{"id":2074744,"date":"2023-10-21T02:58:04","date_gmt":"2023-10-21T06:58:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/budget-deficit-soars-23-percent-to-1-7-trillion-prompting-warnings\/"},"modified":"2023-10-21T03:04:19","modified_gmt":"2023-10-21T07:04:19","slug":"budget-deficit-soars-23-percent-to-1-7-trillion-prompting-warnings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/budget-deficit-soars-23-percent-to-1-7-trillion-prompting-warnings\/","title":{"rendered":"Budget deficit jumps 23% to $1.7T, raising concerns."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbudget-deficit-soars-23-percent-to-1-7-trillion-prompting-warnings%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2074744&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The U.S. \u200dAnnual Budget Deficit Soars to $1.7 Trillion, Experts Warn of Addiction\u200c to Debt<\/h2>\n<p>The U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-crazy-republican-rep-jason-smith-says-bidens-6-trillion-budge-has-a-zero-percent-increase-for-homeland-security\/\" title=\"\u2018It\u2019s Crazy\u2019: Republican Rep. Jason Smith Says Biden\u2019s  Trillion Budge Has A \u2018Zero Percent Increase\u2019 For Homeland Security\">annual budget deficit<\/a> has skyrocketed by 23 percent compared to last year, reaching just under $1.7 trillion. This alarming increase \u2064has led one fiscal policy expert to declare that &#8220;we are a nation addicted to debt.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>The Treasury Department&#8217;s final <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fiscal.treasury.gov\/files\/reports-statements\/mts\/mts0923.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">monthly treasury statement<\/a> for the entire\u200d fiscal year 2023, which ended on Sept. 30, reveals that the budget deficit was\u200d $320 billion higher\u200d than the previous year, totaling $1.695 trillion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The \u200blast time a\u2064 higher budget\u200c gap was recorded was in 2021,\u2064 when the deficit reached a record-breaking $2.78\u2062 trillion\u200b due\u200d to increased\u2062 spending on pandemic relief.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"mb-3 font-sans text-[16px] font-semibold uppercase leading-[19px] text-[#2F2F2F]\">Related Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-4 sm:line-clamp-3\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/2-trillion-deficit-projection-sparks-conservative-demands-for-spending-cuts-major-budget-reforms-5487151?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\"><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"text-sm sm:text-base\">$2 Trillion \u2063Deficit Projection\u2062 Sparks \u200bConservative Demands for Spending Cuts, Major Budget \u2064Reforms<\/h3>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">9\/6\/2023<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-4 sm:line-clamp-3\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/opinion\/federal-budget-deficit-suddenly-doubles-signaling-disaster-5486474?ea_src=author_manual&#038;ea_med=related_stories\"><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"text-sm sm:text-base\">Federal Budget Deficit Suddenly Doubles, Signaling Disaster<\/h3>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">9\/5\/2023<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Although the\u2064 latest budget deficit is\u2064 lower than the record-breaking gap \u2062in \u200c2021, experts still consider it uncomfortably high and\u2062 urge immediate action.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are a nation addicted to debt,&#8221; stated Maya MacGuineas, president of the\u2063 Committee for a Responsible \u200cFederal Budget (CRFB). She emphasized that the actual borrowing amount \u2063is even higher, but accounting issues are\u200b causing it to be undercounted.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The deficit\u200d totaled $1.7 trillion in\u2062 Fiscal Year 2023, but\u200b we\u200d actually borrowed $2 trillion when you fix the accounting around President Biden\u2019s reversed student debt \u2063cancellation plan,&#8221; MacGuineas\u200d explained. &#8220;That means borrowing doubled from last year. \u2062With the economy growing and unemployment near record\u200d lows, \u200dthis was the time to instill fiscal responsibility and reduce our deficits.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>With interest payments on government debt reaching 15-year highs, MacGuineas warned that at this rate, \u200c&#8221;we&#8217;ll spend more on interest than national defense \u200cby 2027.