CBO Estimates Record Deficits

(Washington, D.C.) – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) once again today blasted Congress for its fiscal irresponsibility.  In its annual economic outlook, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected the fiscal 2004 deficit at $477 billion and $362 billion for 2005.  Long-term figures project a $2.4 trillion deficit over the next ten years, an increase of $1 trillion from the CBO’s August report.

“Despite the ongoing war on terrorism and events in Iraq, members of Congress have been more concerned about filling the coffers of special interests during election year politics than the fiscal well-being of the country,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “The money members of Congress spend today to get reelected will be devastating to our children and grandchildren for decades to come.”

The CBO report in August estimated a $480 billion deficit in fiscal 2004 and a $341 deficit in fiscal 2005.  While the improving economy brought in more federal revenue, it was offset in new spending by items such as the recently passed Medicare bill.  The CBO today warned that if federal spending is not curbed, the deficit is likely to increase.

“With big-ticket items like the energy and transportation reauthorization bills coming down the pipeline, taxpayers can expect the deficit to skyrocket even further,” Schatz continued.  “Yet knowing what was ahead, members of Congress showed no concern for the deficit when they included thousands of pork-barrel projects in the recently passed fiscal 2004 Omnibus spending bill, including: $50 million for an indoor tropical rainforest; $2 million for the Appalachian Fruit Laboratory; $1 million for the Alaska SeaLife Center; and $300,000 for the National Wild Turkey Federation.”

President Bush will submit his fiscal 2005 budget to Congress on Monday.  It is expected that he will propose a less than one percent increase in non-defense discretionary spending in an effort to cut the deficit in half over the next five years.  Over the first three years of the Bush Administration, such spending increased 27 percent, leading to a record deficit of $375 billion in fiscal 2003.  The fiscal 2004 projections surpass that figure by $202 billion, or 54 percent.

“This year, members of Congress need to at least stick to the tight parameters of the non-defense budget set by the President,” Schatz concluded.  “Taxpayers are more concerned about the deficit and the state of spending than official Washington believes.  CAGW will continue to work with other fiscal conservative organizations to hold the administration and Congress accountable for the record red ink.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.