CBO Issues ‘Shit’s Creek’ Budget Projection

New Congressional Budget Office report not only shows “entitlements & debt payments are squeezing national defense” but “paddling” the US toward the “Fiscal Falls” that’s bigger than the ones outside Buffalo.

The CBO’s latest 10-yr budget outlook, the WSJ editors suggest, is grimmer than grim, yet “neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump wants to talk about the woolly mammoth in the room.” Yet, the numbers don’t lie, you can’t keep printing new paper money forever & miraculous cures are hard to come by. As summarized by the op ed: “CBO forecasts that under current law the national debt will grow to $48.3 trillion in 2034 from $26.2 trillion this last fiscal year – a whopping 84% increase. Debt as a share of GDP (gross domestic product) will rise to 116% in 2034 from 97.3%. As a helpful historical context, the US added $22.3 trillion in debt in its entire history through 2021, about as much as it’s projected to pile on over the next 10 years.” Then, again, the CBO estimates that “spending over the next decade will average 253.5% of GDP – significantly more than the 50-yr average of 21%.” Look to the lion’s share being triggered by the Holy Trinity: “Medicare, Medicaid & Social Security.”

And, what if Trump’s tax cuts expire as planned in 2025? Can rich taxpayers & the middle-class minions bare still MORE taxes? And, what if Joe gets the Supreme Court to let him cancel umpteen billions in college loans? Or, migrants are given more free debit cards to live the American Dream? Will political realities allow any of the afore-mentioned entitlements to be scaled back, even if it's the only way to keep them from insolvency, as projected in the early 2030s? As the editors note, neither the Dems’ (soak the rich) nor the GOPers’ (cattle prod GDP) talking points are being taken seriously. They conclude: “It’s almost as if everyone in Washington is blithely paddling toward Niagara Falls” if not Shit’s Creek without a paddle. “Enjoy the scenery on the way down.”

Davd Soul