Bush May Leave Ballooning Deficit, Curbing Successor's Programs
Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush is poised to leave the federal government in worse financial shape than he found it, making it harder for whoever succeeds him to deliver on the promises of this year's election campaign.
Bush may end his eight years in office with a larger-than- forecast budget deficit approaching 2004's record $413 billion, as an increasingly likely recession slashes tax receipts and raises spending. He'll also leave behind a host of thorny, longer-term problems -- from the expiration of his big tax cuts in 2010 to spiraling spending on senior citizens -- that will dog his successor's budgets for years.
That means Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would find it harder to finance their promised expansion of health-care benefits. Republicans Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney would have a tougher time carrying out their pledges to cut taxes.
We have a big hole to crawl out of,'' says Robert Bixby, head of the Washington-based Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan group that advocates balanced budgets. Any sort of major initiative by the next president is going to be very difficult to do.''
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