The White House has unveiled its projected budget for the current fiscal year that would see the federal deficit rise to the highest amount in history, even with a hefty package of spending cuts, according to The Wall Street Journal. On Monday, President Barack Obama’s administration released a budget for 2011 that includes an estimated $1.65 trillion deficit. That total would be the largest dollar amount in history and equal about 10.9% of gross domestic product marking the largest portion of the economy since the World War II.
The budget also proposes government spending of $3.73 trillion in 2012, and for the deficit for that year to ease down to $1.1 trillion or 7% of GDP. The plan has the deficit cut down to $627 billion or 3% of GDP by 2017, which would include over $1 trillion in accumulated spending cuts over the coming decade. The projected deficit for the current fiscal year is larger than the $1.48 trillion projected by the Congressional Budget Office, and the long-term plans still leave big budget gaps that will increase pressure on lawmakers to tackle the country’s growing debt level.