WASHINGTON, June 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the
nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its
updated 10-year projections for the federal budget and the U.S.
economy, providing a timely reminder less than two weeks before the
first presidential debate of the 2024 campaign that the federal
budget is on an unsustainable path. The Concord Coalition is
calling upon the candidates to level with the American people about
the magnitude of the fiscal challenge and to propose viable
solutions.
"The rising deficits projected by CBO must not be accepted as
the new normal. Doing so would harm the economy, endanger
retirement security, jeopardize national security, diminish crucial
investments in our workforce and infrastructure, and eventually
risk a fiscal crisis. All of this would condemn today's younger
Americans to a life of cleaning up the mess we're leaving them,"
said Bob Bixby executive director of
The Concord Coalition.
"If the presidential candidates want to do something about
that, they should tell us what they have in mind at next week's
debate," Bixby added.
The latest CBO update demonstrates what awaits in the next
presidential term and beyond.
- Annual deficits average $2.2
trillion (6.3 percent of GDP) over the next 10 years.
- Debt held by the public reaches an historic high in 2028 (108.6
percent of GDP).
- Interest costs reach an historic high in 2025 (3.4 percent of
GDP).
- Interest costs will surpass defense spending and rival Medicare
as the second largest expense.
- Entitlement spending plus interest consumes all revenues in
2025.
- Congress could eliminate discretionary spending in 2025,
including defense, and still have a deficit.
At the same time, a number of significant decisions affecting
the path of future deficits must be made within the next few years.
These include:
- The 2025 expiration of temporary tax cuts enacted in 2017.
- The expiration in 2025 of enforceable discretionary spending
caps enacted as part of the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act.
- The renewal of the statutory debt limit in January 2025.
- The projected depletion of the Medicare HI trust fund in 2031,
and the projected depletion of the Social Security OASI trust fund
in 2033.
"These action-forcing events provide a critical opportunity
for policymakers to do more than kick the can down the road once
again," Bixby said.
The Concord Coalition is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization
dedicated to fiscal responsibility. Since 1992, Concord has worked
to educate the public about the causes and consequences of the
federal deficit and debt, and to develop realistic solutions for
sustainable budgets. For more fiscal news and analysis, visit
concordcoalition.org and follow us on Facebook
@ConcordCoalition and on Twitter/X: @ConcordC
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SOURCE Concord Coalition