Brian Gongol
![The United States of America](http://gongol.com/assets/icons/2005icons/usa.png)
The President has proposed a budget for Fiscal Year 2014. And it's not balanced, nor does it ever estimate becoming so. A deficit equal to 6% of GDP for 2013, 4.4% for 2014, 3.2% for 2015, 2.8% for 2016, 2.4% for 2017, and 2.3% for 2018 (see page 29). Of course, that also assumes the US economy will grow 4.2% in 2013, 4.9% in 2014, 5.4% in 2015, 5.5% in 2016 and 2017, and 5.2% in 2018 (see page 27). Would that be great? Of course. Is it going to happen? No way. A 5% economic growth rate would be a delightful boom, and a 2% Federal deficit would be easily-tolerable under those conditions. But that's not what's going to happen. Even making accommodation for the fact those estimates are not adjusted for inflation, deducting out 1% to 2% for inflation still assumes a much higher expected growth rate for the economy than has been experienced with any consistency for quite a while.
![Business and Finance](http://gongol.com/assets/icons/2005icons/biz.png)
They'd like to see 5% growth; they're expecting 3.3% this year
![The American Way](http://gongol.com/assets/icons/2005icons/$.png)
Why the political left owes Margaret Thatcher a debt of gratitude: She so shifted the political dynamic that the most outrageous statism was revealed for what it was (and is), forcing leftists to get in touch with market economics.
![Health](http://gongol.com/assets/icons/2005icons/health.png)
![Iowa](http://gongol.com/assets/icons/2005icons/iowa.png)
The Iowa town was damaged terribly by a tornado in 2011, but the people there have rebounded admirably.