06/06/12 Senator Dan Coats (R-Ind.), a member of the Joint Economic Committee, Tuesday issued the following statement regarding the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) latest long-term budget forecast for the federal government:
“This sobering report is really an indictment of Washington’s current spending practices. It sadly depicts a once prosperous country drowning in debt. As Americans, I know we can change this dire outcome, but it will take real leadership from the president and Congress.
“The federal government is accumulating debt at an accelerated pace, mortgaging our children’s future to pay for today’s excessive spending. Despite these massive deficits piling up, Washington has failed to pass a budget for three straight years and Senate Democrats continue to block all efforts to establish a financial blueprint. This is unacceptable and ignores the seriousness of our situation. We need to take steps now to control spending, reform entitlement programs and simplify the tax code to prevent the United States from becoming the next Greece.”
CBO released its 2012 Long-Term Budget Outlook today. Under CBO’s projected Alternative Fiscal Scenario, based on actions CBO expects Congress to take, federal debt held by the public will rise from 73 percent of gross-domestic product (GDP) at the end of FY2012 to 93 percent of GDP by 2022 and nearly 200 percent by 2037. Currently the United States spends 1.4 percent of GDP on debt interest, but that figure will rise to 9.5 percent by 2037.
