Obama and his cronies in the media have put a smily face on our economic outlook; however, if one looks at the report of the Congressional Budget Office, they paint a much different picture. "Rook" has some thoughts on it.
Key Points in CBO’s Economic Forecast - Washington Wire - WSJ
1) Growth will slow to just 1.1% in 2013 because of tax increases, spending cuts, and other factors. CBO projects 2012 GDP to increase just 2%.
2) Unemployment rate will stay above 7% until 2015. It will increase to 8.9% at end of this year and hit 9.2% at the end of 2013.
3) Deficit will be $1.1 trillion in 2012, the fourth consecutive year above $1 trillion.
4) The deficit is projected to shrink next year, but how much it shrinks depends on tax and spending choices.
5) Revenues are projected to pick up markedly in future years. Total revenues to jump from $2.3 trillion in 2011 to $3.7 trillion in 2015. That’s the equivalent of going from 15.4% of GDP to 20.2% of GDP.
6) The Social Security Disability Insurance trust fund will be exhausted in 2016. The Medicare hospital insurance trust fund will beexhausted in 2022.
7) If spending cuts and tax increases are allowed to go into effect as required under current law, the deficit will contract sharply to $585 billion in 2013 and $345 billion in 2014.
8) Under current law, the debt will grow $3.1 trillion over next 10 years. If spending cuts and tax increases are reversed, however, thedebt would grow $11 trillion. That includes an additional $1.2 trillion in interest on the debt.
This forecast obviously does not include the effects of Obamacare, which is supposed to kick in fully in 2014, and the economic devastation it will wreak on the nation. THAT will totally change all the numbers, especially government expenditures, deficits and the debt, as obamacare drives all private insurers out of business and the government takes over the entire health insurance and health care industries.
No, I don't think we will ever be rid of Obamacare. Obama certainly will not sign a repeal, even if an establishment RINO Congress passes it. Romney will not push for repeal and will only tinker at the edges, continuing in the tradition of establishment Republicans who, since FDR, saw as their role the competent managers who fix the disasters inflicted on us by Democrats. Gingrich or Santorum will be sabotaged by or bogged down in open warfare with the RINO establishment and the Democrats in Congress. The most likely scenario is that a coalition of the media, the unions, the leftist kooks, the 99%, the RINOs and the "moderates" will re-elect Obama and purge the TEA Party class of 2010 from the House. Class warfare has great appeal, social justice has great appeal, raw envy and negative ads work all too well, and most voters can't see past their noses, let alone get all the facts to make a rational rather than an emotional decision. They gave us Obama in 2008, didn't they? The TEA Party counter-revolution in 2010 is stalled; there is no sign of them anywhere this year, and none of the Republicans running for president are trying to woo or appeal to whatever remains of theTEA Party.
I have never before seen so many lies in the press about how the economy is getting better. I wonder if that won't wear a little thin by November.
Posted by: Franklin | February 05, 2012 at 12:45 PM
I don't think it's a coincidence that when the "regime" and the media toot their horns about the unemployment rate dropping to 8.3% (a fictitious number by the way) that they fail to mention that we still have a $16T debt that has to be paid back. And that amount continues to grow until it will be around $17T by election time. The point is, how can you boast that you've turned the economy around when you haven't even begun to address the outlandish debt?
Posted by: Ernie | February 06, 2012 at 04:44 PM