By fitsnews – February 13, 2011
Ready for some scary numbers?
According to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report released earlier this month, interest payments on our government’s $14.2 trillion debt will total $5.5 trillion over the coming decade – and that’s if rates stay low.
Those interest payments could reach as high as $6.8 trillion (or even $7.5 trillion) if rates increase faster than expected.
That’s pretty astonishing when you consider that the national debt itself was $5.5 trillion a decade ago.
In case you were wondering, President Barack Obama’s FY 2012 budget projects the current year’s deficit will clock in at $1.6 trillion – up from $1.3 trillion a year ago.
That forecast is larger than the $1.48 trillion the CBO projected a month ago.
All told, $8 trillion in addition red ink is projected for the coming decade … assuming things remain as they are.
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