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SE IA | How much debt can the US have and still remain solvent? At some point this has to be a major issue or are there levers to be pulled yet?
CBO Predicts $30 Trillion In Debt Within A Decade.
The Washington Times (1/25, Dinan) reports that a new Congressional Budget Office study details a “still-sluggish” US economy “more than seven years into the Obama recovery.” The Times, citing the study, says the federal government “will be flirting with $30 trillion in debt within a decade,” adding that the CBO attributes its projected “poor economic outlook” to “steadily increasing spending on the elderly, looming tax hikes and particularly the increasing bite of Obamacare.”
In an editorial, the Wall Street Journal (1/25, Subscription Publication) casts blame for the CBO’s deficit predictions on President Obama, arguing that rising revenues can’t keep pace with spending on entitlement programs.
Healthcare Spending Outpaced That Of Social Security In 2015. The CBO also said Monday that “spending on federal healthcare programs outpaced spending on Social Security for the first time in 2015,” The Hill (1/25, Ferris) reported. According to the research organization, although Social Security spending last year totaled $882 billion, the government “spent $936 billion ... on health programs including Medicare, Medicaid and subsidies related to the Affordable Care Act, a jump of 13 percent from 2014.” The Hill anticipates that the growing costs of healthcare programs will “ignite an election-year debate on the right over ObamaCare and its impact on the budget.”
Prediction For ACA Enrollments Lowered. According to another CBO report released Monday, “fewer people than expected are purchasing health insurance” under the Affordable Care Act, the AP (1/25, Taylor, Alonso-Zaldivar) says. The study concluded that 13 million Americans “are likely to purchase policies” through the healthcare law, “down about 8 million from estimates the agency made early last year.”
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How much US Debt is sustainable?
