Budget Deficit to Break New Record

The projected Bush budget deficit is up to record $427B or about 30% higher than projected before the election.  Analysts project decreased economic growth and a increased pressure on the dollar.  "Having racked up three of the largest deficits in history, the Bush administration is years away from reducing the deficit by half, or by any appreciable amount," said Rep. John Spratt of South Carolina, the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee.

"Indeed, America's massive federal budget and foreign-trade deficits are spawning global financial anxieties and driving down the value of the dollar. The United Nations yesterday warned that the U.S. deficits are pulling the world economy off balance.