CBO says debt will reach 62 percent of GDP by year's end

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

The national debt will reach 62 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of this year, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said Wednesday.

The budget office said the debt will reach its highest percentage of GDP since the end of World War II. The jump is driven by lower tax revenues and higher federal spending in the recent recession.

And while the national debt would stabilize at 67 percent of GDP over the next decade if current law were maintained, extending tax cuts enacted during the administration of President George W. Bush and keeping growth in appropriations in line with inflation would mean that the debt would reach almost 90 percent of GDP by 2020.

By contrast, GDP has averaged "a little above" 36 percent per year over the past 40 years.

The report comes as President Barack Obama's fiscal commission meets again on Wednesday to work on crafting solutions to reining in deficits and the debt over time.

Obama got somewhat of a chilly reception from world leaders at the G-20 summit over the past weekend when he pressed them to continue with spending to bolster the global economy. Many nations in Europe and elsewhere have had to grapple with their own debt crises, and have been forced to enact tough austerity measures.

Republicans have been hammering away at the president and Democrats in Congress for their spending over the past year and a half, arguing that the stimulus act, healthcare reform law and other measures have done little more than exacerbate the nation's fiscal situation.

But the bigger long-term problem, according to CBO, remains Medicare.

CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf wrote in a blog post explaining the new report that under current laws, "federal spending on major mandatory healthcare programs will grow from roughly 5 percent of GDP today to about 10 percent in 2035 and will continue to increase thereafter."

Keeping current policies in place would almost certainly force lawmakers to make steep spending cuts and raise taxes, Elmendorf argued, unless changes to address the problems were made sooner rather than later.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/106355-cbo-says-debt-will-reach-62-percent-of-gdp-by-years-end

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Did you know that there have been only 2 republican presidents who have seen a reduction of debt/gdp since WW2? Eisenhower and Nixon. There has also been no democratic presidents that oversaw an increase of debt/gdp since ww2.

Edited July 1, 2010 by Sousuke

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Did you know that there have been only 2 republican presidents who have seen a reduction of debt/gdp since WW2? Eisenhower and Nixon. There has also been no democratic presidents that oversaw an increase of debt/gdp since ww2.

Well, Obama did say he wanted to change things.

Increasing the national debt 3 trillion dollars in 18 months is a good start! Highest debt percentage since WWWII, where FDR topped out at a whopping 120% National Debt/Gross National Product.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Well, Obama did say he wanted to change things.

Increasing the national debt 3 trillion dollars in 18 months is a good start! Highest debt percentage since WWWII, where FDR topped out at a whopping 120% National Debt/Gross National Product.

Obama hasn't finished his term and FDR died whilst in the middle of a world war. What you'd have had the US capitulate with Hitler and Hirohito?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Obama hasn't finished his term and FDR died whilst in the middle of a world war. What you'd have had the US capitulate with Hitler and Hirohito?

Excuses, excuses.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Excuses, excuses.

If you are a social darwinist as you say then you must also support the holocaust. Of course you'd be one to argue for capitulation.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

If you are a social darwinist as you say then you must also support the holocaust. Of course you'd be one to argue for capitulation.

That's a long stretch there, and of course, you would be wrong. There is a difference between genocide, and letting nature take its course. One is passive, the other active. And being selective in your outrage, is even more disturbing.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

That's a long stretch there, and of course, you would be wrong. There is a difference between genocide, and letting nature take its course. One is passive, the other active. And being selective in your outrage, is even more disturbing.

What two groups pitted against either is active whilst individuals are not? But then we know your opinion on the rights of corporations.

I'm sorry if I hold human life in higher regard than you.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

By the way there are no rules in nature. There is nothing active or passive about it.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

What two groups pitted against either is active whilst individuals are not? But then we know your opinion on the rights of corporations.

I'm sorry if I hold human life in higher regard than you.

Really. Now you are projecting. However, we will have to continue this another time, when we can put your statement to the test, and you can offer sober, coherent thoughts.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Really. Now you are projecting. However, we will have to continue this another time, when we can put your statement to the test, and you can offer sober, coherent thoughts.

In your disgusting arguments all you can attack is my sobriety?

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

As a recap to ########'s recent posts for anyone else who might visit this thread, he has stated that the unemployed are "whiners" and if they can't make it, they should be allowed to die without assistance..........

[KaiserD 12]

As a recap to ########'s recent posts for anyone else who might visit this thread, he has stated that the unemployed are "whiners" and if they can't make it, they should be allowed to die without assistance..........

Why are you surprised? Surely you have heard of Tycho and Gabe's Internet Fkwad Theory!

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Why are you surprised? Surely you have heard of Tycho and Gabe's Internet Fkwad Theory!

Straight from their blackboard lol.

[KaiserD 12]

It's a classic They should add it to their collection of shirts if they haven't already