By Peter Galuszka
Remember the federal deficit that lurked behind the corner? Where did it go?
Al Kamen of The Washington Post asks that question in a column today. He writes:
“Not long ago, the federal deficit was projected to destroy the country, our country’s future and just about everything else. The politicians and the news media regularly fretted about what to do. Budget battles shut down the entire government for a couple of weeks.”
He continues: “So, what happened? The simple answer, of course, is that the deficit is way down and, for now, is no longer a big problem.”
The Congressional Budget Office estimated last week that the deficit for f/y 2014 is $492 billion or 2.8 percent of GDP. That puts us back in the early years of the George W. Bush administration.
Hmm. Kinda of makes you wonder where all this out-of-control spending is coming from that the Tea Party types talk about so much.
It is off the media radar screen. The Post has a graphic showing that the words or mention of the “national debt,” federal debt” or “federal deficit,” reached a high around the first half of 2010. The conservative Washington Times the most at 18; The Post with 13; and the New York Times with 10. Now it’s around three.
This isn’t to say that federal spending doesn’t merit watching. But where is Jim Bacon when you need him?
