The federal budget deficit got a nasty update today: US red ink to top $1.8 trillion, 4 times record; gov’t borrows 46 cents for every dollar spent

The government will have to borrow nearly 50 cents for every dollar it spends this year, exploding the record federal deficit past $1.8 trillion under new White House estimates.

Budget office figures released Monday would add $89 billion to the 2009 red ink — increasing it to more than four times last year’s all-time high as the government hands out billions more than expected for people who have lost jobs and takes in less tax revenue from people and companies making less money.

The unprecedented deficit figures flow from the deep recession, the Wall Street bailout and the cost of President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus bill — as well as a seemingly embedded structural imbalance between what the government spends and what it takes in….

The Obama budget will run a deficit FOUR times bigger than Bush. Worse than that: Deficits soar even with rosy Obama budget assumptions! It could be $2 trillion before they close the books!

In simple terms, the US government will borrow half of what it spends this year and the next! What’s wrong with that? We have never been here before. “Hope and change” is navigating in uncharted waters!

Here is an important point — CBO: 2009 deficit 50% greater than expected:

The deficit projection has increased 50% since January, and CBO director Douglas Elmendorf blames “enactment of recent legislation.”

Here is one for the “yes we can” screamers, from the Congressional Budget Office Director’s Blog:

As estimated by CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation, the President’s proposals would add $4.8 trillion to the baseline deficits over the 2010–2019 period.

CBO projects that if those proposals were enacted, the deficit would total $1.8 trillion (13 percent of GDP) in 2009 and $1.4 trillion (10 percent of GDP) in 2010.

It would decline to about 4 percent of GDP by 2012 and remain between 4 percent and 6 percent of GDP through 2019.

How can you sustain that? You can’t!

Something has to give. It won’t be pretty! Get ready for high interest rates and inflation! Also, get ready for those “taxes on the rich” that will somehow hit the middle class!

Listen to British economist and Fox News analyst Stuart Varney explain: