WASHINGTON – The government will run a $1.1 trillion deficit in the fiscal year that ends in September, a slight dip from last year but still very high by any measure, according to a budget report released Tuesday.
The Congressional Budget Office report also says that annual deficits will remain in the $1 trillion range for the next several years if Bush-era tax cuts slated to expire in December are extended, as commonly assumed – and if Congress is unable to live within the tight “caps” the lawmakers themselves placed on agency budgets last year.
The report prompted a familiar wave of statements from lawmakers casting blame on the other for the fiscal mess.
“Four straight years of trillion-dollar deficits, no credible plan to lift the crushing burden of debt,” said House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
“We will not solve this problem unless both sides, Democrats and Republicans, are willing to move off their fixed positions and find common ground,” said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D. “Republicans must be willing to put revenue on the table.”
Outside jury sought in Sandusky case
Prosecutors in the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse case asked Tuesday to have jurors brought in from another Pennsylvania county, a day after disclosing in court records they would tell the former Penn State assistant coach the names of his 10 alleged victims.
The attorney general’s office argued in a court motion that pretrial publicity and Penn State’s prominent role in its local community mean Sandusky’s criminal trial warrant the use of jurors from outside the State College area. Sandusky’s lawyer said he would fight the proposal.
In the other court filing, made late Monday, prosecutors said the alleged victims’ names will be delivered to Sandusky’s lawyer by Friday, a process that would apparently avoid disclosure through public court records.
World
South Africa recalls faulty condoms
South Africa’s leading anti-AIDS group said Tuesday that allegedly faulty condoms are among more than 1.35 million handed out at the African National Congress’ 100th birthday party.
Health officials confirmed that they ordered all the condoms recalled. But the Treatment Action Campaign said no warning has been issued.
South Africa has the world’s highest number of AIDS patients, about 5.6 million.
The third recall in less than five years raises questions about the quality of some of the 425 million-plus condoms that the government gives away each year, and the ability of the government to ensure their quality is up to international standards.
