US Politics: A Beginner's Guide to the Plans to Cut Government Spending
Thursday, March 3, 2011 at 9:14
On Monday, the Tea Party Caucus held a meeting in Washington to discuss their potential approaches to a forthcoming vote, probably in June, on raising America's debt ceiling. No definite conclusion was reached by the Caucus, but here are the headline numbers, from the President's deficit reduction commission, that illustrate how the the debt burden in in the United States is forcing the political conversation in Washington....
In 2010, Federal Government spending was nearly 24% of the nation's GDP; a level not seen since the days of WWII. To cover this spending, the government raised tax revenues of 15% of GDP. In total, the difference between spending and revenue in 2010 –-- the deficit –-- stood at 9% of the value of all the goods and services produced in the economy, or GDP.