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Yellen Blames Low Tax Receipts<\/h2>\n<p>Treasury Secretary Janet \u2063Yellen attributed the surge\u200d in the deficit to a drop in government\u2062 revenues. She\u2063 emphasized the importance of collecting more\u200c taxes and \u200bhighlighted \u2064the Biden administration&#8217;s \u200cplans to increase tax collections to boost government\u200c funds.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Falling \u2063revenues are\u2063 a significant \u200dcontributor to the 2023 deficit, \u200bunderscoring\u2063 the importance of President Biden&#8217;s \u200benacted and proposed policies to reform the tax system,&#8221; stated Yellen, along with Office of Management and Budget \u2063Director Shalanda Young.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Treasury data, federal\u2063 tax receipts fell by 9.3\u2064 percent in 2023 compared to the\u2062 previous year, primarily due to a $456 billion decline in individual \u200dincome taxes. Additionally,\u2062 lower \u200bFederal Reserve profits contributed to the decrease in government revenue by \u200b$106 billion, resulting from higher \u200cinterest rates.<\/p>\n<p>Despite\u200d these \u200dchallenges, there was \u2063a partial offset with a $131 billion increase in social \u200binsurance and retirement receipts as wages rose.<\/p>\n<p>The \u2064total federal borrowing from\u200d the public rose by $2\u200d trillion during\u2062 fiscal \u200b2023, \u2062reaching $26.2 trillion. As a \u2064percentage of\u2064 gross domestic product (GDP), borrowing from\u2062 the public grew from 96 percent at the end of fiscal\u2062 2022 to 98 percent\u2063 at the end of fiscal 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Yellen acknowledged concerns about high deficits but assured that the Biden administration is taking action \u2062to address them.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Biden Administration continues to focus on navigating our \u200deconomy\u2019s transition to\u2063 healthy and sustainable growth,&#8221; she stated. &#8220;As we do, the \u2064President and I are also \u2064committed to addressing challenges to our long-term fiscal outlook.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A crucial\u200c part of the administration&#8217;s strategy to\u2062 tackle deficits\u2063 in the long\u200b term is collecting more taxes from wealthier Americans and corporations, according to Yellen.<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-figure\" style=\"margin-left:0;margin-right:0;max-width:1200px\">\n<figure style=\"width:640px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>U.S. President Joe Biden, flanked by Secretary \u200bof State Antony Blinken (L) and Treasury Secretary Janet \u200cYellen (R), \u2062hosts a meeting inside the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington on Oct. 20, 2023. (Tom Brenner\/Pool\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<h2>National Debt Pushes Higher<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>Since\u200d the beginning of October, the national\u2062 debt has sharply increased. The latest Treasury <a href=\"https:\/\/fiscaldata.treasury.gov\/datasets\/debt-to-the-penny\/debt-to-the-penny\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">data<\/a> reveals that\u2064 as of Oct. 18, the total outstanding public debt reached $33.63 trillion, which is approximately $500 billion higher than the previous\u200c month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>At one point in October, the national debt surged by $275 \u200dbillion \u2064in\u2064 a single day.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/budget_fy2024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2024 White House budget<\/a>, the \u200bnational debt is projected to\u2063 exceed $43 trillion by \u20642033.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Currently, the debt-to-GDP ratio stands at around 100 percent.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>A recent \u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu\/issues\/2023\/10\/6\/when-does-federal-debt-reach-unsustainable-levels\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> from the Penn Wharton Budget Model warns that\u2064 the United \u2062States has only about 20 years to \u2062address its fiscal challenges. After that,\u2064 no amount of tax\u200c increases \u2064or spending cuts would \u2062prevent a government default on its debt, leading to severe\u2063 consequences for the U.S. and global\u2063 economies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The report emphasizes that the 20-year timeframe assumes that market \u2064participants believe corrective\u2064 actions will be\u2062 taken\u200c in advance. If this belief\u200d wavers, the window for corrective action becomes\u200d even \u200dshorter,\u2062 making the situation more precarious.