News Release

WASHINGTON - The Congressional Budget Office today estimated the deficit for fiscal 2005 will be $331 billion, the third largest in history.  Rep. Spratt had the following reaction.

"The Congressional Budget Office foresees another huge deficit this year: $331 billion. That deficit may seem better by comparison to the deficits of 2004 and 2003, which were the worst in history.  But at $331 billion, the deficit for 2005 still ranks as one of the top three; and any improvement in the bottom line is short-lived.  The deficit goes south in a hurry when the Bush Administration's agenda is factored into the forecast.

"While the deficit for 2005 may be coming in below recent projections, it is far worse than the projections made in January 2001 when the Bush Administration took office.  In 2001, CBO  projected a surplus of $433 billion for 2005, in contrast to the actual deficit which appears to be  $331 billion. That's a swing of $764 billion in the wrong direction.

"Despite marginal improvements, CBO paints a budget picture that is bleak overall, especially when the Administration's agenda is factored in.  Every year, triple-digit deficits replace the triple-digit surpluses projected when this Administration took office.

"Since OMB's release of the Mid-Session Review, the White House and Republicans in Congress have touted this year's deficit as progress; but a deficit of $331 billion this year, followed by a deficit likely to be at least as large next year under the President's policies, is nothing to trumpet, particularly when there is no plan or prospect of bringing the budget anywhere close to balance.  Instead, the President's budget only makes the deficit worse. Take just the President's tax agenda, for example; over the next ten years, it adds another $1.4 trillion to the deficit.

"This Administration's fiscal policies are leading us down a path of endless deficits and mounting debt.  Democrats in the House proposed a budget this year that returns to balance by 2012, and we continue to advocate reinstatement of the budget process rules that helped us move the budget to a surplus of $236 billion just five short years ago."

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More information on the CBO forecast may be found at these links:

House Budget Committee Democrats

Congressional Budget Office