Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Each party is blaming the other, in the aftermath of a new budget report predicting that the government will run a $1.1 trillion deficit in the fiscal year that ends in September.

The Republican who heads the House Budget Committee, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, says there have been "four straight years of
trillion-dollar deficits," and "no credible plan" to deal with the "crushing burden of debt." He says President Barack Obama and
Democratic leaders have "fallen short in their duty" to deal with the problem.

But Democrat Kent Conrad, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, says there will be no solution until both parties "are
willing to move off their fixed positions and find common ground." He says, "Republicans must be willing to put revenue on the table."

The Congressional Budget Office report says annual deficits will remain in the $1 trillion range for the next several years -- if, as expected, the tax cuts that were slated to expire in December are extended.