Soaring Deficits

The U.S. budget deficit will hit $2.3 trillion over the next decade and may reach nearly double that amount if tax cuts are renewed as President Bush has requested, said a report issued by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The CBO forecast that the deficit will reach a record $422 billion this year and may reach $4.3 trillion by 2014 if tax cuts and military spending continue under the president’s plan. The report echoes a warning from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that rising Social Security and Medicare benefits may present “increasingly stark choices” for policy makers as the baby boom generation ages.