at $412 billion. The official said the
figure represented progress because it would be smaller than last
year's record $412 billion shortfall when compared to the size of the
growing U.S. economy. That ratio is a key measure of the deficit's
potency. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said that thanks to
tax cuts and hurricane aid passed since its last calculations in
September, the 10-year deficit had worsened since then by $503 billion,
not counting war expenditures. The congressional analysts projected
that this year's deficit would hit $368 billion which would be the
third highest ever excluding war costs. Adding expenditures for Iraq
and Afghanistan operations would push this year's red ink to about $400
billion, said Congress' nonpartisan budget analyst. [more]
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