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> \u200b How does the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/budget-deficit-soars-23-percent-to-1-7-trillion-prompting-warnings\/\" title=\"Budget deficit jumps 23% to .7T, raising concerns.\">rising budget\u2064 deficit impact interest payments<\/a> on government\u200d debt and what are the potential\u2062 consequences?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  The U.S. annual budget\u200b deficit has reached an alarming level, soaring to\u200d $1.7 trillion, which\u200b is a 23 percent\u200c increase compared \u2063to last year. This \u2062significant increase has led experts to warn about \u200dthe nation&#8217;s addiction to\u200d debt.<\/p>\n<p>According to \u200cthe Treasury Department&#8217;s \u2062final monthly treasury statement for the fiscal year 2023,\u2064 the budget deficit was $320 billion higher than \u200cthe previous year, totaling $1.695 trillion. The last\u200b time such a \u200chigh budget gap was recorded was in 2021, when\u200c the deficit reached a record-breaking $2.78 trillion \u2062due to\u200c increased spending on pandemic relief.<\/p>\n<p>Although the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-budget-deficit-tops-1-6-trillion-amid-lower-tax-revenue-higher-spending\/\" title=\"US budget deficit exceeds .6 trillion due to reduced taxes and increased spending.\">current budget deficit<\/a>\u2064 is lower than the record-breaking gap in 2021, experts still consider it uncomfortably\u2063 high and are urging immediate action. Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget\u2063 (CRFB), stated, &#8220;We are a nation addicted to debt.&#8221; She also \u200bemphasized that the actual borrowing amount is even\u200d higher, but accounting issues\u2064 are causing it\u200b to be undercounted.<\/p>\n<p>MacGuineas explained that the deficit \u200ctotaled $1.7 trillion \u2063in Fiscal Year 2023, \u200bbut the actual borrowing reached $2 trillion when \u2063accounting for \u2063President \u200cBiden&#8217;s reversed student debt cancellation plan. \u2064This means that borrowing has \u200bdoubled from last \u200cyear. MacGuineas stressed\u2062 the importance of fiscal responsibility\u200c and deficit reduction, especially at a\u2064 time when the\u2064 economy is growing and unemployment is low.<\/p>\n<p>One of the consequences of the \u200brising budget \u2063deficit\u2062 is the increase in interest payments on government debt, which have reached \u206415-year highs. MacGuineas warned\u200b that if this trend continues, the \u200dU.S. will spend more on interest than\u200b on\u2064 national defense \u2063by 2027.<\/p>\n<p>Treasury Secretary\u200d Janet Yellen attributed the surge in the deficit to\u2062 a drop in government revenues.\u200d She emphasized \u200cthe importance of collecting more\u2062 taxes and highlighted the Biden administration&#8217;s plans to increase tax\u2063 collections in order to boost government funds. Yellen stated that falling revenues are a significant\u200c contributor to the deficit and underscored the \u200dimportance of President Biden&#8217;s enacted and proposed policies to reform the tax system.<\/p>\n<p>According to Treasury data, federal tax receipts fell by 9.3 percent in 2023 compared\u2062 to\u2062 the \u2062previous\u200b year, \u200bprimarily\u2063 due to \u200ca decline in individual income taxes. Lower Federal Reserve profits also contributed to the decrease in government \u200drevenue. However, there was a partial offset with an \u200bincrease in social insurance and retirement receipts as wages \u2062rose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The U.S. annual budget deficit surged by 23% to nearly $1.7 trillion, indicating our nation&#8217;s addiction to debt, as stated by a fiscal policy expert. The Treasury Department&#8217;s latest report reveals a $320 billion increase compared to the previous year, reaching a total deficit of $1.695 trillion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":2074745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2074744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2074744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2074744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2074744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2074745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2074744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2074744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2074744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}