The debate over whether the federal government should borrow money to extend unemployment benefits beyond the typical 26 weeks at a time when the number of jobless is high and public debt is growing rapidly shed light on terms that are easily confused among the public - the federal deficit and national debt. (more)

George W. Bush is the biggest spending president since Lyndon B. Johnson, according to Chris Edwards of the Cato Institute (at least until Barack Obama). (more)

Next week the Obama administration will revise its 10-year cumulative budget deficit projection to around $9.1 trillion, up from its earlier projection of $7.1 trillion, an official at the Office of Management & Budget told ABC News on Friday. (more)

Remember Barack Obama’s New Era of Responsibility? It got off to aninauspicious start, with a $787 billion economic stimulus package, a $410 billion appropriations bill, and a record $1.8 trillion budget deficit.... (more)

I am a long-time believer in the notion that nobody cares about the budget deficit.  People say they care about the budget deficit, but people say they care about a lot of things.  Almost everything, in fact.  What people flogging the budget deficit actually care about is the programs it goes to pay for.  Every time the presidential party turns over, I get the pleasure of watching deficit-hawk Democrats suddenly discover that borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars actually has no moral or economic imp... (more)

The timing on this one is strangely coincidental, considering the Obsidian Wings post last night. It turns out David Leonhardt at the New York Times has offered a detailed analysis of CBO budget data going back to the Bill Clinton-ear surpluses, "For U.S., a Sea of Perilous Red Ink, Years in the Making"... (more)

WASHINGTON -- Just how much government debt does a president have to endorse before he's labeled "irresponsible"? Well, apparently much more than the massive amounts envisioned by President Obama. The final version of his 2010 budget, released last week, is a case study in political expediency and economic gambling. Let's see. From 2010 to 2019, Obama projects annual deficits totaling $7.1 trillion; that's atop the $1.8 trillion deficit for 2009. By 2019, the ratio of publicly held federal debt to gro... (more)

May 14 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama, calling current deficit spending “unsustainable,” warned of skyrocketing interest rates for consumers if the U.S. continues to finance government by borrowing from other countries. “We can’t keep on just borrowing from China,” Obama said at a town-hall meeting in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, outside Albuquerque. “We have to pay interest on that debt, and that means we are mortgaging our children’s future with more and more debt.” Holders of U.S. debt will ... (more)

Remember President Obama's New Era of Responsibility? It got off to an inauspicious start, with a $787 billion economic stimulus package, a $410 billion appropriations bill, and a record $1.8 trillion budget deficit. But now Obama wants to signal that he's getting serious about cutting the federal budget. Unfortunately, his plan hinges on the assumption that Americans do not know how to calculate percentages. (more)

The Obama administration plans to deliver to Congress on Thursday a guide for saving about $17 billion in federal spending next year - as part of the $3.55-trillion budget for 2010 that President Barack Obama already has proposed. The White House also allows that this is only the first installment in its promise to find more savings in the conduct of the government. (more)