In his most recent news letter, Representative Andy Barr proudly announces the birth of his new daughter (congratulations). But he doesn’t let this joyous news get in the way of a good political rant, and notes that she will be burdened with a huge public debt.
He says that:
“My top priority as your representative in Congress is to reduce our rapidly growing national debt that is choking our economy and which, if left unchecked, will cripple the futures of our children and grandchildren.”
Actually, funny story, but the deficit is actually shrinking. Don’t believe me?
Forbes Magazine ran an article with this headline:
The Best Kept Secret In American Politics-Federal Budget Deficits Are Actually Shrinking!
[http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2013/02/27/the-best-kept-secret-in-american-politics-federal-budget-deficits-are-actually-shrinking/]
According to the Non-Partisan Congressional Budget Office:
“Compared to the size of the economy, the deficit in 2013 is much lower than in 2009, when Obama took office. The deficit will be 5.3 percent of gross domestic product this year, nearly half the 10.1 percent of GDP in 2009.”
According to a report from Goldman Sachs:
The federal budget deficit is shrinking rapidly. …[I]n the 12 months through March 2013, the deficit totaled $911 billion, or 5.7% of GDP. In the first three months of calendar 2013–that is, since the increase in payroll and income tax rates took effect on January 1–we estimate that the deficit has averaged just 4.5% of GDP on a seasonally adjusted basis. This is less than half the peak annual deficit of 10.1% of GDP in fiscal 2009.
I was not able to find the full report on line, but found a good summary at the Calculated Risk Blog [http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2013/04/the-rapidly-shrinking-federal-deficit.html]
Here’s a story from the Investors Business Daily, hardly a liberal source. http://news.investors.com/blogs-capital-hill/021213-644063-chart-should-embarrass-deficit-hawks.htm
The reason the deficit is shrinking, according to the Goldman Sachs report, is the combination of three things: (1) reduced spending, (2) increased taxes, and (3) growing economy. Interesting. Number two didn’t impact number three. I thought that was why conservatives oppose tax increases.
