The government is on track for a $2.75 trillion deficit this fiscal year. From MN Gordon at economicprism.com:
The 2026 fiscal year started on October 1. The Treasury, so far, has reported its spending for the first two months. The dismal results should come as no surprise.
The U.S. government has already run up a deficit of $458 billion – and there’s still 10 more months to go. Specifically, for the months of October and November there were total outlays of $1.198 trillion, with receipts of just $740 billion. The difference – the $458 billion – was made up with debt. Of the $1.198 trillion in outlays, $179 billion was to pay the net interest on the debt.
Here at the Economic Prism, we remember when the ‘annual’ deficit first exceeded $450 billion. You may too. It wasn’t very long ago – 2008 to be exact. At the time we thought spending was totally out of control. Little did we know, just one year later, 2009, the budget deficit would spike to $1.4 trillion. Now trillion-dollar annual deficits are the norm.
With this current rate of spending, the 2026 fiscal year deficit will come in around $2.75 trillion. This deficit, like each annual deficit, will be racked and stacked on top of the total government debt. After many decades of extreme deficits, the U.S. national debt is at $38.5 trillion – and rising fast.
The critical observation here is that too much spending is never enough. Congress, the politicians elected to represent us, have failed at their jobs. They are incapable of making the tough decisions needed to balance the budget.
Each member has his or her pet projects and programs to cover. Some want free drugs for old people. Others want taxpayer loot for roads and bridges in their district. Some want more warfare spending. Others want more welfare spending. Many want both.
They can rake in donor shekels and balance those shekel buckets.
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