According to the Obama administration’s mid-session budget update, the
federal government will have to borrow nearly 40 percent of its total
expenditures in 2010.
The report, “Mid-Session Review, Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal
Year 2010,” shows that 39.9 percent of all federal income will be
borrowed, making borrowing the single largest share of revenue in
2010. The next largest component of federal revenue is the personal
income tax, which accounts for only 27.3 percent of federal funds.
[...]
This level of borrowing is unprecedented even during recessions.
During the long recession of the 1970’s, federal borrowing never rose
above 20 percent of total expenditures despite nearly a decade of
sluggish economic growth, high inflation and an international oil
crisis.
Debt as a share of the budget reached 15 percent during the 1987
recession. Borrowing was generally high during much of the early
Reagan administration, reaching a peak of 25 percent in 1983.
However, Obama’s borrowing is 10 times greater than Reagan’s, which
was fueled largely by defense spending as America battled the Soviet
Union for dominance in the Cold War
[...]
Brian Riedel, budget analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation,
said that the historic levels of borrowing proposed by Obama are not
likely to abate, due to what he said were anti-growth policies pursued
by the president.
“Two-thirds of the budget was eliminated after World War II ended,”
Riedel told CNSNews.com. “But that’s not going to happen now. The
White House thinks growth is going to rebound pretty quickly … which I
find unrealistic, given some of the anti-growth policies that are a
part of the president’s budget.
“Tax increases, cap-and-trade, health care, all of these are going to
harm the economy, and they’re going to reduce the growth rate long-
term,” he added.
“The lower economic growth is – the lower tax revenues come in, and
that means higher borrowing is needed to compensate,” said Riedel.
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/53246
Watch your paper U.S. dollar shrink before your very eyes, and - Poof!
- disappear! applause