Blog: The Gloomy Budget Picture

Statement

As a new Republican Majority takes control of the House it inherits a budget situation vastly worse than that which it left the incoming Democrat Majority in January 2007. The following are highlights of our country's fiscal deterioration in the previous four years:

The National Debt: increased from $8.67 trillion to $14.0 trillion--an increase of $5.3 trillion or 61.5%

The Debt Limit: increased six times, and even before the new Congress began, the Administration was speaking of the need for another one. During this time, the debt limit increased from $8.965 trillion to $14.3 trillion--an increase of $5.3 trillion or 59.5%.

The Deficit: increased from $161 billion to $1.3 trillion in the most recent fiscal year (FY 2010)--an increase of $1.14 trillion or 708.7%.

$8.2 Trillion Deterioration to Nation's Budget Outlook: In January 2007, the month Democrats took control of Congress, CBO projected the federal government would run a budget surplus of $800 billion over ten years (covering the period from 2008-2017). From the most recent CBO projections available, the federal government is projected to run a deficit of $7.4 trillion over the same period. This is an $8.2 trillion deterioration of the budget outlook during Democrat control of the Congress.

$112 Trillion in Unfunded Federal Liabilities: The federal government's total unfunded liabilities amount to more than $112 trillion. By comparison, our total public and private national assets come to only $72.3 trillion.

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