The deficit has been a topic highly discussed and debated in all of my years at OWU. We have talked about it in multiple classes here in Corns, listened to guest speakers, etc. This article from the Economist states that on February 5th, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) forecast that for the fiscal year ending September 30th the deficit will clock in at $845 billion, or 5.3% of GDP. This is significant because this figure will be the lowest since 2008 and in addition, it will be down nearly half from its peak of 10.1% in President Obama's first year in office, 2009. The deficit will obviously be a huge issue for President Obama in his second term. Let me state that the project is assuming President Obama and Congress do not override planned spending cuts and tax rises, most importantly the "sequester." President Obama has also stated that he is prepared to both cut entitlements and raise taxes as part of a broader deal. He and John Boehner were the topic of media attention in December but a deal never went through. Now, the problem is, if any changes occur to the already proposed plan or if the two parties don't find a common ground/compromise, then the long-term debt problem may never be addressed. So when is it too late for the American government to really understand the consequences of pushing off this further? They obviously are concerned about the issue, but the constant changes in both parties' requests have hindered the issue even further.
3 comments:
National debt has been a problem in this country for a long time. The more recent acknowledgement of this problem is a push in the right direction. If the general public realizes that something needs to be done to lower our debt, there will be less resistance to policies that cut funding and raise taxes.
I think that often the issue of the deficit may be framed as too much of a priority. The lowing of the deficit is a positive change; however, the argument that many make that we need to "erase" the deficit simply isn't realistic, or needed. Most countries have a large share of debt, and depending on the situation, it does not always affect the immediate situation of the economy. In our situation, there are plenty of other things to increase the economy's growth that we can focus on.
According to your observation, Obama has done a pretty good job in curbing the deficit as he promised. Republicans were never clear about their plan and where they are going to but only too rowdy about what they believe is right or not. This may be one of downsides of democracy, two parties led to too many contradictory opinions that are really slowing down the top priorities that should have been stressed on long ago.
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