Deferring on Budget No Longer An Option, CBO Says

Congress‘ chief scorekeeper warned Wednesday that the country’s top lawmakers can’t continue to put off big decisions on the budget and the economy much longer, and said either path — belt-tightening now or even deeper cuts later — will be painful.

The Congressional Budget Office, which released its annual August update, said the deficit for fiscal year 2012 is pretty much set at more than $1.1 trillion — the fourth straight year of trillion-dollar deficits, dating back to the end of President George W. Bush’s term and covering all of President Obama’s 3½ years in office.

Now, Congress and Mr. Obama are grappling with 2013 and beyond, and CBO said their options range from immediate belt-tightening and a double-dip recession that clears the economic and fiscal air, to continuing to pump money into the economy and delay, but likely worsen, an eventual reckoning.

More