DALLAS— Congress finally abandoned the budget sequester and federal deficits are once again on the rise.
The White House has announced the federal budget deficit is expected to be $600 billion in 2016, a $162 billion increase from last year. That increase was completely predictable. Federal deficits declined as a result of the budget sequester; but Congress abandoned the sequester.
“The Budget Control Act of 2011, which created the sequester mechanism, had been the single most important factor in imposing fiscal restraint in our lifetimes,” said Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) resident scholar Dr. Merrill Matthews.
“Those cuts demonstrably improved the economy and were a major factor behind the U.S. deficit decline," said IPI president Tom Giovanetti. "But the big-spenders in Congress just could not tolerate fiscal responsibility.”
The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) is an independent, nonprofit public policy organization based in Dallas. IPI experts are available for interview by contacting Erin Humiston at (972) 874-5139, or erin@ipi.org.