WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress' nonpartisan budget analysts are projecting a $1.1 trillion federal deficit for 2012, the fourth straight year the government's shortfall will exceed $1 trillion.
The Congressional Budget Office also says it expects the economy to continue recovering at only a modest rate the rest of this year, growing at a modest annual rate of 2.25 percent. The slow-moving economy and massive federal deficits are top-flight issues in this year's presidential and congressional campaigns.
The budget office repeated a warning it made earlier this year, saying the long-term fiscal outlook is uncertain. That's because no one knows how President Barack Obama and Congress will resolve their standoff over extending expiring tax cuts for the rich and over sweeping spending cuts that will be triggered in January unless Congress blocks them.