WASHINGTON – What is $1.42 trillion? It's more than the total national debt for the first 200 years of the Republic, more than the entire economy of India, almost as much as Canada's, and more than $4,700 for every man, woman and child in the United States.

It's the federal budget deficit for 2009, more than three times the most red ink ever amassed in a single year.

The nation would be forced to borrow more than $9 trillion over the next decade under President Obama's policies, the White House acknowledged late Friday, bringing their long-term budget forecast in line with independent estimates.

—Greg Mankiw, via gregmankiw in this entry.

Obama and LaHood pledged that dealers will get their money back. But government data shows that many claims are still outstanding. As of Thursday, 457,000 sales worth $1.9 billion had been received. About 40 percent of those claims have been reviewed, but only $140 million, or about 7 percent of the claims dealers submitted, have actually been paid.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's treasury secretary said Sunday he cannot rule out higher taxes to help tame an exploding budget deficit, and his chief economic adviser would not dismiss raising them on middle-class Americans as part of a health care overhaul.

The $410 billion bill includes significant increases in food aid for the poor, energy research and other programs. It was supposed to have been completed last fall, but Democrats opted against election-year battles with Republicans and former President George W. Bush.

But the bill ran into an unexpected political hailstorm in Congress after Obama's spending-heavy economic stimulus bill and his 2010 budget plan, which forecast a $1.8 trillion deficit for the current budget year.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's budget would generate unsustainably large deficits averaging almost $1 trillion a year over the next decade, according to new estimates released Friday.

The new Congressional Budget Office figures predict Obama's budget will produce $9.3 trillion worth of red ink over 2010-2019. That's $2.3 trillion worse than the administration predicted in its budget just last month.

Barack Obama allegedly intends to be a transformational president like Ronald Reagan. But now President Obama is raising taxes on businesses and retirees, socializing the largest sectors of America’s economy, and decimating state sovereignty and creativity. This is the polar opposite of what President Reagan did in the 1980s, and reveals Barack Obama as the Anti-Reagan.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic-controlled Congress on Thursday approved more money for education, job training and health care than the amount sought by President George W. Bush, challenging him to veto a bill that funds popular domestic programs.

By a vote of 274-141, the House of Representatives passed the bill, which now goes to the White House for an anticipated veto. The Senate approved the bill on Wednesday.

The $150.7 billion bill exceeds Bush's February request by about $10 billion and is at the heart of a budget fight between Democrats and Republicans over spending priorities.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal revenue collections hit an all-time high in April, contributing to a further improvement in the budget deficit for the year.

Releasing its monthly budget report, the Treasury Department said Thursday that through the first seven months of this budget year, the deficit totals $80.8 billion, significantly below the $184.1 billion imbalance run up during the first seven months of the 2006 budget year.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Budget estimates released Wednesday showed some improvement in the deficit but gave little solace to Democrats struggling to match President Bush's promise to balance the budget.

The new forecast from the Congressional Budget Office put the deficit for the current budget year reaching about $200 billion after factoring in Iraq war costs. Last year's deficit was $248 billion.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal budget deficit estimate for the fiscal year just completed has dropped to $250 billion, congressional estimators said Friday, as the economy continued to fuel impressive tax revenues.

The Congressional Budget Office's latest estimate is $10 billion below CBO predictions issued in August and well below a July White House prediction of $296 billion.

At 1.9 percent of gross domestic product, the 2006 deficit registers far below those seen in the 1980s and early 1990s. The modern record of 6 percent of GDP came in 1983 and deficits greater than 4 percent in 1991 and 1992 drove Congress to embark on a 1993 deficit-cutting drive.

WASHINGTON — The federal deficit through July is running well below last year's pace, helped by strong growth in revenues, the Treasury Department reported Thursday.

Through the first 10 months of this budget year, the deficit totaled $239.7 billion, an improvement of 20.8 percent from the same period a year ago, when it was $302.8 billion.

The deficit in July totaled $33.2 billion, down sharply from an imbalance of $53.4 billion in July 2005.

The narrowing of the deficit this year reflects a surge in government revenues from higher corporate and individual tax receipts.