US budget gap soars to $1.7 trillion, largest outside COVID era | Reuters
Category: News & Politics
Via: texan1211 • 2 years ago • 10 commentsBy: David Lawder (Reuters)
The U.S. government on Friday posted a $1.695 trillion budget deficit in fiscal 2023, a 23% jump from the prior year as revenues fell and outlays for Social Security, Medicare and record-high interest costs on the federal debt rose.
By David LawderOctober 20, 20239:27 PM UTCUpdated ago
WASHINGTON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Friday posted a $1.695 trillion budget deficit in fiscal 2023, a 23% jump from the prior year as revenues fell and outlays for Social Security, Medicare and record-high interest costs on the federal debt rose.
The Treasury Department said the deficit was the largest since a COVID-fueled $2.78 trillion gap in 2021. It marks a major return to ballooning deficits after back-to-back declines during President Joe Biden's first two years in office.
The deficit comes as Biden is asking Congress for $100 billion in new foreign aid and security spending, including $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel, along with funding for U.S. border security and the Indo-Pacific region.
The big deficit, which exceeded all pre-COVID deficits, including those brought about by Republican tax cuts passed under Donald Trump and from the financial crisis years, is likely to enflame Biden's fiscal battles with Republicans in the House of Representatives, whose demands for spending cuts pushed the U.S. to the brink of default in early June over the debt ceiling.
A deal to avoid a government shutdown over deeper spending cut demands from Republican hardliners led to the ouster of U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and the party is still …
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Biden is even bringing back Bachman Turner Overdrive (God, help us all).
Biden is "Taking Care Of Business" while the gop is in utter chaos unable to even elect a speaker, or pass a budget, or do anything...
And what is the GOP plan?