Wall Street Journal:
President Barack Obama will propose on Monday a $3.8 trillion budget for fiscal 2011 that projects the deficit will shoot up to a record $1.6 trillion this year, but would push the red ink down to about $700 billion, or 4% of the gross domestic product, by 2013, according to congressional aides.
The deficit for the current fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30, would eclipse last year's $1.4 trillion deficit, in part due to new spending on a proposed jobs package. The president also wants $25 billion for cash-strapped state governments, mainly to offset their funding of the Medicaid health program for the poor.
To get the deficit down by the middle of the decade, Mr. Obama will be relying on some cuts that have previously been proposed without success, on cooperation from a wary Congress and on a yet-to-be set up debt commission to suggest politically difficult choices.
The problem here is the portion I put in bold.
For the projections to work the way the proposal says, Obama is assuming that cuts previously suggested would pass instead of being rejected again, assuming also that Congress will cooperate and it will be dependent on a commission that doesn't exist and may or may not exist in the future.
Related:
Politico- Five years, $5.08 trillion in debt
USA Today- Obama unveiling record $3.8 trillion budget
New York Times- In $3.8 Trillion Budget, Obama Pivots to Trim Future Deficits
Wapo- Obama unveiling $3.8T federal budget blueprint
CBS- Obama's $3.8T Budget Heads to Congress
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