United Liberty

When politicians talk about budget deficits and spending cuts, it’s typically within a very short-term view. And with federal budget deficit quickly approaching the $1 trillion mark for the fourth consecutive year and it being an election year, the national debt has once again become an issue.

According to a recent Gallup poll, Americans listed reining in the budget deficit as one of the their top concerns. But a new report from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) shows that the river of red ink flowing from Washington won’t be ending anytime soon as the national debt will hit $25 trillion by 2022:

The Obama administration quietly released a new budget report Friday afternoon at a time calculated to make sure it received minimal attention.

As reported over the weekend, the new Obama budget document lowers growth estimates for the current year to a (still) high 2.6 percent and estimates this years’ deficit at $1.2 trillion. That will bring our national debt to $16.2 trillion by the end of the fiscal year.

The more worrisome number in the new report is the estimated national debt at the end of the current 10-year budget widow. Senator Sessions, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee posted this chart of the anticipated growth of our debt. As you can see, we’ll be looking at over $25 trillion in debt by 2022:

You can see the report here. The relevant information pertaining to the national debt estimates can be found on page 60. The OMB predicts that gross domestic product (GDP) will be $25.663 trillion by 2022, so the national debt — at $25.4 trillion — will be nearly equal to the size of the economy. That’s not a surprise, but a point worth mentioning since not many are talking about the long-term picture. Also, economic growth forecasts of 2.5% per year aren’t that great, though better than what we’ve seeing currently.

As you know, President Barack Obama is currently pushing his tax hike proposal on higher-income earners, which would bring in some $967 billion over this same budget window. But during this same time, the federal government is expected to spend $46.9 trillion, of which $6.4 trillion will be financed by new debt.

That’s right, folks, the tax hikes being pushed don’t at all touch budget deficits. In fact, higher taxes, as the Congressional Budget Office has repeatedly warned, will impact productivity and hurt economic growth. Real spending cuts have to be made to stop the hemorrhaging in the budget.