In its latest budget review, unveiled today, the Congressional Budget Office notes the “progress” lawmakers have made over the past fiscal year in confronting the country’s debt problem:
The federal government recorded a total budget deficit of $1.3 trillion in fiscal year 2011, almost identical to the deficit it incurred in 2010. As a share of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), the deficit declined slightly—from 9.0 percent in 2010 to 8.7 percent in 2011—but was still the third-highest deficit as a share of GDP since 1945.
More here.