Jobs 

Household Income Declines Faster than During the Recession: According to an October 10 report from Sentier Research, based on U.S. Census Bureau data, median annual household income has fallen significantly more during the economic recovery period from June 2009 to June 2011 than during the recession lasting from December 2007 to June 2009. During the recession, real median annual household income fell by 3.2 percent, from $55,309 in December 2007 to $53,518 in June 2009.  During the economic recovery period under President Obama, real median annual household income fell by an additional 6.7 percent, from $53,518 in June 2009 to $49,909 in June 2011.

Spending

CBO FY 2011 Final Report, Spending and Deficit Grow:  CBO released its monthly budget report for September, the final month of Fiscal Year 2011.  According to CBO, the 2011 deficit was $1.298 trillion, the second highest deficit in the history of the U.S, only eclipsed by 2009.  According to CBO, the deficit is $4 billion higher than the previous year’s deficit. Compared to the previous year, revenues increased by $141 billion or 6.5%, spending increased by $144 billion or 4.2%, and the deficit increased by $4 billion or 0.4%.

Medicare

Medicare Cost Estimates Not Even Close:  In a recent National Affairs piece, analyst Avik Roy explains when Medicare was enacted Congressional staff “projected that’s its costs would grow from under $5 billion in its first year to $12 billion in 1990…in 1990 [Medicare costs] reached not $12 billion but $110 billion.  By 2000, the program cost $219 billion.  Last year, it cost just over $520 billion.  According to the Congressional Budget Office, if Medicare is not reformed, by 2020 it will cost about a trillion dollars a year.”