Federal Deficit Hit $1.8 Trillion for 2024, CBO Says - WSJProgressives double down more taxes in 2025, its a lot more then $1.8, its $2.8+
Oct. 8, 2024 2:42 pm
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Projections show continued deficits for the foreseeable future and accumulated debt reaching record levels within a few years.
WASHINGTON—The U.S. budget deficit topped $1.8 trillion in the latest fiscal year, driven by higher spending on interest and programs for older Americans, as the government faces a persistent gapbetween federal outlays and tax collections.
The new data comes as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic pick Kamala Harris are both proposing new tax and spending plans that are estimated to add trillions more to the deficit over the next decade.
In all, the government collected $4.92 trillion in revenue and spent $6.75 trillion in the year that ended Sept. 30, according to the Congressional Budget Office, which issued its estimates ahead of the official administration tallies expected later this month.
The deficit in 2023 was $1.7 trillion, which looked smaller than it actually was. That’s because the Supreme Court’s blocking of President Biden’s student-debt cancellation program was counted as more than $300 billion in reduced spending.
With that adjustment and the growing economy, the deficit in 2024 was likely smaller as a share of gross domestic product than it was in 2023, though the CBO doesn’t provide that calculation. Overall, the deficit was 4% smaller than CBO had projected in June. (They are lying, they work for Bidan, the whole Admin lies. And all these daft economist work for him too)
The largest federal entitlement programs—Social Security and Medicare—cost 6% more than they did in fiscal 2023, or even more when adjusting for the timing of some payments, according to CBO. The U.S. spent $950 billion on interest, up 34% from the prior year, mostly because of higher interest rates.
Revenue climbed 11%, driven in part by taxes that were pushed from fiscal 2023 to 2024 because of disasters in California and by the Internal Revenue Service pausing payments of the employee retention tax credit, a troubled pandemic-era program.
The U.S. has run larger budget deficits before, both in dollars and as a share of gross domestic product. But the country set those records during wars, economic crises and the coronavirus pandemic, not during a period like today’s low unemployment and solid growth.
Projections show continued deficits for the foreseeable future and accumulated debt reaching record levels within a few years. That’s not a crisis, economists say, but the U.S. fiscal situation is riskier now.
Congress has missed opportunities to act and should move soon to make Medicare more efficient and make Social Security benefits less generous than projected, said Romina Boccia, director of budget and entitlement policy at the Cato Institute, which favors smaller government.
Former President Donald Trump has proposed roughly $6.5 trillion in tax cuts, while Vice President Kamala Harris has proposed $4.2 trillion in cuts. WSJ’s Richard Rubin breaks down the very different tax plans from the two candidates. Photo Illustration: Xingpei Shen
“Any fiscal plan that doesn’t address these programs is basically not addressing the root cause of higher spending,” she said.
Both major-party candidates—former President Trump and Vice President Harris—have promised to avoid benefit cuts in Social Security and Medicare.Harris is now proposing to expand Medicare to cover long-term home care, which would add to spending.
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