Question

How has congress tried to shrink our current deficit?

Answer 1

Indeed the deficit is shrinking. The deficit came in at $439 billion, about $45 billion less than the year before when the books closed on the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. Spending increased (5 percent), but revenues increased (partially 8 percent due to economic recovery). Measured against the size of the economy, the most significant metric, the deficit was 2.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) versus 2.8 percent the previous year. That's below the average of the past 40 years and far from the nearly 10 per cent GDP deficit recorded during the Great Recession's worst period.

The U.S. government still borrows billions at very low interest rates and there are no signs that government borrowing is crowding out private-sector borrowing.

Among many in Congress, that calm seems to have bred fiscal complacency. They have gone from offsetting spending increases with spending cuts or revenue increases, matching spending increases with accounting gimmicks, simply voting to increase spending and extend the expiring tax breaks.