Congressional office sees deficit rising

WASHINGTON, June 26 (UPI) -- The Congressional Budget Office said Friday the U.S. budget deficit could double as a percentage of the gross domestic product between 2023 and 2040.

Continuing with tax cuts granted by the Bush administration, lowering the minimum alternative tax and ignoring a scheduled reduction in the Medicare program would push the gap to 100 percent of the GDP by 2023 and to 200 percent sometime before 2040, the CBO said.

"Under current law, the federal budget is on an unsustainable path," the report released Friday says.

President Barack Obama has proposed continuing some Bush administration tax policies, especially those aimed at helping the middle class, The Washington Post reported.

White House Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag said Friday that he had not seen other "credible proposals."

If the tax cuts ended and cuts in payments to doctors who accept Medicare were to go through it would "unrealistically reduce costs or increase revenues," he said.

Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said the United States was "drowning in unprecedented levels of red ink, and there is no plan to fix the situation."