Economy and Jobs Watch: Lowering the Deficit Bar

According to the president's State of the Union address, the administration claims it will "cut the deficit in half over the next five years."

This is a shift from just 6 months ago when the administration was claiming that "the budget deficit is expected to be cut by more than half by 2006."

In addition, it appears that there is no prospect whatsoever of a balanced budget anytime in the near (or distant) future under current policy. The president has claimed that there was plenty of money for both tax cuts and current priorities. He has claimed that he would not pass on the tax burden to future generations. With the current fixation on tax cuts to the exclusion of all other priorities, the administration has apparently abandoned all legitimate claims of fiscal responsibility, and has squandered an opportunity to shore up the long-term health of Social Security, Medicare, and other vital priorities.

For a comprehensive explanation of the fiscal situation, and options for how to return the budget to balance, see Restoring Fiscal Sanity: How to Balance the Budget, from the Brookings Institution.

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