Budget Hawk Urges Congress to Reject ‘Extenders’ to Get Reconciliation Deal
CBO Says Coronavirus Outbreak and Response Will Quadruple the Federal Deficit
April 24, 2020 by Dan McCue
WASHINGTON – Due to a combination of the passage of multiple economic stimulus bills and a deep recession caused by the coronavirus outbreak, the federal deficit for the 2020 fiscal year will quadruple to $3.7 trillion, the Congressional Budget Office said Friday.
In dizzying detail that officials cautioned was subject to “enormous uncertainty,” the nonpartisan office said it now expected the U.S. economy to shrink by 5.6 percent this year and for 2020 to end with an employment rate hovering near 12 percent.
The CBO said the numbers are largely the result of the near complete shutting down of the economy in the second quarter to slow the spread of the coronavirus, and that the recovery will begin as soon as this summer, as state and local governments ease stay-at-home orders, bans on public gatherings, and other measures restraining economic activity.
“After a sharp contraction in the second quarter, economic growth is expected to average about 17 percent at an annual rate in the second half of calendar year 2020,” the report says.
“Increases in consumer spending are expected to more than offset further declines in business investment during that period. In 2021, real GDP is projected to grow by 2.8 percent, on a fourth-quarter-to-fourth-quarter basis,” it said.
According to the report, the four coronavirus relief bills signed by President Donald Trump this spring, will pile more than $2 trillion onto the $24.6 trillion national debt over the course of the remaining six months of the fiscal year.
That’s more than double the deficit record set during President Barack Obama’s first year in office, in the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis.
In The News
Health
Voting
Federal Budget
October 21, 2021
by Dan McCue
Budget Hawk Urges Congress to Reject ‘Extenders’ to Get Reconciliation Deal
WASHINGTON - With Congressional Democrats reportedly within days of an agreement on a slimmed down reconciliation spending package, a well... Read More
WASHINGTON - With Congressional Democrats reportedly within days of an agreement on a slimmed down reconciliation spending package, a well known independent budget hawk is urging them not to resort to “blatant budget gimmicks” to move the initiative toward passage. Specifically, Maya MacGuineas, president of the... Read More
October 13, 2021
by Dan McCue
House Approves Temporary Extension of Debt Limit
WASHINGTON - Surprising no one, the House did what it had to do Tuesday night, extending the nation’s borrowing authority... Read More
WASHINGTON - Surprising no one, the House did what it had to do Tuesday night, extending the nation’s borrowing authority -- otherwise known as the debt ceiling -- until Dec. 3. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the legislation, which passed in the Senate last... Read More
October 8, 2021
by Senate Avoids a US Debt Disaster, Votes to Extend Borrowing
Senate Avoids a US Debt Disaster, Votes to Extend Borrowing
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has dodged a U.S. debt disaster, voting to extend the government's borrowing authority into December... Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has dodged a U.S. debt disaster, voting to extend the government's borrowing authority into December and temporarily avert an unprecedented federal default that experts warned would devastate the economy and harm millions of Americans. The party-line Democratic vote of 50-48 in... Read More
October 7, 2021
by Dan McCue
Accord Reached on Raising the Nation’s Debt Limit
WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats have taken Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., up on an offer that will temporarily end... Read More
WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats have taken Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., up on an offer that will temporarily end a political standoff over raising the nation’s debt ceiling by allowing an emergency extension into early December. “We have reached an agreement,” Senate Majority Leader Charles... Read More
October 6, 2021
by Dan McCue
McConnell Makes New Offer On Debt Ceiling
WASHINGTON -- Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. made a new offer to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., on... Read More
WASHINGTON -- Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. made a new offer to Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., on resolving the current Senate impasse over raising the nation’s debt limit. The immediate effect of the offer was for Senate Democrats to delay a vote Wednesday... Read More
October 6, 2021
by As GOP Obstructs, Biden Escalates Warnings of Default
As GOP Obstructs, Biden Escalates Warnings of Default
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is escalating his campaign to get Congress to lift the federal debt limit, hosting... Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is escalating his campaign to get Congress to lift the federal debt limit, hosting business leaders at the White House Wednesday and warning in a new report that failure to extend the government's borrowing authority could set off a global... Read More
News From The Well
