Washington ignores America's fiscal cliff

The Trump administration is seeking $200 billion to fund an Iran war and replenish weaponry as the U.S. faces a fiscal crisis marked by deficits projected at 6% of GDP annually for the next decade and public debt soaring to 120% of GDP by 2036. Tax legislation enacted last year is projected by the Congressional Budget Office to increase cumulative deficits by $3.4 trillion over a decade, while spending caps from a 2023 deal were not extended. Social Security could run out of funds in 2032, forcing politically toxic benefit cuts unless Congress acts, and debt service costs are on track to exceed $2 trillion annually by 2036. Despite the fiscal urgency, policymakers across parties have pursued deficit-increasing policies with little serious discussion of spending reductions, according to Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Congressional efforts like the Fiscal Commission Act introduced this month have generated little momentum toward concrete legislative action.