You already know that last year’s federal budget deficit was almost $400 billion, the largest deficit in the nation’s history. Today we’ve learned, however, that we’re already on track to break last year’s record fairly easily.<\/p>\n
Congressional auditors announced this week that the deficit for just the first three months of the 2004 fiscal year is already $126 billion<\/a>. Since that only accounts for one-fourth of the year, we’re on track for a $500 billion deficit this year.<\/p>\n To hear the Bush administration tell it, there’s nothing to worry about. Treasury Secretary John Snow explained this week that a half-trillion dollar annual deficit is “entirely manageable.”<\/a> (The Center for American Progress accused him<\/a> of having an “inattention to deficit disorder.” I wish I had thought of that line.)<\/p>\n Unfortunately, few seem to share Snow’s confidence. The New York Times noted<\/a> a scathing new report from the International Monetary Fund, which said the “United States is running up a foreign debt of such record-breaking proportions that it threatens the financial stability of the global economy.”<\/p>\n