Summary: The Deficit Rises Again

Overspending is a pertinent problem facing the lawmakers in Congress. In 2012 discretionary spending reached $1.3 trillion and mandatory spending $2 trillion, while only bringing in $2.5 trillion in revenue. Since the turn of the century back in 2000, non-mandatory spending by the government has topped out a whopping $16.1 trillion just in the past 13 years (Boccia, Frasser & Goff 2013). This persistent overspending on programs and services that are not necessary to the functionality of the country is what is causing the deficit to rise year after year. To remedy this issue the government must either increase the revenue it brings in through taxes and trade or reduce the amount of money it spend or perhaps even both. In 2012 thirty-one cents of every dollar that Washington spent was borrowed (Boccia, Frasser & Goff 2013). Most of which went to large programs such as Social Security and Medicare and if these large, growing programs, or just the budget in general, do not undergo financial reform it could spell disaster for the economy and fiscal state of the nation.

“Ten Trillion and Counting,” presented by Frontline provides quite a picture of America’s national debt as it surpasses the trillion dollar mark. They ponder the financial well being of current and future retirees while also exposing on how America got into this mess, and what the Obama administration plans to do during his term. America is able to close the gap year to year in its national budget by selling bonds and T-bills. Foreigner countries who continually purchase these obligations are beginning to grow. Much like the Bush administration, the Obama administration has started borrowing big with plans to cut the budget years down the road. It is clear for anyone to see that this borrowing and the future promises of cutting cannot go

The author, Greg Ip, clarifies in this article that the debt that was acquired during the downturn of the economy and today is not what we should be concerned about for the growth of the economy. He explains that the copious amounts of debt that we should be worried about is what is yet to arise. These so-called debts did include the baby boomers who were retiring and who were requiring their Social Security and Medicare, which will then send the economic debt skyrocketing. Nevertheless, he states that the fiscal budget has been described as better than in the last couple of years, for a few distinct reasons. This article states that one reason for this is because of the over-all deflation in health-care due to the affordable

An economic downturn automatically paves way to a decline in taxation and an increase in government spending. This causes deficit. Nevertheless, if the government tries to reverse the situation by increasing tax rates, it would further result in a deflated economy leading to more unemployment and lower economic growth. A negative multiplier effect may give rise to an increase in deficit. Thus, deficit increases AD in a recession (Carbaugh, 2011).

The recent clash between the president and congress about raising the debt ceiling made the front page on every newspaper throughout the country and generated controversy of unimaginable proportion among the citizens of the United States of America (College for Financial Planning). No macroeconomics issue is more controversial today than the impact of large public debt on the economy and on future generations, but, however, there appears to be a huge disconnect between professional, political leaders, and the ordinary public about the national debt and its impact on the current and future

When World War II ended in 1949, the debt grew at a slow and steady pace for the next 20 years. When the Vietnam War began in the 1960's the debt accelerated sharply. Thanks to the growth of television and news media, growth of the deficit was widely publicized. For the first time, the American people were given access to what was going on with the nation's debt. When the Gulf War began the early 1990's, the national debt reached a trillion dollars for the first time. By the end of the Gulf War, the government decided to make amendments to fix the continuing problem with the deficit. Despite those promises to reduce spending, the debt is currently at it highest point ever.

The year the debt percentage of the GDP achieved record highs was 1946, at 106.1. (Get Involved 2015). The debt will reach that share of GDP again in approximately 2031 (Get Involved 2015).

Deficit spending refers to government spending that exceeds federal income and taxes over a period of time. The government can increase borrowing to obtain money from taxes or from foreign governments. The money that is borrowed is then put back into the economy through government spending. While deficit spending will increase government debt, it is believed to stimulate the economy to end a recession. Deficit spending has several advantages and disadvantages to government borrowing.

The deficit was expected to increase another 20 per cent in 2004, to US $150 billion. http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0199-3700728_ITM

Any person struggling through difficult times will seek out other means of financial support including borrowing money that may be harder to pay back in the future. The United States will often follow a similar path and spend more money than it earns. Deficit spending in the United States comes with some advantages, disadvantages, and strong criticism. Some feel deficit spending is good for getting the economy back in motion while others contend it does nothing for the economy. The effects of deficit spending are carefully examined to determine if the United States is improving or degrading the future of the economy.

The total U.S. budget deficit for this year is estimated to be $514 billion, compared to $1.4 trillion in 2009 (The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2014 to 2024, 2014). Over the last few years, the federal budget deficit has declined, and is projected to continue to decline this year and leading into 2015 (The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2014 to 2024, 2014).

In 2009 the debt was amounted to about $12 trillion , or 83.4 percent of the country’s GDP (“Budget of the United States Government: Historical Tables Fiscal Year 2011” table 7.1). Since 2003, the debt has been increasing by more than $500 billion annually. The increase in 2009 was $1.9 trillion. According to the Congressional Budgeting Office, this debt will keep increasing at least for the next decade (“The Budget and Economic Outlook : Fiscal Years 2010 to 2020” 21).

When it comes to gun control, a considerable number of people assume it is the guns that cause the deaths that mass shootings and firearm crimes see. However, there shall never be a direct focus on the firearms themselves, but instead a focus on those who are using said weapons. Take a moment to stop and ask yourself, will a handgun kill somebody if it is just sitting on a table. No, that will never happen, to cause a gunshot to go off a being has to handle the firearm. The last thing needed in America is for mentally unstable people or a convicted felon/criminal being the one behind the trigger. Mistakenly Americans want control on the guns themselves, instead of also controlling the people buying the arms. Which the way to manage who gains access to weapons is to simply make the background checks more vigorous. Along with background checks, make new stipulations on who can buy and handle weapons and keep track of all gun sales, this includes private dealers.

The United States has seen a growth in the deficit beginning in 1991. The deficit equated to 3.6% of the GDP in 1999 and rose to 4.4% during 2000. “For instance,

For as long as Americans can remember there has always been a federal deficit. In fact, the only time in American history when there was no federal debt was under president Andrew Jackson, and it only lasted a single year(Wall Street Journal). The federal government never managed to pay off the debt again, although some administrations, like Coolidge’s and Clinton’s, have managed to run brief surpluses(Wall Street Journal). Yet today there seems to be no limit on the debt and deficit spending, and a key question has been pressed into the forefront of politics and fiscal policy, “is