Forget About Ever Balancing the Budget

Stan Collender: “In fact, also forget about even projecting a balanced budget 10 years from now as Congress and the White House like to do. A $1 trillion deficit in a total budget of about $4.5 trillion means that spending would have to be cut by more than 22 percent to get to balance. But with interest on the debt and military spending at about $1.3 trillion and not going to be reduced, the amount available to cut drops to $3.2 trillion and the percentage reduction increases to more than 30 percent. Economic growth, which is already projected to be high, isn’t going to make up the difference.”

“A balanced budget isn’t going to be possible and any pretense that it is will be dropped.”